SOME commentators on the mood of the nation following the death of Queen Mother have focussed on what has been perceived as a certain coolness or indifference to the event.

Mindful of the national grief expressed at the time of the death of Princess Diana, they have drawn unfavourable comparisons.

In doing so they have ignored the fact that the manner of the Queen Mother's death was so dramatically different.

More importantly, the Queen Mother spoke for and represented a different generation to that of the tragic princess. While the princess was thoroughly modern, the Queen Mother was just as definitively traditional in her beliefs and the style of her life.

The young people who spent so much money on bouquets for Diana in 1997 do not remember the abdication crisis or the war years. They cannot recall how she and her young family came to represent the best of things British in the darker days of the last century.

So if the condolence books this week are not overflowing with sentimental prose, and the flower bouquets are not as mountainous as in 1997, we should not think ill of anybody because of it. The generations which loved and respected the Queen Mother do not feel the need for exaggerated expressions of grief to deal with the passing of a really great royal.

Each of us will remember her contribution to the life of the nation in their own special way on Tuesday. That it will be respectful and appropriately sombre is not a reason for anyone to suggest the Queen Mother was not truly loved and honoured.