The queue is more than four miles long with waiting times of nine hours as I write. Nothing like this has happened in my lifetime. Certainly, it has been a week like no other like no other in living memory. Perhaps like no other. The sudden and dramatic death of Princess Diana created an unprecedented outpouring of grief and astonishing scenes in the capital as crowds flocked to be in London. To camp in the parks. To put flowers on the trees. But it does not match what is happening in London today.

The arrangements after the death of Queen Elizabeth II were well rehearsed. Like many deaths it was not unexpected but the timing was unknown. Her last duties as Mary Reid said earlier, were to accept the resignation of the outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson and the incoming prime minister, Liz Truss. Perhaps we will never know Her Majesty’s views on the prime ministers she agreed could the lead country, or those leaders from around the world she must have met with gritted teeth behind the famous smile.

The Queen’s death has dominated coverage for days, at times squeezing out news from Ukraine and other economic, political and social stories of immediate and long term importance. Broadcasters, the print and online media have struggled to balance the news. The death of the monarch is quite rightly the dominant news story but the matters that would have dominated a week ago are now sidelined, pushed to the middle page and towards the end of news bulletins.

Not for the first time, the police have in a small number of cases overreacted as they did with the Sarah Everard vigil in 2021. As Paul Walter said a few days ago, “We should wear peaceful protests as a badge of honour. It is sign of a healthy democracy.”

We have our internal controversy over the last minute cancellation of Conference in Brighton. Hugo Gye in the i today, says:

“The Liberal Democrats have already cancelled their get-together because it will clash with the state funeral. Party conferences are typically orgies of self-congratulation, with the leadership focused on geeing up activists – and enjoying lavish evening events sponsored by corporate partners.”

There is perhaps more gleeing up than geeing up at Lib Dem conferences but we do make policy at Conference, unlike our bigger rivals. The cancellation has been extensively debated here on LDV in comments on articles by Caron Lindsay, John Grout, Sarah Onley, and George Cunningham.

The cancellation of some events is essential and understandable. Major football matches in London would have no police cover. Some hospitals in London cannot operate with the expected crowds and congestion on public transport. Many hospitals and some GP practices elsewhere have cancelled appointments for Monday, even though there no obligation to do so in NHS England guidance. But they may have problems staffing and with transport, and that may be good enough justification. With long waiting times for many hospital and GP appointments, it might be weeks before another appointment can be scheduled and as we approach the winter season, that cannot be good news.

Many shops will be closed on Monday. Even some pubs. Almost no public transport will run outside the major towns and cities. That will have a major impact, not least that people who live on their own can’t travel to watch the events unfold on Monday with friends. There is also likely to be a dip in the economy as people don’t spend or work, perhaps tipping the country into a technical recession.

But this is a unique time in our lives.

On Tuesday, normal political business resumes. There is a lot to catch up on. Parliament has been suspended for too long and the opportunity to scrutinise policy, legislation and regulations has evaporated. Internationally, we still have war in Europe. Broader afield, future of the Commonwealth is being challenged by Jamaica amongst others.

We salute the new King but the world is in a rush. Whether we are rushing towards the biggest crisis for generations or a new future might just depend on the next few weeks.

* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.