Is lying in state a closed coffin?

[GreenGreenGrassBlue]

I’m from a country where all our funerals are open coffin so we follow that culture here too and bring the body home for family and friends to visit. I’m assuming it’s a closed coffin due to the number of days for the Queen?

Who is JP2 ?

John Paul II, I assume

It seems many countries do open casket. It’s deeply cultural it seems rather than religious. I’ve been Googling. I just wasn’t sure with Royalty.

I had to look this up as I don't remember it

thank goodness we don't do that here.

I am from a culture where open coffin is usual - as OP says, it can be quite helpful to ‘see’ that the person has gone (for family, close friends etc as part of coming to terms with the loss), but I don’t think I’d want to see HM the Queen like that.

I prefer to remember the deceased as they were in life, & think that a closed coffin is more dignified especially for a public figure.

Gorbachev was open casket most recently. Yes the Popes too.

I think embalmed bodies do rot but the process is slowed down significantly.

Shocked at how disrespectful some are being here... ok it's not your norm or culture, but it is the norm in many other cultures which have long established communities in the UK. Acknowledge that it wasn't something you were aware of, or have seen before - but the tone of disgust is rude and xenophobic.

Mumsnet is so weird about death. How are people getting offended about merely discussing casket traditions and preferences.

I’m Irish living in Ireland. When my mother died on a Monday last year she wasn’t embalmed. We saw her Tuesday & final goodbye Wednesday morning before burial.

my bro in law also died last year, I think he wax embalmed. Spent 2 days in his home

It’s really is the norm in our South Asian cultures across religions. It would be seen as disrespectful not to if that makes sense. I just really wasn’t sure with Royalty hence asking the question.

Shocked at how disrespectful some are being here

Really? you're shocked that we find some people wanting to gawp at our Queen and former head of state is disrespectful? what's disrespectful is that some people expect to.

I’ve been Googling now @VaddaABeetch and realise it’s not a Western thing but closed casket is a very British thing. I didn’t want to disrespect and like I said people of our culture brought up here/born here will still have open casket.

for example we also as a family wash our family member’s bodies. The funeral home provided for this - we dress them everything.

No one gawps at anyone. We are sad it’s the last time we’ll see them. Seeing them open casket it is like - well that’s it. They’re gone.

You're being abhorrent, wind your neck in.

The question is, does anywhere else have closed caskets or are the UK unique in this? Every other country seems to have open caskets from what I have observed in news reports etc

Generally in the UK, you would not have an open casket at the funeral, but family could see the deceased person at the funeral home (also referred to as the chapel of rest) in the days before the funeral. As a previous poster mentioned, the body wouldn’t be embalmed but would have been washed, and dressed in the clothes you chose for them. It helped me to say goodbye to my mum before the funeral itself.

Definitely not the done thing in England thank goodness.

@GreenGreenGrassBlue : despite also being South Asian and having attended several open casket funerals (or rather, visited the deceased at home), you must realise this is not the norm in the UK.

I also read a lot of your comments as in poor taste: what is appropriate in one community/circumstance is not in all. Nor is dwelling on this particular aspect of the period of mourning.

You've proved my point really - any one from a different tradition is "gawping" at "our queen".

Yes, tbh it's nothing more than morbid curiosity to want to see the queens body on TV. she's not a relative and it's not usual over here.

I also don't think it makes grieving any easier if it is your own family, particularly if circumstances are unpleasant or particularly tragic, but to each their own

I'm in Ireland. When my Dad died we had him in an open coffin at home and walked him for 24 hours. The Irish wake is very special and a very cathartic part of the process. My grandmother was also waked with open coffin and all my relatives. My kids have been to a few wakes from around 5 years old. Death is very normal and the rituals are such an important part of our culture. I find it bizarre that peopke are so freaked out about the idea of seeing a dead body!!!

Gah!!! Waked him not walked!!!

Awful post. For starters, the Pope is a head of state, and reverted by Catholics worldwide in the way the Queen is in the UK (I'm neither Catholic nor British).

Don't know why OP is getting such a hard time - open coffins are a very normal part of funeral rituals worldwide. Perfectly reasonable question to ask.