But the goalposts have shifted now. The old guard of the Queen, her mother and Prince Philip are gone and there's not a lot left in their place.
I am, for my sins, a news junkie. I'm tied to news feeds and forever looking for stories that might interest me and things that I could write about.
A day doesn't go by without a story or two about Meghan Markle. For the life of me I'm not sure why, although I do know that news organisations don't publish stories that don't generate clicks, so there must be a market for Markle-related copy.
As there has been in the wake of the Queen's passing.
Hamish Bidwell. Photo/ Warren Buckland
Where was Meghan? Who said what about her or who didn't mention her at all? Who did she stand with? Were they chummy? Did she observe the correct protocols?
I don't want to read that junk myself and I feel that continually bringing everything back to the spouse of a relatively minor royal demeans the late Queen and the monarchy itself.
The new King himself, Charles III, isn't a universally admired man, while one of his brothers appears not to have led a life of blameless excellence.
And then there's the rest, who nine days out of 10 are fodder for tabloid tittle-tattle, rather than revered figures.
All of which brings me back to whether we might discuss republicanism at some point.
It's hard to talk about anything in New Zealand at the moment.
We are forever seeking to label people. To out them as this or condemn them for that.
If we put as much time into building houses as we do identity politics, then maybe fewer people would be sleeping in cars or motel rooms.
I reckon our tolerance for the royal family will wane. That without a unifying and respected force at the helm, we'll become less proud to be subjects.
We don't have to be, after all, but my fear is we're no longer civil enough to even have the discussion.
I bang on about this a bit, but I am genuinely saddened by how much hate I see in New Zealanders. I can't believe the way we round on those who don't share our views, and our inability to entertain different opinions.
That's why, as disappointed as I am to say it, I doubt we'll ever become a republic. We simply won't be able to settle on a system or a flag or an anthem or anything, without it all descending into unpleasantness.
I think that's something to reflect on in a general sense.
By continually focusing on the things that potentially divide us as a nation, we rarely embrace the things that unite us. That's not the country I grew up in.
Deaths are always a time to take stock. The Queen is gone and things won't be the same again.
As New Zealanders, what are we going to do about that?
