But the term that translates to “horrible year” only appeared in print for the first time in the mid 1980s, and only made its mark when Queen Elizabeth used it in a speech in November, 1992. It was the year that Prince Andrew and Sarah the Duchess of York separated, Princess Anne divorced Captain Mark Phillips, Princess Diana’s tell-all book was published, and part of Windsor Castle caught fire.

“I sometimes wonder how future generations will judge the events of this tumultuous year. I daresay history will take a more moderate view than that of some contemporary commentators,” the Queen said.

And she was right.

Looked at from 2018 that horrible year for the monarchy, which had many believing its days were numbered, seems pretty tame. We have had truly horrible years since then, when the world has seemed a more unstable and even frightening place. The September 2001 terrorist attacks and the near-collapse of global finance in 2008 and 2009 were shocking events with profound consequences that we are still living with today.

While 2018 has not had a single event that compares with those, it has seemed like an unusually unsettled and unsettling year, both in Australia and around the world.

We lost another prime minister because too many politicians forgot their core responsibility – to act in the public interest – and we learnt just how disgracefully our financial institutions acted when they thought they were not accountable.

We have watched as the rise or concentration of power by “strong man” leaders from Vladimir Putin to Xi Jinping, Recep Erdogan to Bashar Al Assad, Rodrigo Duterte to Donald Trump, has shown that political strength can tip dangerously close to authoritarian rule, and much worse, without checks and balances. We have also watched as those “strong men” have failed to respond to the most destabilising issue of 2018 – the impacts of climate change and what it means for our future.

We will leave 2018 with some relief but can take heart from the following – we are a fortunate country and we, as individuals, have the power and freedom to bring about change. That is worth remembering, and celebrating, as we start this new year.