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The Queen herself has been touched by the depth of public support. In her heartfelt broadcast to the nation on Monday, she spoke of the 'overwhelming' outpouring of affection for her mother.

"I thank you... from my heart for the love you gave her during her life and the honour you now give her in death," she told the British public. "May God bless you all."

The contrast with the mood of the nation following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, could hardly be more marked.

On September 4 1997, four days after Diana's death, the feelings of the British public towards the Royal Family, which had remained silent and distant since the princess's tragic death, were verging on hostility. "Queen must end her silence" thundered a leader in the Evening Press that day, warning it was becoming "increasingly apparent this week that a gulf exists between the United Kingdom's head of State and her subjects".

Today, as the nation once more surrenders to national mourning, nothing could be further from the truth. The feelings of sympathy for the Queen are very real, for she has lost both her mother and sister in just a few weeks, and in her Golden Jubilee year, too.

Polls have confirmed the marked shift in public opinion. One poll a year ago showed that 34 per cent of the British people wanted the monarchy scrapped - an all-time high. A survey published yesterday by NOP for the Independent - not the most monarchist of newspapers - revealed that 54 per cent now support the monarchy, while only 12 per cent want it abolished.

But will it last? Until the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother this Jubilee year, a series of gaffes involving minor Royals tested public patience with the Royal Family. Sophiegate and the row over Prince Edward's TV company Ardent filming William at university did little to enhance the Windsors.

Only recently, Buckingham Palace was apparently concerned at the lack of enthusiasm for the Queen's Golden Jubilee - in marked contrast to her Silver Jubilee 25 years ago.

Professor Stephen Haseler, chairman of the pressure group Republic which is campaigning for an elected head of state, believes the wave of support and sympathy for the Royal Family being demonstrated at the moment will not last.

The British people's natural sense of sympathy, taken together with a feeling that the Queen Mother had in some way represented an era and the almost saturation coverage given to her funeral, meant a public show of affection and sympathy was almost inevitable, he says.

"This is a natural public reaction. But I don't see why that should carry on to solidify an institution that is past its sell-by date," he says. "This country is not going to continue to live in the past."

If anything, Prof Haseler believes the death of the Queen Mother may pave the way for change. She, more than any other person, represented the "era of the end of Empire," he says. The ceremony and pageantry of the last week was not simply a way of saying goodbye to a much-loved person. "In a sense, we're saying goodbye to a whole way of thinking as well."

Anne McIntosh, Conservative MP for the Vale of York, does not agree. She insists that those newspapers which played up disaffection with the Royal Family in the wake of the death of Princess Diana and following the troubles of the Earl and Countess of Wessex were out of touch with the real feeling of the people.

In her own Vale of York constituency, she says, she has been aware of constant, loyal support for the Royal Family. The huge turnout for the Queen Mother's funeral proved that the Royal Family retained a place in the public's affection.

"Downing Street were trying to put a slight dampener on it, saying not many people would turn up, and they were proved wrong," she says.

What she is adamant about is that the British people do not want to scrap the monarchy in favour of an elected president.

That is a view shared, by and large, by Allen Warren, an expert on modern British history who is head of the history department at York University and a lay canon of York Minster.

"I think one of the things that has surprised everybody is the diversity and range of people who have been on the streets, queuing to write notes of condolence in condolence books," he says. "People thought that it would be the older generation only, but that has been proved not to be the case. Some of the press, and received opinion, clearly was wrong."

Nevertheless, Dr Warren says, members of the Royal Family must not expect the deference and respect felt for the Queen Mother simply to be transferred to other members of 'The Firm'. Younger generations of Royals will need to earn our continuing respect and affection.

In the immediate future, as the Queen herself becomes older and more frail, much of the burden is likely to fall on the shoulders of Prince Charles and Princess Anne, he believes - with the Duke of York taking up the role almost of the 'Royal for Yorkshire'.

The precise shape of the monarchy in the years ahead could depend partly on the choices that Charles in particular makes, Dr Warren believes. The British people do not want a 'jazzy', bike-riding, hip young monarchy. If anything, we want our Royal Family to be a little dull, respectable, and tireless in the pursuit of good works and voluntary activities.

But there is already evidence, he says, that people largely approve of Charles' efforts to be responsible - and providing he and other senior Royals do nothing to alienate the public, there is no reason they should not continue.

"I think the demand for serious change in a Republican direction is pretty small," he says. "As long as the Royal Family does not get at odds with its core support - ordinary people who live in the provinces and suburbs and live respectable lives - I don't think there is any reason to believe that the monarchical system won't survive."

Updated: 11:21 Wednesday, April 10, 2002