In Impromptus today, I open with privilege. What does it mean to have privilege, or to come from privilege? Is it merely a matter of money? (Not that money’s anything to sneeze at.) I then get into U.S. politics, the fate of democracy, and other messes.

I wrote my column yesterday before news of the Queen came. Maybe I can use this post to jot a few notes.

• She set a great example.

• “She never puts a foot wrong,” went a line for many years. Maybe once or twice she did. I think she did. But there is no reason to dwell on these things after nearly a century of splendid service.

• In 2010 — I’ve Googled — Charles Moore referred to Queen Elizabeth in print as “a beautiful old lady.” I loved that. I loved his boldness, his forthrightness, his truthfulness. That is exactly what she was: a beautiful old lady.

The fact that Moore said this gave me the courage — or the cover — to say it myself.

• Here is a favorite picture of mine:

• When I circulated the above photo on Twitter, Dalibor Roháč, of the American Enterprise Institute, offered this:

Reagan and Havel. Two great democrats. Havel’s hand, I was privileged to shake. Never had the opportunity with the Gipper. But for years and years, I have pestered those who knew him — Bill Buckley, Van Galbraith, Lou Cannon — for stories (and they have kindly obliged).

• Prince Charles — now King Charles — I have seen once in my life. It was in 1986, at Harvard. Charles was there to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the university. He was without his wife, sadly for me — everyone my age loved Princess Diana. I saw Charles in his Rolls-Royce, as he drove by, or was driven by. He gave a wave out the back window. I thought, “Much handsomer than he appears in photos.”

• Our Admiral James Stavridis (retired) tweeted something excellent yesterday, I thought:

Today we are all British subjects. Godspeed and open water to the Queen.

• Alan Cowell’s obituary in the New York Times is superb — magisterial. (I almost want to say “imperial.”) A great little bio. Fitting.

• In the House of Commons, Boris Johnson, who ended his premiership on Tuesday, delivered a tribute. I think of an expression from golf: “dead solid perfect.” It really is — here.

• The words of David Pryce-Jones, in a conversation with me, I will paraphrase: “She had the mystique of sovereignty. And, in the eyes of the world, Elizabeth embodied Britain. She was conscious of this, too, and behaved accordingly.”

Incidentally, P-J was patted on the head by Elizabeth’s father, George VI.

• My mother has a memory of Queen Elizabeth — then Princess Elizabeth — and her sister, Margaret, during World War II. Word got around that the princesses were doing without new winter coats. They were wearing their old ones. You could see in photos and newsreels that the sleeves were too short. That made an impression on little kids, even in a small Michigan town, far away.

God bless the Queen.