Royal changing of the guard heralds new era

But deference, respect won by queen over the decades may not be inherited

The announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept 8 may have been the first passing of a senior royal in the modern era but it was also deeply traditional.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow," the official statement read.

From one sentence to the next, out went the longest reigning monarch in British history, and in came the oldest one to take the throne. The queen is dead, long live the king. Continuity. Stability.

But as, aged 74, Charles prepares to wear the crown that was placed on his mother's head when she was just 27 after she became queen at 25, he will assume her role in a very different country and in a very different world.

After 51 years of kings, the coronation of the young queen in 1953, 16 months after the death of her father, signified the start of a new era of hope for a country still physically and emotionally scarred by war, and where food rationing was to persist for another year.

Despite being held in June, the queen's coronation is remembered for torrential rain, but it was also marked with a mood of optimism, with street parties held across the country. Beyond the United Kingdom, people in countries as far afield as South Africa and Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, welcomed the British monarch as their new head of state.

Having been a vehicle mechanic during World War II, the queen was unique among global leaders at the time of her death for having been a living connection to the war, which earned her a degree of respect from many who might otherwise have questioned the concept of a hereditary monarchy in the 21st century.

But rather than being the fresh face of a country rising from the ashes of war, the much older Charles will find himself, nine months after his mother's death, reigning over a country increasingly polarized by the political issue of the moment, culture wars. The marriage of his second son, Harry, to Meghan Markle has become a lightning rod for many of its concerns, in an increasingly complex world.

While the queen took over a country coming out of rationing, the king inherits a country where the Trussell Trust, the UK's largest network of foodbanks, reports use has gone up from 61,000 visits in 2010 to 2.5 million visits a decade later.

Television drama series The Crown has drawn a large crowd and presents the public and private lives of the royals as entertainment, but with the changing of the royal guard, Britain's republican movement also thinks it may find a newly receptive audience.

"The queen is the monarchy for most people. After she dies the future of the institution is in serious jeopardy," Graham Smith, chief executive of the Republic campaign group, told the Reuters news agency in early 2022. "Charles may inherit the throne, but he won't inherit the deference and respect afforded the queen."

Celebrations for the coronation, combined with recent opinion polls, suggest that the British public's sentiment around the royals, while undeniably mixed, has not turned vociferously against them.

The varying geographical spread of celebrations across England, Scotland, and Wales, however, raises questions about how truly united the kingdom is, and, overseas, it seems the respect earned by the queen's longevity might be less apparent for the new king.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office shortly before the queen died, and in 2019, he said at an Australian Republican Movement dinner "a modern Australian republic is an idea whose time has come".

His government even named its first assistant minister for the republic when it took charge, although he has since said that, out of respect for the queen, any plans for a referendum on whether the nation should become a republic have been pushed back.

In June 2022, Jamaica announced its intention to be a republic by 2025, and, just days after the queen's death, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda insisted plans for his country to do the same remained on track.

The ties of history have been loosened.

As world leaders received the news of the queen's passing, then-prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Arden — someone else who has said she expects to see her country become a republic in her lifetime — observed: "There is no doubt that a chapter is closing today."

On May 6, the eyes of the world will be on Westminster Abbey, and on Charles, as they were on his mother 70 years ago, for the formal start of a new era, for Britain at least.

But at the same time, for an increasing number of people further afield, this fresh start could be the beginning of the end of a historical era.