All Black Friday

We don't have a lot of insights into the Queen's death. Besides, we're not even a subject of the crown. It is true that us Yanks love the Royals more than the Brits. We messaged our limey friend, the real 'Ed' who edited several of our novels. 'Admit it, you cried,' she said. We said the mourners Kadish as soon as we heard.

Personally, we've been to the palace three times. We recall watching the Royal Wedding in 1981, the Windsor fire of 1992, Diana's death and the Queen's address, the silver jubilee of 2002, which seems to mark a renewal of faith in the monarchy after the Diana disaster. 

Pundits at the time were surprised at HRH's popularity. Many of those pundits will speculate today that the Queen's death will mark the end of the monarchy. Malarky. Anti-monarchists have been predicting the end of the monarchy since George III died in 1820. The Brits aren't getting rid of the monarchy, ever. 

Though not perfect, we've always assumed His Majesty (it feels weird to write that) gets a bad rap. King Charles III was a line naval officer who skippered a mine sweeper. Fine, he had a rocky marriage that ended in public divorce and tragedy. Lots of people have messy marriages. Charles raised two boys under extraordinary circumstances and even Harry is doing better than a lot of children of powerful people. God save the King.