Until quite recently I was very confident that the monarchy would survive for the foreseeable future. Polling suggested that support for a republic was becalmed at around 20%, although always higher among younger age groups, and that this figure had barely shifted in decades. Big occasions like royal weddings and the old Queen’s Jubilees brought forth an enormous groundswell of goodwill. Protests by anti-monarchists felt mean-spirited and joyless.
