HRH Queen Elizabeth II

I am not a strong Royalist, however the UK has a monarchy and the late Her Majesty fulfilled the role overall very well.

King Charles has had the baton passed to him, i trust he can maintain the role with the same public facing dignity as Her Majesty, as long as his pen does not leak, and his servants move the pen holder quick enough, hoping his reaction to those episodes were just part of the grieving process rather than a small glimpse into the real King Charles.

Another non-royalist, I too admire the late Lizzie's stamina and dedication. She could have retired gracefully at 70 or 80, let alone 90, in line with modern custom and sensibility, and I think most Brits would have said 'fair enough', but she stuck steadfastly to the dutiful notion that being monarch is for life and not just till retirement age. Indeed, she was still working two days before she popped off, doing the ceremonial transfer of Prime Ministers (some unkind souls are suggesting that it was having to deal with two incompetent chancers in one day that finally did for her). She's certainly earned her rest.

One aspect of her role not easily understood perhaps by outsiders was her political impartiality: she was allowed to offer 'guidance' to her Prime Ministers, to express thoughts privately, but was never supposed to interfere. One commentator described it as 'Don't just do something - stand there'. This can't have been easy when she felt the nation or the Commonwealth (the ex-Empire countries she worked hard to keep on board) was being ill-served by government ideologues of whichever persuasion.

Like many on here I’m not a royalist, however, it was sad to see someone could not resist giving us the usual clap trap. The Queen dedicated her life to serving her country, let her RIP.

Here we go again. SMH.

I don't know very much about her or the royal family, but when I was a kid I heard a recording of her speaking to a large group of children who were being evacuated from London early in the Second World War.

I don't think she was much older than 14 or 15 at the time, but she stood there with her sister and spoke to the crowd. I thought she sounded very brave and I'm sure her audience was genuinely re-assured by her words.

Oh, I suppose someone else wrote a script for her, but her manner as she spoke was what mattered.

I've always liked and respected her ever since I heard that recording.