Peter Hitchens used a column in the Daily Mail to mark what he described as the third anniversary of queuing to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state and to argue that her death changed Britain’s national mood.
Hitchens wrote that the experience of waiting overnight to file past the catafalque in Westminster Hall left him "heartsore," recalling the autumn light over the Thames and a deep silence inside the hall. He said the moment the sceptre, orb and crown were lifted from the coffin made him feel that "something good had gone out of the world and that something else, grey, dank and small, had taken its place." Hitchens characterised his views as those of a "hard political monarchist," distinguishing that stance from sentimental royalism, and quoted Alfred, Lord Tennyson as he described what he called a dispersing trace of civility and honour in public life.
The columnist moved from personal recollection to wider commentary, saying he has heard people describe the country as "rudderless" since the Queen's death. He framed the monarch's long life as a stabilising presence and suggested that its absence had allowed a more "worldly dispensation" to take hold.
Hitchens also addressed the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a pre-election rally in July 2024, referring to the shooter, Thomas Crooks, who was killed at the scene. He said the killing of a supporter, Charles Kirk, had reminded him of how little information has become public about Crooks. Hitchens wrote that he expected fuller details to emerge but expressed scepticism about mainstream news organisations, saying some outlets are "either not interested in such stuff or actively suppress it." He asked readers if anyone could trace the origin of reports that Crooks "had lived with his grandparents for a time before moving on after they caught him using drugs and told him off," attributing the claim to coverage at the time.
Turning to international affairs, Hitchens said recent incidents involving Russian drones entering Polish airspace and the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines reinforced his "nostalgia for the Cold War." He cited the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream line and the reaction of Poland's then-foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, who he said tweeted "Thank you, USA!" and later deleted the post. Hitchens noted that the U.S. government has denied involvement in the Nord Stream incidents and that Russia has denied deliberately sending drones into Polish airspace.
He argued that contemporary European politics remain shaped by historical grievances, pointing to a recent call by Poland’s president at a World War II commemorative site for reparations from Germany for the 1939 invasion. Hitchens said such appeals and the persistence of old resentments give the continent a different tenor from the bipolar Cold War years, and he wrote that modern statesmen seem willing to revive those memories.
The column mixes memoir, cultural observation and political commentary. Hitchens framed his reflections around the emotional impression left by the Queen’s funeral rites and used that frame to critique contemporary media coverage and to draw a line from recent security incidents to broader historical currents in Europe. The piece appeared in the Daily Mail's opinion pages.