underestimated. finally, she kept the monarchy 5trong underestimated. finally, she kept the monarchy strong and respected, reigning very much in the style of her beloved father, george vi, and she kept it strong, above all, by setting a personal example. 0ne setting a personal example. one might imagine that her greatest hope now would be that the strength of the monarchy will continue under king charles, and then under william. i m sure the crowds we saw outside buckingham palace tonight, many people will be reflecting on the theme is that nick was underlining there, because everyone is by now aware that the queen was the longest serving monarch in the history of the united kingdom and held a commanding presence in british public life over many decades. tonight, people have been reacting to the news of her passing. our special correspondent lucy manning has spent the day with people outside buckingham palace. she was long to reign over us, almost all of her life, and for mos
and national unity. to pick up the point that chris was making, she did indeed project the image, unfailingly positively, abroad. it is sometimes referred to as soft power. she projected it, and if you think of the times over the last 70 years where the reputation of britain had been at a low ebb, internationally, in the 50s, after suez, in the 19705 when internationally, in the 505, after suez, in the 19705 when britain was regarded as the sick man of europe, re5pect regarded as the sick man of europe, respect for her never wavered. she burnished the reputation of britain on the international stage. she encouraged political stability, 5he encouraged political stability, she has been described as a kind of hidden backstop in the constitution, a force field around which good behaviour within the political establishment wa5 behaviour within the political establishment was encouraged. these things, you know, should not be