• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

The Queen dies, aged 96. The future of the monarchy

Matt N said:
People who’ve been have said that it’s surprisingly moving, and that the gravity of the situation doesn’t really hit you until you’re in there. News reporters have said that everyone exiting has looked visibly emotional, even people who didn’t necessarily expect to be.

Also, I know that some people have been affected by it because it reminds them of their own grief. For instance, I know my dad (who doesn’t even particularly like the royals) said he’d been more affected by it than he’d expected because it reminded him of his mum/my nan, who died of cancer in July.

Everyone’s process is different when it comes to death. If some people are comforted by queueing 24 hours to see the coffin, then that’s fine, in my eyes. I don’t really feel any sense of personal loss or severe grief over the Queen’s death, but I know some people have been really quite shaken by it. So much so that I often feel like I’m overly emotionless and don’t respect our monarch enough…
Click to expand...
You're not being overly emotionless. Your feelings on the matter are sensible and rational. You didn't know her. This doesn't make you a bad person, you're being told to be depressed and sad by being force fed it in the media and shouldn't be guilt tripped into it, especially since you yourself have lost a loved one this year which I'm very sorry to hear Matt.

Of course people coming out would be emotional. They're facing an expensive winter, are extremely tired from standing multiple hours in a queue and have just come out of a morbid, silent room with a corpse in it. As you'd expect, news reporters would be focusing on Claire and Gary from Milton Keynes blubbing on the way out because it supports their narrative.

I'm sure the Queen was a lovely lady. We're being bombarded with media at the moment to try and shine her in the best light possible (which you would have when most people die) and it actually looks like she may have had a decent sense of humour. But I wouldn't really know because, like most of the people down there, I never met her, I didn't know her, had no relationship with her and I'm not related to her.

I'm also not stupid enough to pretend that the death of a monarch who reigned for 70 years is going to be anything but a major news story and national event. But the only part of the news a couple of days ago that made me well up was hearing that little girls mothers words which were heartbreaking. It's getting me emotional as I type. It didn't come until near the end of the programme after tonnes of stuff about queues and royals walking around looking at bunches of flowers.

I have a girl of similar age to her, a grandmother who has deteriated in recent months who is of similar age as the Queen was and a loved one who came out of his fourth operation for a spreading cancer on Thursday. Most of us up and down the country will be in similar situations. I wouldn't dream of elevating the death of someone I don't know who lived a full 96 years and died peacefully in a palace surrounded by her loved ones to that of people I do care about or who have died in truly tragic circumstances. That's why I find some of these comparisons warped and a Insensitive.
 
Matt.GC said:
That's why I find some of these comparisons warped and a Insensitive.
Click to expand...

Maybe the best thing to do is not to make any comparisons between the two. When it comes to grief and death it can be a very individual thing as to what people find sad, there’s no point trying to compare and contrast or weigh up with is a greater loss between the passing of two people.

The death of a 9 year old girl in a shooting is absolutely a horrible awful tragedy.

And the death of a long of a long reigning monarch can bring out a strong sense of loss in many people and may well be a once in a lifetime event of extreme historical importance and significance.

And that’s it, if we want we don’t have to look at the two together and compare aspects of one to another, we can just see them as two events that happened to occur at a similar time that have both affected many on whatever levels.
 
Matt.GC said:
You're not being overly emotionless. Your feelings on the matter are sensible and rational. You didn't know her. This doesn't make you a bad person, you're being told to be depressed and sad by being force fed it in the media and shouldn't be guilt tripped into it, especially since you yourself have lost a loved one this year which I'm very sorry to hear Matt.

Of course people coming out would be emotional. They're facing an expensive winter, are extremely tired from standing multiple hours in a queue and have just come out of a morbid, silent room with a corpse in it. As you'd expect, news reporters would be focusing on Claire and Gary from Milton Keynes blubbing on the way out because it supports their narrative.

I'm sure the Queen was a lovely lady. We're being bombarded with media at the moment to try and shine her in the best light possible (which you would have when most people die) and it actually looks like she may have had a decent sense of humour. But I wouldn't really know because, like most of the people down there, I never met her, I didn't know her, had no relationship with her and I'm not related to her.

I'm also not stupid enough to pretend that the death of a monarch who reigned for 70 years is going to be anything but a major news story and national event. But the only part of the news a couple of days ago that made me well up was hearing that little girls mothers words which were heartbreaking. It's getting me emotional as I type. It didn't come until near the end of the programme after tonnes of stuff about queues and royals walking around looking at bunches of flowers.

I have a girl of similar age to her, a grandmother who has deteriated in recent months who is of similar age as the Queen was and a loved one who came out of his fourth operation for a spreading cancer on Thursday. Most of us up and down the country will be in similar situations. I wouldn't dream of elevating the death of someone I don't know who lived a full 96 years and died peacefully in a palace surrounded by her loved ones to that of people I do care about or who have died in truly tragic circumstances. That's why I find some of these comparisons warped and a Insensitive.
Click to expand...

