anyone queuing to see the coffin in London atm?

[DickDarstedly]

I am wondering how long the queue is and how the organisation is working out. Are there enough toilets? Is it true that the wristband allows you to leave and come back?

EDITED BY MNHQ Please find the link to the new thread www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4635946-anyone-queuing-to-see-the-coffin-in-london-atm-pt-2

They are not just queueing to walk past the coffin of a woman they did not know. They are queuing to be part of an elaborate cultural ritual which has meaning for them and many others. The queue is an integral part of that ritual. There is really nothing to "get", ritual is an integral part of being human. Some choose to take part in aspects of the ritual, and some do not, that does not make it incomprehensible. If you were watching a ritual of a native American tribe or at a Tibetan monastery would you also say you didn't "get" it?

This

With a cost of living crisis, I should think a cheap, or free - if you're over 60 - bus or train ride for a Londoner would be a good, inexpensive day out. Pageantry; a mood of good will and shared experience; honour for a leader whose devotion to duty and smiling good nature for the public can hardly be denied, and which will act as a pattern for anyone looking ahead to years of responsibility - perhaps for the sake of their children.

If you don't want to understand the monarch's job as a ceremonial one, and you want to hold her personally responsible for decisions of various of her governments, then maybe there is a negative issue, but common sense prevailing, you accept that she has been there to not get involved in politics, to thank ordinary volunteers from all walks of life and to help with greeting other nation heads of state.

I think with a packed lunch and drinks it doesn't have to be an expensive day out and one which would be fun.

Through the night? For eight to twelve hours? That’s what I don’t understand. People are standing in a queue for that long as a meaningful day out. And some are doing it with toddlers.

But why are you making this thread about you and your understanding (or lack of) with all these questions? Why don't you go and interview these people if you're so genuinely concerned and stop derailing this thread to be 'me, me, me'. Do you see how selfish and self-centred you are when something doesn't conform to your worldview and you demand the answers, instead of just letting it lie or passing you by quietly?

Well that’s like comparing apples & oranges, I doubt Buddhists & Native Americans did stuff like this www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth

Just to add I have nothing against people showing their respect but come on Andrews not the only one whos been up to dodgy stuff, do some digging, land grabs & all sorts.

Well there's no helping you then as your lack of understanding is pretty astounding.

The Queen often got involved in politics but not to help you or I, as always only for selfish reasons, to protects ones wealth.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth

Why are people so tedious on Mumsnet these days? Oh look, here's a pretty innocuous thread that I personally disagree with or wouldn't do myself. I'm gonna jump on and make sure EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT ME. If you're not queueing or don't want to queue or don't watch the live thread, just bore off!

*Through the night? For eight to twelve hours? That’s what I don’t understand. People are standing in a queue for that long as a meaningful day out. And some are doing it with toddlers.
*
It's extraordinary really. When I looked at the feed full of all ages and types of ordinary bods just now I thought - you've just queued for 8 hrs! Through the night! I'm quite amazed.

But it's actually rather wonderful and inspiring for me personally, the extraordinary ness of it. I'm not Royalist.

And the point you're missing is that they do find it meaningful.

I do worry that some people on this thread (and others) seem to have no ability to imagine people thinking or feeling things that they don't.

I don’t get it ... she wasn’t some incredible war hero, inventor or scientist. She was a normal woman, born into incredible privilege, who spent her days eating tiny sandwiches and reading the Racing Post. Whatever floats your boat though!

There’s another thread bemoaning everyone for being too instant and lacking community

I disagree with that thread but also here’s something that has meaning, community, is emotionally moving to people and still it’s scoffed at

I don’t get how someone can’t at least try to get it even if it’s not for them.

I must say that the timing of the Queen's death has distracted everyone from the shit show of a PmlM & new government. I woke up this morning to hear Kwasi Karteng mulling over whether to scrap the cap on bankers bonuses at a time when people are financially struggling.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62906854

Good luck to those queueing, I hope you're not waiting too long.

I'm thinking about going in to Green Park today to see the tributes. I live quite near Northolt airport so was lucky enough to be able to walk to see the cortege on Tuesday evening. Pure chance meant I could even see the plane coming in to land through a gap the in houses

Is it a privileged life though? Yes access to enormous wealth which you can't spend now you please like a lottery winner, but that's where the privilege ends for me.

Your life mapped out and dictated to, someone around you all the time, the mundane and boring engagements with people who you can't be bothered to speak to but have to and be polite with it regardless. Worked up until 96 years of age when anyone else would've been enjoying years of retirement. Stuff that.

No, she wasn't. She was more symbolic but you can admire different types of people at the same time for different reasons. It's not an either/or scenario.

I suppose, also, that the Queen saying thank you to volunteers, on behalf of the country, has had an effect in making people think: "Hey, I like that! I really feel my work in the charity shop/homeless shelter has made a difference to civic life, and I see a sense of collective responsibility. " Some people see royal occasions as a symbol of coming together and of community.

Hey! Some councils in Britain choose to have mayors who wear ceremonial robes and chains and say thank you to ordinary public spirited citizens. So it's not a totally alien notion to use a bit of pageantry to cement collective feeling.

She was a normal woman, born into incredible privilege, who spent her days eating tiny sandwiches and reading the Racing Post.

I'm no Royalist but that's clearly bollocks.

@thekingfisher
An interesting post - but I guess the strangeness of it comes from the fact that some members of the same “tribe” find this ritual to be incredibly worthwhile, while others would view it as - for them- completely meaningless. Hence the questioning. And I don’t think the “opposing/questioning” remarks are , in general, meant to hurt or be offensive. Rather they are from bemused members of the same tribe asking, why on earth are you lot performing this elaborate ritual to honour this far off distant leader who I feel has never impacted me in any positive way?

So in fact one could probably say the questioning of the ritual is just as human as the ritual.

She could quite easily have retired earlier. Maybe she enjoyed what she did. We all have constraints aswell, things we have to do that bore us.....shopping, ironing, filling the car with petrol, making small talk, tolerating in laws etc.

People are allowed to have differing opinions, a lot of people are feeling forced, & manipulated into joining in the collective mourning. Maybe people coming onto these threads are using it as an outlet for them to be able to speak freely as those around them will ostracise them for being honest.

Can you please stop derailing this thread arguing over your incredulity, or not as the case may be, of wanting to see the Queen lying in state. Start another thread to argue and leave this one for those interested in the answer to OP's questions.

@sunglassesonthetable

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5952745/Ones-jolly-busy-day-minute-minute-glimpse-daily-routine-Queen.html

Apparently not. Of course she made meaningless small talk with leaders etc and had her weekly meeting with the PM. But according to this her day to day life was regimented, repetitive, privileged, and quaint.

Yes lots of stuff being pushed through/hidden while this is going on.