Everything going to the dogs? Keep calm and carry on — like the Queen 

Events, dear boy? No: it’s all about trends. Harold Macmillan’s gnomic (and apocryphal) saying has been firmly knocked on the head by Amol Rajan, the BBC’s Media Editor, here. He makes the excellent point that, while social media has pushed us even further in the direction of reporting bad news, the truth is rarely to be found in ephemeral events, but in global trends. 

“The data shows we really are living through the most extraordinarily peaceful, prosperous, wealthy, healthy, safe period in human history. There is strong evidence to suggest life is getting better in many other ways too,” he writes. But most people, influenced by the ephemera they see on their smartphones, think the opposite.

A good example is the British Royal Family. The recent reporting of royal stories (including that of BBC News) has been unremittingly negative. Last year was indeed a “bumpy” one, as the Queen herself conceded in her Christmas message. And this year promises to be no less rocky, if this week’s announcement by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is anything to go by. The Queen seldom expresses “disappointment”, but this time she has let it be known. Their ingratitude on Instagram has really hurt the old lady, both as a monarch and as a grandmother. Put not thy trust in princes, Ma’am — or princesses.

Yet this is one of the oldest and most resilient institutions in the world. It will take a lot more than the antics of Prince Andrew or the silliness of the Sussexes to do real damage to the British monarchy. If it could survive such catastrophic events as the Abdication and the death of Diana, it will surely survive such comparatively minor events as the opting-out of Royal duties by a rather self-centred young couple. As for Andrew: whatever it is that he did or didn’t do during his idiotic association with the late Jeffrey Epstein, the FBI has no wish to interview him. It isn’t Harry and Meghan who should disappear to a remote corner of Canada, but Uncle Andrew.

Of course, events do sometimes change institutions. By setting a precedent, Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013 changed the papacy. A question mark hangs over Pope Francis, and all future pontiffs, about whether they will die in office or retire. And the presence of a “Pope Emeritus” in the background is bound to affect the conduct of his successor — though The Two Popes is based less on fact than on fiction. 

Yet it would be a rash observer who would predict the long-term impact of this change. As the newly canonised St John Henry Newman demonstrated in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, not only the papacy but the Church that it leads has been the instrument of reason, continuously working out the consequences of revelation thoughout history. In the realm of the sacred, as well as the profane, the focus should be on long-term trends rather than events.

The world is indeed on a positive trajectory, even if most people assume otherwise. The decade that has just ended was by many criteria the most successful in the whole of human history. It is true that we humans are not the only inhabitants of this Earth, but  merely the stewards of God’s creatures. Yet we are learning all the time from our mistakes and discovering new ways of bettering humanity. To abandon all hope is to enter a Hell of our own creation.

Whatever misfortunes befall the Royal Family, we can be sure that its head will rise above them. She never loses her sense of humour. On one occasion, during the Silver Jubilee in 1977, a series of technical hitches occurred, from faulty sound systems to fireworks out of control. Major Sir Michael Parker, the man in charge, turned to the Queen in despair: “Your Majesty, I’m afraid it’s all going terribly wrong. In fact, everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.” The Queen grinned: “Oh good,” she said. “What fun!”