Should I cancel holiday in London next weekend?

[threadneedle]

Dd has had a very tough year, she was very unwell but thankfully has made a good recovery and is starting art college at the end of the month. She had her 18th birthday when she was sick and we promised her a trip to London when she was better. Last week we decided to go for it and booked flights and accommodation in South Kensington. We planned to go to the National Gallery, Wallace Collection, V&A, and a trip to portobello market on Friday for vintage clothes shopping. Managed to get tickets to Cabaret too! I actually had tickets for the tour of Buckingham Palace too 😞

Now I'm not sure what to do. I imagine the area we are staying in will be incredibly busy, I remember vividly the aftermath of Diana's death, the crowds and the palpable sadness in the air.

I want this trip to be a joyful occasion for dd, she's very sensitive and I think we'd both struggle not to pick up on the sadness.

Would you go ahead anyway or try to rearrange?

Thanks so much everyone for your input and suggestions. I have been making enquiries and we can change the flights and accommodation, but we would miss Cabaret! We were so delighted to get those tickets and I can't transfer them unfortunately.

I would still like to go, from a historic point of view it would be something to tell the grandchildren about, but it's DD's birthday trip so I'll let her have the final say.

And yes, you are right, Diana's circumstances were so tragic, whereas the Queen's was a life well lived, so the emotions are different I think.

Thanks again 💐

Looks like the funeral will be Mon 19th at Westminster Abbey 11am - then a military and horse drawn procession down The Mall - then transfer to hearse at Hyde Park Corner for drive to Windsor for burial. So I think where you are staying and what you want to do you can avoid it.

Well we decided to go, but watching the news I'm having a bit of a wobble about that decision. I completely understand peoples desire to be there for such a historical moment but it looks to me that getting around central London is going to be very difficult next week.

It's hard to know what to do, if it was just me I'd go, but this is DD's birthday treat after a very hard year, and while she's interested in the Queen, she's not that interested IYKWIM. She just wants art galleries and shopping really.

Anyone who's been in London in the last few days, what do you think?

I live in London. I’d go, but tweak your activities and where you stay if you can? London is a big place full of incredible places to be and see. The museums will be fine, I reckon. Cabaret is meant to be amazing, too!

Tbh it might be quite interesting to be there during this time?

We are there next week...booked for ages...but going nowhere near it all. We will be East London

Oh my goodness, is that really what people think??!! Wow. I don't know her,of course I don't. That's mad.

What does DD want to do ?

I work in S Ken and live nearby. It’s chaos with the traffic due to road closures but that won’t affect your trip. I say don’t cancel. South Ken is ace! And you are more likely to have weather on your side next week than in the coming weeks.
If you want, you can have a wander around Buck House due to the historical events.

@Whoischristianbale I feel i knew her and I'm not even British! She has been 'in the news' for my entire life. I have had her in the sitting room every Christmas Day, followed her family news, etc. I have admired and felt quite humbled by her dedicating her life to duty. Of course I didn't meet her, but I still feel I knew her public persona and can empathise with her family at what must be a devastating time for them and also with those who didn't know her personally but felt she was an important figure in their lives.

@DDivaStar she really just wants to have the trip she originally planned, she wouldn't mind a bit of disruption due to current events but I think she'd be quiet disappointed if we had to change plans significantly.

@Decidualcast do you think we'll be able to get around easily enough? I used to know South Ken really well and I'd happily spend the whole trip around there!

I'd go but avoid Westminster and the Buckingham Palace area, which is easy to do, as others have said its a big city!

Personally I wouldn't lay flowers, but that's down to you. I'm no royalist but I can perhaps understand donating money to a charity you think she'd support in her memory. Princes Trust? Animal charity, Battersea perhaps?

I have laid flowers at a public memorial one, after 7/7 I left some at Kings X. On that occasion I felt a strong sense 9f solidarity with the victims as I was travelling to work each day on the tube and felt 'that could've been me' and felt I should somehow demonstrate that. I don't feel the same way about the Queen.

