It is a measure of the unusually long lifespan of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, that when she was born almost 100 years ago there were barely enough cars on the streets of London to cause a traffic jam, the telephone was a mere 13 years old, electricity in every home was the stuff of science fiction and television was unheard of. By contrast, a pageant yesterday to celebrate her life was transmitted around the world on the Internet. When Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born on August 4 1900, Queen Victoria still presided over what was then the British Empire - of which the island of Ireland was but a tiny part. Victoria had in fact just returned from a successful visit to Dublin, then sometimes described as the second city of the Empire.
All civilised societies honour and celebrate longevity - the more so when the focus of attention is a person who has occupied a particular place at the centre of a nation's life. Thus the people of Britain, along with royalists elsewhere, have begun to mark the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother. Her life and key moments of Britain's 20th century history are entwined: the abdication of Edward VIII propelled her and her husband, George VI, onto the throne; and her quip after the bombing of Buckingham Palace in the second World War ("I'm glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face.") undoubtedly created a special bond of affection between her and a people struggling in the face of terrible adversity.
Serious historians of the British royal family are divided as to her true legacy. Will it simply be the length of her life and thereby her special contribution to continuity - the stuff of monarchy? Is she, as her Spitting Image caricature would have it, a slightly daft but game "old bird", a shade over-fond of gin and horses? Or is she, as one contemporary documentary seemed to suggest, a ferociously determined woman who, behind the scenes, held the Windsors together during moments of crisis - not least the abdication (with her unforgiving attitude towards Wallis Simpson) but also the fractious marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales?
One does not have to support the political philosophy that underpins monarchy to understand its attractiveness: the pageantry and colour, the palaces and heritage, the identification by ordinary families with the one family that is supposed to represent all others. The British monarchy is a vast and important part of the history of these islands and is as much part of our history in this State as is the Fenian Brotherhood. For many people the Royal Family remains a living symbol of a heritage they hold dear. That heritage is no less valid than any other and should be viewed in that light, celebrated freely and enjoyed by those who so choose.