SHE was feted as a caring, sweet old lady, the nation's archetypal favourite gran. But the Queen Mother was much more.

Yesterday's farewell not only marked the death of the nation's indisputably most favourite Royal, but the end of an era.

The Royals will never be as royal again.

As greatness was literally thrust upon her with the abdication of her brother-in-law she rose to the task magnificently. She endured the war years with valour and character and raised a family to be proud of.

The Queen Mother was a potent symbol of the rise and fall of British society.

And like loving little old grans the country over, she was forced to watch as everything she held dear fell apart.

Royal or not, she found herself matriach of a dysfunctional family.

Divorces, adultery -- the Royals have mirrored this country's decline from a moral, caring society where parents had their children's best interests at heart to one of avarice and greed, fuelled by the 'me first' attitude of so many selfish parents.

The last restraining influence on the Royals has gone. I watch with interest.