"She has served our nation with such dignity, with such ability for so many years. I know the whole country and the whole House will want to join me in saying 'long may she reign over us'."

Thus gushed the Prime Minister in blandly servile platitudes.

And so we were thrust into the latest torrent of obsequious tributes to the Queen.

Politicians of all creeds are piling in to shore up their popularity by jumping on the #HappyBirthdayYourMajesty bandwagon, and even self-confessed republican Jeremy Corbyn spoke in tribute to Liz in the cringeworthy Westminster "debate" on her milestone.

In fact the past decade has offered up a dizzying array of different excuses for Her Majesty's loyal servants to effusively praise her.

In 2015, she became the longest reigning monarch in history (63 years and counting); in 2012 she celebrated her 60th year on the shiny chair (there were street parties for that one); and in 2007 we were encouraged to celebrate her living longer than any previous ruler.

While republicans may retch, it seems the public cannot get enough of Her Majesty, with 63% viewing her brood positively in a recent YouGov poll.

Quite what her and her family have done to inspire such devotion is less clear.

I bear Elizabeth Windsor no particular ill will. She has handled her position with a measure of dignity that her son seems unlikely to possess, and has remained politically neutral in an era where blind intervention has brought so many difficulties.

This lack of political influence is essential to maintaining her and her family's position in an age where monarchy seems at best a legislative anachronism and at worst a significant barrier to democracy and equality.

This is perhaps the Queen's greatest achievement. She has acquiesced in the transformation of her institution from constitutional bulwark to chocolate box pageantry. They adorn postcards and tourist trinkets but dare not stray into the political arena lest the public's patience for a deeply undemocratic system be sorely tested.

But the Queen's relatively apolitical stance does not make the royal family a benign force.

Inequality is perhaps the single biggest challenge facing the UK in the 21st century, and politicians from all sides claim to be driven by closing the gap between rich and poor.

This simply does not square with the unearned privilege and obscene wealth which continues to be afforded to the Queen and her family.

The oft-repeated justification that she continues to be "good for tourism" does not wash. Quite apart from their cash and land reserves, there is a significant and corrosive symbolic problem with the perpetuation of the throne.

Throwing off the shackles of royal rule has been a defining feature of modern democracy the world over. It is anathema to accept the continuation of an ancient dynasty with inherent power and respect over you or I by right of birth.

The Queen has maintained a grip on the position with her artful neutrality, but her son and heir apparent has shown none of her ability to marshal a 21st century monarchy.

Prince Charles is a threat to the royal position, which must privately worry Her Majesty as she assesses her legacy and the future position of the House of Windsor.

The infamous Spider Memos showed Charles' approach to political lobbying was bullish and facile in equal measure. And the way his scattergun pronouncements were taken on board by those at the heart of government reveals how he may be able to exert undue influence when he finally assumes the top job.

And politicians' casual obsequiousness cannot be written off as weak populism. It is a tacit acceptance of inequality, and undermines both democratic principles and pretensions of working towards social parity at the most elemental level.

This latest celebration may serve as a signal of the innate unfairness which persists in our country, but it is also a reminder that her reign on the throne will soon come to an end.

While her passing will not be a matter for celebration, it will present an opportunity to end a system of privilege which has no place in the equal society most of wish to build.

Comment by Alastair Brian, a digital journalist at STV. You can contact him at alastair.brian@stv.tv.