The death of Queen Elizabeth II is undeniably a seismic moment in history.
Her 70-year reign, the longest of any British monarch, provided many with a sense of continuity and endurance. A steadfast and reassuring presence in an ever-changing world.
For most people in the United Kingdom, she has been the only monarch they have ever known. When people across the globe mentioned "the Queen", they weren't referring to anyone else.
Read more: Death of the Queen: 10 days of national protocol explained
The public will have differing views on a hereditary monarchy. Some will see a life of luxury, others a gilded cage.
But in many ways the Queen earned the warmth and respect in which she was held through her actions, rather than simply being born into it.
In her words and deeds, she can be counted among the leaders who forged peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and across these islands.
The Queen won praise for her historic visit to the Irish Republic in 2011 - the first British monarch to do so in a century.
In an itinerary steeped in symbolism, she bowed her head and laid a wreath in Dublin's Garden of Remembrance to pay tribute to those who fought against British rule in 1916.
She memorably spoke Irish at the beginning of an address to a state banquet at Dublin Castle.
"A Uachtarain agus a chairde," her speech began, meaning "president and friends". It prompted the then Irish president Mary McAleese, seated beside her, to exclaim "wow" and the audience to erupt into applause.
Sitting at the monarch's table was renowned Co Derry poet Seamus Heaney, who once wrote that "no glass of ours was ever raised to toast the Queen".
The following year a handshake with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander, made headlines around the world.
This small gesture again demonstrated the Queen, whose second cousin Lord Mountbatten was murdered by the IRA in 1979, was committed to encouraging reconciliation after the dark days of the Troubles.
It is a mark of the leadership she had shown that among the many tributes following her death were respectful words from Sinn Féin - to the head of a state they want Northern Ireland to leave.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II means the crown - and the constitutional duty it bestows - automatically transfers to her first-born Charles, now King Charles III.
But with the passing of the Queen, the Union and the commonwealth inevitably face a more uncertain future.
The final years of her reign have been tumultuous, with her son Prince Andrew settling a US civil action over sexual assault claims and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping down from Royal duties.
Last November Barbados officially removed the Queen as its head of state to become the world's newest republic.
And in a difficult Caribbean tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier this year, the Jamaican prime minister publicly told them his country would be "moving on".
Amid the fall-out from Brexit, there are also continuing calls for a second Scottish independence referendum and a border poll on a united Ireland.
YouGov surveys suggest people in the UK have been consistently in favour of continuing with the monarchy, but support has declined in the last decade - and only a third of 18 to 24-year-olds support the institution.
In his years as the Prince of Wales, King Charles has shown the capacity to reach out and build bridges in much the same way as his mother.
In 2015 for instance, he donated £2,000 towards the restoration of a Catholic church in Belfast that had become caught up in parading disputes involving Protestant loyal orders.
But it will be challenging for the new King to follow in his mother's footsteps, who ascended to the throne in a very different era. At the age of 73, his reign will be far shorter than the Queen's.
The coming days will be important for the new King in setting the right tone to provide the continuity as head of state that British people have come to take for granted.
READ NEXT:
- Analysis: Liz Truss success or failure in Northern Ireland still shaped by Brexit fall-out
- Brendan Hughes: Stormont funding pressures piling up in absence of Executive
- Brendan Hughes: Gen-Z singing 'up the Ra' a depressing sign of a society still divided
- Tory leadership hustings in Northern Ireland brings wriggle room to Protocol rhetoric
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
