Be kind to King Charles III. He will help the monarchy survive Queen Elizabeth's death.

Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is dead at 96. As the world reacts with sadness to the passing of her majesty, I assure you the British monarchy is in good hands ... at least for two more generations.

My late grandmother (a woman who personified blue-collar America) loved the royals and especially Elizabeth. She admired her sass and strength, and instilled that admiration in me. So I was infinitely sad to learn that this enigmatic figure – a bastion of willpower, self-discipline, history and tradition – is no longer with us. But as someone who very much wants the monarchy to survive, I am not concerned about its future.

Queen Elizabeth II was one of a kind and will be irreplaceable. But we should be kind to her family in the coming days, including her grieving son, now King Charles III. Because while he might not be the most beloved, he is absolutely up to the task of defending the monarchy. So is his son Prince William, when it is his turn to shoulder the burdens and privileges of being king.

King Charles III steps out of the shadows

I am saddened that this magnanimous woman has passed. But I am relieved that the monarchy is going to be just fine.

The monarchy may be a 1,000-year-old institution, but it is filled with people and people are full of flaws. And while the septuagenarian Charles is not the most charismatic royal imaginable, he's also not the worst (think Henry VIII). In spite of Charles' scandals as prince – including the well-known messy marriage and divorce to the late Princess Diana – the late queen's oldest child has a lot of experience to help him during this difficult transition.

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Charles checks the boxes needed to carry on with most of the status quo. His fancy education, time in the Royal Navy, his experience over the years as a representative of the crown and decades watching his mother and father, the late Prince Phillip, carry out their royal duties make him an entirely suitable next in line to continue with the tradition of the monarchy, and all its rules and requirements.

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Prince William: the most adept of all

When it comes time to hand over the crown to the next generation, the outlook is even brighter. Prince William was the apple of his grandmother's eye. Unlike his father, he has no messy divorce to recover from and has steered clear of personal scandals like his brother's scorched earth exit from the royal family, or King Edward VIII abdicating in 1936 to marry a twice-divorced American.

William does almost everything right – from his studies to his time in the Royal Air Force and Navy – his grandmother seems to have made sure her oldest grandson would not be the one to undo the Windsor family's name, as his comportment over the years shows.

Critically, for a future king, William got something else very right: He married the right woman who, at least in the public eye, also handles everything as close to perfect as humanly possible. Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, knows how to dress, how to speak and how to live in the royal fishbowl. She's educated, athletic, beautiful, elegant and, perhaps most important, measured. She also has no issue taking the supporting role to her husband, much like Prince Phillip was forced to do when he married Queen Elizabeth II back in 1947. Kate won't rock the boat too much, which is what the monarchy needs to continue to survive into the next century.

And survive it will.

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Everything is going to be OK

Monarchs walk a very fine line of maintaining tradition while also not alienating the public they serve. Over the years, there has been plenty of criticism that the institution has not modernized enough. But then again, too much modernity and it will lose the appeal it holds and possibly not survive. The monarchy serves to provide a portal into a romanticized bedtime story of wealth, sophistication and bloodlines that the common person (like myself) can enjoy in books, on the big screen and, of course, on Netflix.

But royal fans and nonfans alike can be sure that neither Charles nor William is the type to send shockwaves through a century-old institution. They will not be rocking the boat.

I will miss the queen's side eyes, quick wit, steely willpower and amazing fashion, among so many other things. I am grateful she was able to be with us for so long, and I am grateful that the hands of the monarchy, an institution I thoroughly enjoy and admire, will continue for at least two more generations.

May Queen Elizabeth II rest in peace. And God save King Charles III.

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Carli Pierson, a New York licensed attorney, is an opinion writer with USA TODAY and a member of the USA TODAY Editorial Board. Follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Queen Elizabeth's death leaves crown to King Charles, Prince William