I’ve been thinking a fair bit today about what the passing of our head of state means for us as a country and for me as the late Queen’s subject – and I’m a bit confused.

Firstly, I’m saddened at the passing of a monarch who personified service and duty, who was always impeccably correct, and who genuinely held a great love of her people and of her God. To someone of conservative disposition, she looked the part of tradition and virtue – a fine embodiment of a divinely ordained institution. Her Majesty provided a sense of stability amongst the chaos of accelerating social change and gave comfort to those who favour traditional institutions and their place in the social and political order. Many thought (and do think) that her reign would hammer in the position of the monarchy for years to come.

But as death awaits us all, so too did it come for Elizabeth R. Whilst most in society (even those who would define themselves as republican) will lament her passing and pay their respects, I fear that her reign has come to typify much of what these days passes for as ‘good enough’ by those in the conservative sphere. She looked the part, performed the lines required, and made sure her family did what it took to survive whilst the strands of civil society crumbled both around and under her.

Elizabeth II reigned over decades of stunning social collapse. At the end of her time here on earth, her subjects – and indeed the whole world – will hold an entirely flipped conception about what the monarchy stands for and what it means (not simply what it ‘represents’) compared to when she ascended the throne. I fear she is so loved by the masses today precisely because she did nothing to ever put the masses offside and assented (quite literally in some instances) to the undoing of society during the course of her stewardship over her country and the Church of England.

In keeping the monarchy ‘relevant’, she has overseen the submission of the Royal Family to the cult of celebrity, existing just for the sake of existing. Some will point out that the ‘symbolism’ is important, and I agree that symbolism is important, but I am tired of just symbolism. I believe she was a fine lady and a good Christian, but what is left of the monarchy is just a shell – an institution that represents a country that cannot even define itself (or is scared to do so), hates its own history, has abandoned its faith or any semblance of pride in what it is and what it has achieved, save for some mundane and petty things.

Few even believe in the things a monarchy should stand for, or in the God who ordained it, so why do we pretend to like kings and queens, when it’s clear that the politicians and bureaucrats are our monarchs? Traditional institutions are fine, but if they simply become a pantomime, what is the point?

Ask yourself, is the United Kingdom stronger or weaker at the end of her reign? Is the Empire and Commonwealth stronger or weaker at the end of her reign? Is the civil society under her stronger or weaker at the end of her reign? Are our institutions (including our churches, centres of community, power, and politics) stronger or weaker at the end of her reign? Do her subjects have a unified vision of what our nation stands for, a confidence in its destiny, and a desire to spread its vision in the world?

Now, this may seem unfairly critical or perhaps untimely to some, but I reiterate that I have nothing but profound respect for someone who I considered my head of state and as an Australian citizen, my Queen. Her Majesty did typify service. She did work all her life. She was compassionate. But these are all things that anyone can do and be.

In all of the metrics that measure the success of a king or a queen, she’s arguably failed and if the only metric of success is how popular they are, then that presents the greatest argument for why the institution is just an empty shell of itself. As a conservative, I have far too much respect for what a monarchy ‘should’ be to parrot the prime time TV narrative. Good kings and queens should at times be unpopular, and if the world constantly lavishes praise on someone in life and in death, I would simply ask people to question as to why that is so.

May God grant her much deserved eternal rest. The Queen is dead, long live the King.