Katie Nicholl - The New Royals: Queen Elizabeths Legacy and the Future of the Crown

All of us who will inherit the legacy of my grandmothers reign and generation need to do all we can to celebrate and learn from her story.

HRH THE D UKE OF C AMBRIDGE

Q ueen Elizabeth is the royal familys most enduring icon. As she enters her eighth decade on the throne, Elizabeth II has celebrated a lifetime of milestones, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria as the United Kingdoms longest-reigning monarch, and becoming the only British sovereign to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. She is now the third-longest reigning monarch in world history.

Now, as we reflect on a magnificent reign, we look toward the dawn of another. The royal family is at a crucial point as it prepares for a transition. While the Queen used the seventieth anniversary of her accession to renew her pledge to serve the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for the rest of her life, a handover of power is taking place in real time as Charles, the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history, prepares to succeed the throne.

The United Kingdom has not had a king and queen since 1952, and the landscape of the monarchy will undergo a seismic change under King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla. Prince Charles, now in his seventies, will be a transitional king, but his experience and continued passion for the environment and supporting young people around the world suggest he has the makings of a great monarch too.

Queen Elizabeth IIs success and popularity is rooted in her ability to adapt and evolve in the modern world. This has not always been straightforward or easy. Circumstances, family tragedies, and scandalssuch as the death of the Princess of Wales, the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Britain, and the downfall of her son Prince Andrewhave forced her to reinvent the institution of monarchy in order to secure its future. And yet despite its metamorphosis, the Queen has managed to preserve the historic traditions and customs that make the British monarchy so unique.

Charles, with Queen Consort Camilla by his side, will face his own challenges. He cannot expect the same reverence his mother has earned after more than seventy years on the throne, and he will reign during very different times and in a society that increasingly questions why the United Kingdom is still beholden to a hereditary monarchy. While Charles will be the next head of the Commonwealth, there is uncertainty over what this family of nations will look like in the future.

Charles is determined the monarchy will not die out with him and, fortunately, there is the promise of the popular and youthful Cambridges to continue the House of Windsors survival. William, Duke of Cambridge, knows the future of the monarchy rests on his shoulders. Having learned the lessons of kingship from his grandmother, he is proving to be a modern statesman with his fathers campaigning spirit and his late mothers empathy. With Kate the Duchess of Cambridge by his side, and their son Prince George, who is already being schooled in succession, there is every chance Britain will have a beloved monarchy for decades to come.

The Queens Platinum Jubilee marks a triumph for Her Majesty and for the modern British monarchy she has built. We have watched with awe and affection as she has continued her life of service to the Crown into the furthest reaches of her old age, ever more beloved. The Queen once said: I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings.

That Elizabeth II has given of her best is indisputable. Now she leaves her country with the best of her: a son, grandson, and great-grandson in whom her legacy will live on.