Stewart Paterson: So much changed over the Queen's reign, but so much didn't

So, in the future, we will likely be remembered as the Elizabethan age.

As Queen Elizabeth exhaled her last breath on September 8, 2022, that era ended.

At the same moment, Charles inhaled his last breath as Prince of Wales and exhaled his first as King and his Monarchic era began. 

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The Queen’s reign has been remarkable for its longevity, her 70 years is longer than the entirety of the Soviet Union.

During that time, as we have been reminded many times in the last week, there have been many changes.

In other aspects, there has been little change, or if there has it has been for the worse.

The United Kingdom that Charles inherited is as riven with inequality as the one his mother inherited from her father in 1952, maybe more so.

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The contrasts are stark.

The wealth, opulence and privilege of not just the Royal family but the many layers below it, sit beside a nation where there are around 4m children in poverty.

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Children from black and minority ethnic families are more likely to be in poverty and three in four children in poverty are in a household where someone is in work.

The fact the Queen’s reign lasted so long was due to the early age at which she became Queen and the grand old age to which she lived.

The Queen was 96 when she died, her husband, the late Prince Philip, 99, and her own mother lived to see 101.

PA (Image: PA)

In the poorest parts of the Kingdom people on average die much earlier.

In Glasgow, it is 73 for men and 78 for women, 26 years younger than Philip for men and 18 years younger than the Queen.

In certain parts of the city, the gap is even wider at 69 and 75 in the most deprived communities.

The main reason is poverty. Poverty, which is caused by inequality.

It would be easy to say removing the Monarchy would end inequality. It wouldn't, there is obviously much more to it than that.

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There are countries with no monarchy that are as unequal as the UK if not more so.

The USA being just one example.

There are also countries with Kings and Queens that apparently have a better record than the UK on poverty and inequality, like Denmark. Sweden and Norway.

So, there are plenty of reasons for the UK’s shocking record on inequality and the monarchy is unlikely to be at the top of the list.

Removing it would not, in itself, solve the social problems that beset the country and which 14 Prime Ministers during Queen Elizabeth’s reign did not solve, some actively made it worse.

But the passing of one sovereign to another seems like a good time to ask ourselves what this institution means and what its purpose is.

There is nothing to be afraid of.

Just because it has been in existence for so long doesn't mean it always should or in the same way. All institutions must reform. The UK where Charles is head of state is a different place from the one Elizabeth acceded to 70 years ago. 

While it is not in doubt that there are many millions who wish to see the monarchy not only continue but thrive, that is not the only position in the islands over which Charles III will reign.

Many are ambivalent and there are arguably more people now who do not support it than there were in 1952.

The country is far more diverse in 2022 than 1952. There are more people of other faiths, there are more people openly of sexual orientations other than heterosexual and there more people of colour, who when they look at the Royal Family do not see an institution that represents them.

When they hear Charles III promising to uphold not just Christian beliefs but specifically the protestant religion, but not others, as his ancestors did before them, they, more than 50%, understandably wonder where does that leave them?

There are serious questions about democracy.

It is that principle that our parliamentarians continually tell us they cherish above all.

There is no democracy involved in the Monarchy. Decisions of the parliament that the rest of us are expected to abide by do not apply.

Income tax is paid voluntarily. There will be no inheritance tax on the estate that passes from the Queen to King Charles.

For everyone’s sake an honest open and frank appraisal of the monarchy is needed.

And after the events of the last week, where so much has focused on the past, all of us, the people, the Royal Family and the media need to think of the future and how it should be.