Ben Lowry: It is surprising the monarchy has lasted so long, as King Charles seems to know

(​Scroll down for an early morning report from Ben Lowry in Westminster Abbey)

Rarely does an editor of the News Letter decline an opportunity to cite the extraordinary history of the title, and a historic date such as the crowning of King Charles is a perfect such occasion. The News Letter, the world’s oldest English language daily newspaper, was founded in 1737 which means that we were around to cover the very first prime minister, Robert Walpole, who was still in Downing Street (which had only been built decades before). The title prime minister did not even exist then. Prior to that kings or queens were the most powerful people.

When I started in the paper in 2007, we had reported on 73 prime ministers (Tony Blair, who opened our News Letter Belfast office the year before, was still in post). This PM total has since shot up to 79, with the recent quick succession of Tory leaders. But we have only reported on 11 monarchs over that same time period of almost 300 years. The reason of course is that kings and queens (usually) serve until death, and that can be a very long time indeed. Three kings and queens have dominated our history: George III, Victoria and Elizabeth II, who between them were on the throne for 193 years of our 286 years of publishing. Needless to say, therefore, when I got a chance to report from Westminster Abbey this morning I seized it.

Only a small percentage of the population remember the last coronation, in the autumn of 1953. You would need to be well into your seventies to have any recollection of that time. Things are very different in Northern Ireland to what they were when the new young queen visited the province in the summer of 1953, weeks before her coronation, to gushing crowds. We are now told of polls which apparently show decreasing support the monarchy, particularly among the young. But that is not a surprise. The more surprising thing is that the monarchy in Britain has survived for as long as it has done, and with massive levels of public support.

When you are told that young people do not support the monarchy, then ask yourself: how many young people supported the monarchy in the 1960s? Baby boomers begin in early 1946 (strictly speaking a baby boomer is someone conceived after Victory in Europe Day in May 1945) and the first of that cohort were the prime age for pop music such as the Beatles (who played in Belfast in 1964), and a new breed of rebellious, unconventional sports stars such as George Best. Does anyone seriously think that the vast numbers of young people who were into mini skirts and protests against the Vietnam war were diehard monarchists? I bet many observers then thought that the monarchy would be gone by the 1980s.

That generation is now approaching the age of 80, and they are the conservative ones who are most likely to support the monarchy, and so on. The point is that young people become older people and their views change. Does this mean that the monarch is secure? Of course not.

My prediction as to the future of the monarchy is akin to my prediction as to the future of the UK. It would not surprise me in the least if one or both of these institutions are thriving a century from now. Nor would it surprise me if one or both is gone within a few decades. When we think of the change that happened under the Queen’s reign, we think in Northern Ireland of the change that happened in our own country. In 1953 the IRA’s unsuccessful border campaign of the late 50s had not even begun. The 50th anniversary of the East Rising was more than a decade into the future. And the Queen visited in 1966 just after that anniversary and was the target of an incident which perhaps foreshadowed the Troubles – a brick was dropped on to her car as it travelled through Belfast.

The Queen would not visit again until 1977, amid such tight security she barely left Royal Yacht Britannia, and not after that until things were much safer in 1991. King Charles lived through all of this. He has visited NI many times. I was not surprised that big crowds came out to cheer him in NI after the death of his mother last September. I had seen such crowds greet him warmly as prince.

One change of the 21st century is that Charles knows, as does William, that the public simply will not tolerate a selfish king or queen. The public expects, then admires, royals who are selfless. So long as we have monarchs who understand this, as we are set to have for decades to come, the monarchy is likely to be safe.

• ​Yesterday’s 2.30pm flight from Aldergrove to London Luton gave a snapshot of NI’s link to today. At the airport I bumped into Mervyn Kelso from Portglenone (see page 5), the Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Speers and the Alliance MP Stephen Farry, who will watch ceremonies in Westminster Abbey from a screen in Portcullis House, Westminster, alongside other MPs (a smaller number of MPs/peers than normal will be in the abbey, due to the king widening the guest list beyond traditional invitees). On the Easyjet plane or train into London, the ex UUP councillor Mark McKinty, a reserve member of the Royal Irish Regiment and brass band member said he will enjoy the music and ceremony from the Mall. Callum Bowsie, a young DUP councillor from Rowallane was delighted to be invited to the abbey for his charitable work.

The PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said he too was delighted to have an abbey seat. And when I asked Alec Maskey, the Sinn Fein nominal speaker in the suspended Stormont about his abbey invite, he said as speaker he represented all traditions. Probed on whether he was getting negative feedback from republicans for coming, he sidestepped the query: “Why would people not have different views?” Then he added: “I listen to people and hear a lot of goodwill as well.”

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter editor

News Letter editor Ben Lowry gives a sense of the Coronation build up live from Westminster Abbey