I would go. I would love to feel a part of a momentous time in our National history.
In fact I'm even toying with the idea of getting a train down to London for a day just to feel the atmosphere

I would definitely go and I’m glad you’ve decided to stick to your plans. I would take it as “lucky” timing that you can be in London around this time. Your activities sound fun and as long as your DD still wants to go it would be shame not to.

@threadneedle As long as you aren’t driving, getting around will be fine via walking or Tube. Might be a nice opportunity to get the Elizabeth line. Would cycling be an option? It’s a lovely thing to do around/within Hyde Park if you don’t fancy cycling on the roads.

London is one of the best cities to walk around.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, I highly suggest a trip to Hampstead, which is beautiful. Also a walk up Primrose Hill.

Please feel free to contact me when you are here! Happy to advise on anything. Please DM me.

Thank you all, I feel reassured! I'm really looking forward to it, it's our first trip since covid!

@Decidualcast that is so kind of you! Thank you 😊

Oh I totally get wanting to feel a part of it and if i was close i might have a wander by just find people saying they know her really strange.

go go go go go

Cabaret is mindblowingly amazing - don't miss that for anything, I would kill to go and see it again...

Maybe avoid Buckingham Palace area and Victoria - and I wouldn't waste the time out of the holiday to lay flower less it really means a lot to you - would also suggest maybe going to Camden or Greenwich Market instead of Portabello are they're further away from the whole Kensington/Palace/Victoria area

@threadneedle did you go? Did you love Cabaret?

Would love to know this too and if the funeral added or took from your DDs experience.

Wish I had seen this at the time we had the same doubts we came home yesterday.
In actual fact we didn’t feel it was any busier than any other trip to London we have had. The queue and the funeral didn’t really affect us in any way u less we went looking for it.
glad we went. Hope your dd had a great time and loved cabaret.
we went last minute to see Back to the Future the musical it was funny and the effects were amazing.

Ah Thanks for asking @downtonupton! We had a ball! in fact rather than feeling too busy, at times it felt eerily quiet.

Cabaret was amazing, if you have the opportunity to see it, definitely go. Because of the way the stage and seating have been configured I'd say every seat in the house would be a good one, and go early as the pre show show is brilliant too! We walked through Westminster afterwards which was deserted and felt quite spooky, although there were plenty of police around.

On Saturday morning we went to Green Park to lay some flowers which was very emotional, I found myself in tears looking at the cards and the scent in the air was beautiful. It was very busy, lots of families with young children as it was the weekend, but one we turned off Piccadilly the streets were pretty much deserted. We walked up to The Wallace Collection which was fantastic, spent long time there and then went to Liberty.

That evening we were really lucky to get tickets to Giselle performed by Ukrainian ballet dancers at the Coliseum. I had seen something about it on instagram so we thought we'd chance it and go to the box office and ended up getting brilliant tickets in the Dress Circle for half price. It is such a beautiful theatre. The performance was lovely and very moving. Afterwards we got the tube back from Embankment and met a lovely family who had just left the Lying In State. There was a lovely atmosphere there.

The rest of the time, Friday - we were in Portobello and the Kings Road and Sunday we spent the entire day, from opening to closing time at the V and A. DD was in heaven! Lovely day. If we hadn't been following the news we would never have known what was going on just down the road. The only sign was the constant helicopters, but otherwise it was perfectly normal.

We averaged 18000 steps a day and I am in bits now, all aches and pains! Totally worth it, I had forgotten what a wonderful city it is. We both love architecture so just wandering the streets was a treat. The walk back from Portobello market, through Notting Hill and Kensington Gardens was a real feast for the eyes.

Dd was astonished by the tube, our public transport in Dublin is very rudimentary in comparison!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged us to go, and @Milesty1 who recommended the Farm Girl cafe, we had breakfast there every morning, it was so good!

Can't wait to go back!

Wow - thanks for sharing your experience - it sounds epic. I bet you will cherish these memories and they will be enhanced and intensified by the realisation that you shared that wonderful city with a huge sense of emotion, history, every world leader and many humble people paying their respects. Amazing

so glad you had a fabulous time - am seeing Cabaret in October - very excited

Sounds brilliant and so memorable trip for her to look back on as an 18th birthday trip.