The passing of the Queen and period of mourning

You aren't being awful I feel the same and think the same as you and I don't see that as a problem.

I am sorry she's gone. I like the Royals. I met Princess Beatrice in hospital a few years ago and she was lovely. I always imagined the Queen would be like that 

You were just saying what we were all thinking and being the brave one to say it.  No one wishes any one ill here and we all have sympathy for the family, but the handling of this has got something to do with something I can't fathom other than grief.  If it were just grief, we'd all just back off and leave the family alone.  

Well, yes constitutional monarchies are just ornamental really.  They are there for meet and greet and set a national tone.  There's no actual power with that.

I also just received an email from the NAS, as follows:-

Actually, an NT friend of mine said much the same today.  She liked the Queen and thought of her as a considerate person. For that reason, she doesn't really feel that she would have wanted all that doom and gloom thrust on everyone for an age and wouldn't have welcomed the fuss.  

You see this where I really don't get the institutional conventions on this at all.  Whereas I don't want to be forced into sack cloth and ashes because sad as it is she wasn't my mum.  By contrast, she is HIS mum, you'd think true respect would be to leave the poor man alone until the funeral so he can grieve in quiet.  I feel sorry for Charles on that front.  He's out and about today meeting "consoling" strangers who never met her, while he may just want to curl up under the duvet and nurse his own feelings.  Why do the public think they've a right to bother the man?

What?  Can they actually enforce that?  I'm astounded!

For me, black is apparently going to be obligatory at work though - what?

She was Queen during the period where Britain went from super power to nonentity.

From industrial power house, to basket case.

From leader of the world politically and morally to THIS.

What does being Queen mean? Did she "rule over us"? Or was she just ornamental?

And these people who "have great power" and "Rule over us" why can they never use it to stop a war?

I'm sorry, I've been closely observing several months of utter destruction and tragedy over on the Ukraine channel, and the human tragedy I've been witnessing (which only seems to make ME sad, most of the commenters seem very "up for it" whichever "side" they cheerlead for) far outstrips that of a rich old lady passing away peacefully in her bed, after a lifetime of people being as nice to her as money can buy...

I'm saddened by the loss of the Queen. I liked her a lot, lovely woman and she did a lot of good in her time here. 

I was upset yesterday and I did my mourning last night for her and her family. But life goes on. I know it sounds harsh, I don't mean for it to sound that way but I won't continue to mourn for days and days otherwise it'll get me down and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want people mourning for ages. Life is meant to be happy and lived. It is precious and I won't waste it mourning and feeling sad.

Today I went for a walk in the country fields and sat for an hour listening to gentle music. I did think of the Queen at the time, I hope she was with Philip and both are happy.

I think that it is about time that the monarchy was downsized, so that it comes to resemble the monarchies of countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark. 

Me too, Im very worried about how much my monthly direct debit will go up, can barely afford what it is now.

I really worry about pensioners on their own without family to help too, must be so difficult for them

My Dad was born the day the last King died

Yes it must be very hard for Charles that he has to do all these duties and statements at a time when he's grieving his mother

I think the period of Royal Mourning refers to the amount of time the royal family must be in mourning, I think thats different from national mourning. 

I felt very sad when I heard the announcement too and quite emotional but like you say some of the stuff since has been over the top

And I just noticed that the Google logo has gone grey.  That, to me, is excessive. 

Plus so many organisations are altering their homepages or FB pages, and maybe they genuinely want to or maybe not.  But I think there's now some pressure to conform here. 

I hate to break it to you but the period of mourning is actually going to be longer than 10 days. It has been announced on the news this morning that:

"Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King's wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen's Funeral"

As the funeral is thought to be in 10/11 days time that means the period of mourning will be around 17/18 days.

Of course you are free to observe that time in any way you choose and it is certainly not compulsory to mourn. I understand that if events are cancelled it might seem that way.

I watched some of the live TV coverage yesterday and I did become quite emotional when the announcement was made. However I won't be watching much more of it, except for the actual funeral. I do think they go over the top with the coverage, especially the BBC. I have plenty of recorded TV programmes I can watch instead.

This is the first time a monarch has passed in the age of mass media,  social media, rolling news etc. Of course there were radio (and some TV?) when the last one passed but it's now very much immediately at our fingertips. So I think all the "pomp" and tradition is because this is what has happened before. It was a way to let people know what had happenedand celebrate a life and grieve. We now have a greater quantity of media so there's a greater quantity of consuming it.  I don't know how previous monarch deaths have been received nationally but we have a far greater quantity of prominent social figures now. So all the hoo-hah might all seem a bit slightly out of place these days. (Like the ten days of national mourning...maybe in years gone by everything would've stopped but we live different and busier lives now). I'm not fussed about the royal family but it's nice we still have one and it's still really sad. It's up to us how we choose to deal or not deal with it and that's no one else's business.

Billy87 said:

I also thought it was disgusting that the BBC newsreader said that the cost of living crisis is now "insignificant" because of this.

That IS actually quite a disgusting thing to say.  

I can remember when Diana died wondering at reactions. It was sad but for me the recent loss of my mother was more significant. 

Regarding the Queen, for me it is more wondering what will happen now as it is the end of an era in a time that already has a lot of change. The Queen was someone who could address the nation at challenging times without an political influence.

Perhaps elderly people who remember the King dying would expect something similar. I also wonder if it is a cultural thing, as in some cultures people dress in black for a long time. Sometimes I think we expect to get back to normal quickly. However for the new King it must be difficult as personally he has no private time before he is expected to start his duties.

Billy87 said:

I also thought it was disgusting that the BBC newsreader said that the cost of living crisis is now "insignificant" because of this. So all the poor old ladies that may starve or freeze to death in their council flats this winter due to poverty now suddenly dont matter? 

Maybe for the rest of the evening’s programming but surely not in general. Showing the privilege of having a very well paying job if they don’t think people will still be worried. Even the new lower cap is £70 a month more than I pay at the moment