I know others have said it, but these things affect everyone differently. I often find death in films/tv quite upsetting but the death of the Queen feels weird rather than upsetting, as if something is missing.
But talking to my Mum last night she said the death of the Queen reminded her of the death of her parents as the ages were similar, my Mum was born just after the coronation so I get why it would feel different and why the death is reminding her of her own parents.
But I can also understand for many people there is no connection at all and they just want to get on with their life.

I'd be almost certain it won't be the same when Charles passes as obviously he isn't going to have a 70 year reign, therefore people won't have built the same connection.
 
Rick said:
I'm 11 hours in, approaching security.

Edit - approaching another massive cattlepen prior to security.
Click to expand...
Where did you enter the queue, out of interest? And would you say it’s moving quickly?
 
Joined the queue yesterday at 12.30 and was out by 23.30, got home an hour or so later.

I'm not a royalist and didn't feel particularly emotional about the Queen dying. I woke up yesterday morning with nothing planned and decided to go and witness history.

The first half was brilliant and was basically a pub crawl through Bermondsey, London Bridge and South Bank. Lots of pubs doing takeaway pints. After passing the London Eye though it's nothing but "The Queue". The final cattlepen boss was hard work. Took about 3 hours to get through that.

It was incredible stepping into Westminster Hall, so glad I did it.
 
I've had a phenomenal 36 hours in London to be a part of history.

Hyde Park, the gun salutes, the floral tributes, the motorcades.

And now, flags return to full-mast and we move on.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
 
I thought that everything yesterday was so wonderfully done, the very best of Britain. The Queen was such a unique person, and I really enjoyed hearing all of the little stories about her from people who met her; it is clear that she was a very kind and thoughtful lady with a real sense of humour.

Now she may rest peacefully with her parents and husband.
 
Had a (very) last minute decision to head down to London after the meet at Towers. I'm not a hardcore royalist or a hardcore republican either, but the geek and people watcher in me wanted to see a bit of history in the making. I wasn't one to be standing in The Queue™, but covered a good 10 miles walking along the South Bank on Sunday night, across to Westminster, up to the palace and then back down again to Parliament Square - meeting multiple temporary closures for motorcades and various vans, police and lorries to pass through. The sheer scale of the organisation for the whole thing was astounding and absolutely fascinating to see. I don't think there was a single police force I didn't see represented in the capital, and walking around you could hear so many different languages from the public and the assembled press. There were such huge numbers of people already camping out along the areas of the route that remained open overnight.

Meeting up with @AstroDan and others on Sunday and after an early start we ended up down in Hyde Park for the service. Thankfully after a rather crowded start being stuck into the street opposite due to motorcades passing by on the way to the Abbey, the actual time we spent in the park was much calmer. It was probably the best option in the end, still being able to be in the capital, but still having plenty of space without being hemmed in for hours on end. Being just behind the gun salutes was a real experience too, as was the 2 minute silence. Seeing the sheer number of floral tributes was an experience, and I'm glad to see the ones in Windsor were used as part of the ceremony lining the Long Walk.

The coronation is rumoured to be in Spring/Summer next year, but I doubt we'll see anything on the level as this weekend gone - and with changing opinions we most likely won't again. It's certainly something I won't forget in a hurry.
 
They could tie it in with the state opening of parliament for a ceremonial double-header and commission cruise liners to ship in the Americans and Japanese en masse.
 
I strangely found myself glued to the TV on Monday, I hate crowds so couldn’t bring myself to go to London but slightly regret it now after listening to some of my friends who did go.

I guess now our great queen has been laid to rest the time will come that the future of the monarchy has to be discussed and what the alternative is.
For me I’d hate to have an elected head of state, we would end up with another chancer lawyer just like most PM’s.
I actually think what we have now works, by depoliticising the head of state it brings a great deal of tourists and let’s face it nobody does state occasions quite like the UK does all of the pomp and ceremony.
The queen in her last couple of decades had started to slim down the monarchy anyway getting rid of a lot of the hangers on, I think King Charles will continue this strategy.
 
The fact that the Queen never did politics or 'was above it' as the daft phrase goes was down to nothing more than her own convention. The courts, army and all laws operate under the monarch's name.

I'm sure people's attitudes would change if Charles refused to grant royal assent to something based on his personal views, or started banging on about something people don't agree with.

I'm not advocating for any change or republic, but people would soon change their tune if the monarch had views or did things they didn't like. Also given how many people say "they should give it to William" or similar just proves that many people know naff all about the system - you don't get to pick.

Let's not forget that no one made Charles King, it was an automatic act, accompanied by a unilateral declaration by Buckingham Palace. If William had a severe psychopathic personality disorder, would it still be viewed as a good system?
 
Tom said:
Let's not forget that no one made Charles King, it was an automatic act, accompanied by a unilateral declaration by Buckingham Palace. If William had a severe psychopathic personality disorder, would it still be viewed as a good system?
Click to expand...

There's a definite irony in many not wanting "unelected officials" involved in a country but love the monarchy.

I guess elected just by who you came out of?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top