Beneath modern Britain, the old skeleton of power and belief rises

There is the grisly spectacle of the corpse of an old man dressed and displayed to be venerated... Then there is the approaching marriage of a lugubrious middle-aged man and his mistress, a pleasant-looking if rather posh lady. Both have been married before, have grown-up children, seem to dislike publicity and have nothing special to say. Yet this humdrum event is being elevated into a moment of national significance, requiring TV crews, solemn-looking presenters and castellated backdrops. It is even delaying the Grand National

This is a reasonable, secular, undeferential, inherently democratic country... We have our ups and downs, but this is still a relatively friendly and comfortable place to live.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, old Adam comes stalking back, and we are expected to fall into line ... an ancient Britain of bloodlines, the throne of St Peter and the bellowing of Westminster man. Underneath the diverse day-to-day world, the old skeleton of power and belief is still there. A death, a marriage and a vote only need to combine, like planets, to bring it to life.