The UK begins to write its post-Elizabeth history

For a last goodbye to their queen, who died on September 8 at the age of 96, including 70 years of reign, hundreds of thousands of Britons gathered in the streets of London and Windsor on Monday to see the coffin pass.

A moment of national communion relayed to a planetary television audience, which froze the country and brought down electricity consumption on Monday morning - up to 2 gigawatts, or the equivalent of two nuclear reactors.

They had also been numerous, in the five days preceding this majestic funeral, to address a kiss, improvise a bow or shed a tear in front of the coffin exposed night and day to the public in a room of the parliament, after hours of waiting.

"Over 250,000 (people) have passed through Parliament," according to a provisional estimate, Culture Minister Michelle Donelan told Sky News. It was for the Queen Mother 200,000 people in 2002.

The "farewell" to the queen still dominated all the front pages of the British press on Tuesday, which competed with tributes and photos of the events. The Telegraph, close to the conservatives, underlined "an outpouring of love".

After her private burial, the royal family posted on their Twitter account an unseen photo of Elizabeth II, the only sovereign many Britons have ever known, showing her in 1971 in the grounds of her Scottish estate of Balmoral, where she died.

- The "magic of Elizabeth" -

Symbolically, like the members of the government previously, deputies must pledge allegiance on Wednesday to the new King Charles III, 73 years old – who, like his mother, has promised to serve his people all his life.

But the news put on hold during the national mourning quickly took over.

Even if the mourning of the royal family continues for another week, the flags are no longer at half mast and the government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, who came to power just two days before the death of Elizabeth II, intends to again grumbling Britons unhappy with the soaring cost of living.

In this time of crisis, the potential cost to the taxpayer of the funeral, which has not been disclosed, also makes some teeth cringe.

Minister Michelle Donelan tried to silence critics, saying she thought Britons would consider it "money well spent".

"I think no one can suggest that our late monarch did not deserve this farewell, given the duty and selfless service to which she had committed herself for more than 70 years," she insisted.

Inclinations for independence in Scotland, community tensions in Northern Ireland, social crises, new generations less attached to tradition... The United Kingdom must now set about writing a new page in its history.

On her way to the United Nations General Assembly, Liz Truss underlined the great outpouring of sympathy shown by the population to Charles III, that his first official trips took him to the four nations that make up the country (England, Scotland, Ireland North, Wales).

However, his task is proving to be delicate, estimates The Guardian.

"The past 10 days have been a vacation from the usual political polarization: admiration for the Queen was one of the only things most people could agree on," writes the left-leaning daily, stressing its unifying role.

'If it turns out it was related to Elizabeth's magic, rather than the crown, then it's unclear how long Charles will have a United Kingdom to rule over,' he warns .

The Times, on the right, believes that Charles III will still have an important role to play: "He should be what most of our leaders seem incapable of being, a discreet symbol of virtue and decency, worthy of respect".