In the end it all came right for the royals. Millions of people switched on their TV sets to watch the funeral service for the Queen Mother.

Most shops closed as a mark of respect and several hundred thousand filed past the coffin during the lying in state at Westminster Hall.

Yet it did not seem as if it would be that way at the start.

When the Queen Mother died on Easter Saturday, the first reaction was that she had lived a long time, died peacefully and not much more need be said.

All over Sussex, where condolence books were put out by councils, the rate of response was remarkably slow.

It was the complete reverse of the reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Then, the nation was gripped by collective hysteria, showing emotion which completely wrongfooted the Queen until she was advised to pay a public tribute to her daughter-in-law.

After the funeral, people suddenly seemed ashamed of themselves to such an extent that even the anniversary of her death is largely ignored and Diana has become like a figure from folklore, a beautiful princess whose venture into public life ended in a car crash in a sordid Parisian subway.

These rapid royal turnarounds emphasise a volatility in public opinion which simply did not exist half a century ago.

Then, in a more deferential society, most people felt affection for the recently-departed King and his young daughter who was ushering in the second Elizabethan age.

In politics, people also knew their place. Generally they voted as their parents had before them and there was the near certainty that toffs voted Tory while the working class voted Labour.

The Liberals could fit in a phone box and the Greens hadn't even been invented.

Governments lost their popularity, along with by-elections, mid term and regained it as elections drew near.

General elections were times of great excitement with four out of five people voting, knowing they could make the difference.

But Tony Blair changed all that by staying consistently ahead in the polls, apart from a small blip caused by the fuel crisis, during his first term and winning last year by a huge margin at an election more noted for public apathy than anything else.

There are contradictions in public opinion which are hard to reconcile, let alone second guess. How it is that most people are in favour of the death penalty and yet concerned about miscarriages of justice?

Why are they worried about hunting down vermin like foxes and yet happy to eat friendly animals such as pigs which have been killed for them?

How can they buy millions of mobile phones despite health warnings and yet oppose the masts which are needed to make them work?

How can they want to save the environment and yet buy increasingly opulent, gas-guzzling cars?

Why do they drive those same cars to gyms in vain efforts to keep fit when it would be more beneficial to take a brisk walk round the block?

People are more apathetic about voting and then berate their local MPs or councillors if there is an issue threatening their neighbourhoods.

They want to save their corner shop, yet visit supermarkets.

They won't let their children out alone for fear of attack, yet let them watch hours of mindless, violent rubbish on TV.

It all makes it hard for hacks to predict what is going to happen.

They were nearly all wrong-footed by the initial success of the Western operation in Afghanistan.

Hardly anyone predicted the swift collapse of Communism more than a decade ago. Few foresaw how popular Margaret Thatcher would be as prime minister or how quickly she would fade from fashion afterwards.

Now the Queen Mother has been buried and the ceremony is over, it would be tempting for commentators to pluck another clich from the overflowing pile and say it's the end of an era.

But if the Queen died after more than 50 years on the throne, there would be an even bigger display of public affection. At least I think so.