The death of a monarch is an entirely foreseeable event, the solemn formalities hardwired into the rituals of dynastic succession. But it is also an event that is difficult, partly for the simple reason of good manners, to anticipate with any accuracy at any particular time.
With the death at Balmoral of Queen Elizabeth II, a prepared but nevertheless shocked nation found itself at such a moment, and it is important that our troubled politics and our wounded civil
