We are proud of Queen Elizabeth II, proud of our great country – and more united than we have been in many years, Dan Wootton

We know now Queen Elizabeth II's life was long and it was unparalleled in terms of public service.

She kept to that pledge every single day of her remarkable, extraordinary and historic seven-decade reign.

And today, we did our best, as a nation, to honour her unwavering commitment to us…

What’s so uplifting is that through these past 12 days of deep sadness and grief, the late Her Majesty was able to bring us together again.

Six years of bitter political division has been put to one side – albeit probably only temporarily – for us to celebrate what it means to be British and how proud we are of the institutions and traditions that make the United Kingdom truly great.

It’s been a reminder of the importance of our Union, our Commonwealth and our Royal Family as the glue that holds the Westminster system of democracy together.

The late Queen crystallised a spirit of togetherness and I believe has sparked our desire to fight back against the constant drumbeat from the usual suspects that we should somehow feel ashamed of our Britishness and unrivalled history.

How else can you explain the great Elizabeth line that saw hundreds and thousands of total strangers come together for 14-hour pilgrimages around the sights of our capital city to view the late Queen’s coffin lying in state.

And how else can you explain the desire for leaders from virtually every country in the world to be transported by minibus to Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to our Queen.

Perhaps most importantly, Elizabeth the Second has, against all odds, given the British monarchy a fighting chance to survive for another century, with the transition to King Charles the Third this past week being pitch perfect.

There are challenges ahead, of course, and we will continue to discuss them.

But the country has united behind the Windsor’s this week because we know it was what the Queen would have wanted.

Today, while devastating and sad and emotional on so many levels, was a triumph for British governance, organisation and tradition.

With the eyes of the world on the UK, we said goodbye to our beloved late Queen in a way that did her justice.

We are proud of her and proud of our great country – and more united than we have been in many years.