‘When mourning ends, reality will hit hard’: European journalists on Britain’s mood

UK-based correspondents assess how Britons will deal with political turmoil, Brexit, recession and the loss of the Queen

The days we are living through mark a new beginning. Only time will tell what the post-Elizabethan era will bring. For the moment, what it does feel like is a juggernaut of one too many challenges coming at the same time, a surreal wave. The aftermath of the pandemic, which has left the UK with a lot of scars; Brexit finally being felt in real life, whether on the M2 towards Dover, in my local Sainsbury's, or in the port of Larne; Russia's war on Ukraine; a fourth prime minister in six years. And now the death of Elizabeth II, who seemed to many immortal.