It's a somewhat sad and disturbing event, one that will affect a lot of people. Many won't care, but many more will find their lives disrupted and their dreams of the future tipped upside-down and inside-out. Like many marriages this one had its share of ups and downs. But the stresses on the marriage, economic and societal and not least the feeling of autonomous-decision-making hampered beyond comfort, had the final say.

Divorce it was, and it will not be a pretty one. The disgruntled parties who have found themselves waving goodbye with great reluctance and more than a bit of resentment to the partner that has decided it is best to leave than to stay, will not be wishing the one leaving all the best in the world.

They were of the opinion, obviously, that with the union intact the disaffected one was intent on leaving a situation where they already had 'all the best in the world', and finding it wanting nonetheless, was determined to sunder the covenant that made the union the envy of the world. True, within the marriage abrasive and violent arguments ending in conflict were avoided. True, the strength of those within the marriage whose market was robust carried the least robust ones with them.

But there were sacrifices, even as those within the union had the freedom to roam at will, those who remained found their culture, their traditions and even their laws impinged upon, suddenly subservient to an order that melded disparate cultures and traditions into one great melting pot, an aggregation of values and heritage that sat poorly on many.

Finally, when one too many penurious members of the union lived above their means at the expense of others in the union, and an unannounced and unanticipated mass influx of strangers suddenly disrupted the serenity that did prevail, the decisions made by the more powerful, feeling authoritatively entitled, bullied the others into a collective agreement that sat poorly on their own sense of destiny.

In the end, Great Britain may have saved its heritage, traditions and self-respect, settling into the old-new normalcy of self-government. What remains to be seen is how the other collective spouses will ultimately react; a spur to similar action by some, or a morose acceptance and a tightening of the union, to exclude the Sceptred Isle.