There is no new republic on the horizon for Britain

Editorial: But the monarchy will need to evolve, reflect our multicultural society, and ensure it commands the consent of the people as they live through financially difficult times

It is too early to form a view of the intentions of the new King (AFP/Getty)

In her time, though she was too modest to make a public show of it, Queen Elizabeth II is often said to have taken some pleasure in breaking records.

For example, she surpassed the spans of Henry III, the first Elizabeth, David II of Scotland, George III and Victoria, among many others, to become the longest-serving and oldest-reigning monarch in British history. She collected jubilees and wedding anniversaries – silver, ruby, golden, diamond and platinum. She is surely one of the most popular, despite some dangerous crises.

Now, the crowds gathering to attend her lying-in-state also look set to smash all previous records, including for Winston Churchill. Some 400,000 individuals from all over the world are expected to file past the catafalque in Westminster Hall. It could easily be many more.

Many more millions across the planet will watch the funeral procession and service, and the BBC has even set up a “virtual” lying-in-state, complete with a book of remembrance. Such innovations are not only natural in the digital age, but a reminder that the institution of the monarchy has to keep up with the times and adapt to ensure its survival. That was something that Elizabeth II and Prince Philip understood extremely well, as did her father and grandfather.

The House of Windsor has always had to change to remain the same. The global interest in the current ceremonials, many archaic and Ruritanian, is a testament to the mystique she added to the role. To the extent that a constitutional monarchy could be said to be democratic, the affection and support for the Queen, even in the darker moments of her reign, does suggest there is little appetite for radical change.

Leaders of progressive parties have consistently found better things to do than abolish the monarchy. With the support of the palace, usually, they have succeeded in making sure the family and its expenses retain the support of the public. The Queen was shrewd enough to begin to pay taxes and open up the royal residences and art collections to the public. King Charles may well extend those reforms.

The sheer number of visitors to the lying-in-state does raise some practical questions, however. It is, it’s been fancifully described, a “patriotic river” winding around ceremonial London and out as far as Southwark Park some miles to the southeast. Yet it is doubtful that a 30-hour wait in a shuffling queue during coolish weather is the optimal way for the public’s last respects to be paid, especially for children and the frail. There is a much shorter queue and wait for people with disabilities, but again, it is far from ideal.

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There is also a danger that many will travel to London in good time and still find that they are too late to see the lying-in-state. Depending on the speed of the visitors, even those with the official wristbands may miss out when the doors finally close. Facilities for the mourners may become overwhelmed and squalid. Even for those who regard the exercise as a form of pilgrimage, this seems an unnecessarily harsh way to organise matters. A ballot with allocated and timed tickets would have been a better way to ensure fairness and order for the lying-in-state.

It is not a moment, yet, to debate the function of the monarchy in contemporary Britain, and it is too early to form a view of the intentions of the new King. Things will change, necessarily. There will be a new style, and some new substance. The futures of Prince Andrew and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, along with more peripheral members of the Firm, will come under scrutiny again.

The costs and finances of the institution, fundraising for the Prince of Wales’s charities now headed by Prince William, the use to which buildings such as Buckingham Palace are put, and the constitutional duties of the King will also, rightly, be up for review.

Given the recent display of medieval faith in royalty by a significant minority of the population and a general satisfaction shown by the majority, there does not seem great purpose in trying to secure a new republic. But the monarchy will need to evolve, reflect the multicultural society it purports to represent, and ensure it commands the consent of the people as they live through financially difficult times. That consent should not be taken for granted.