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Will the Queen’s death be one of those events you remember where you were when you heard?

122 replies

asblindasabat · 30/09/2022 21:54

Just like 9/11, Princess Diana etc.

I’m talking about it like it was years ago when it was only just three weeks ago but I was in work when at lunch time everybody started talking about how the RF were rushing to Balmoral to see the Queen and then how the news presenters were dressed in black.

I checked my phone to see all the Facebook updates on my feed about her doctors were concerned for her health and thinking how something must have been very wrong.

I arrived home at 5pm that day, stuck on BBC news/sky news/ ITV news and sat and watched the rolling coverage.

I was on ITV news when her death was announced at 6.30 and I’ll always remember Mary Nightingale saying the royal household just issued a statement and there was a pause, just remember sitting there saying to DH “oh no this is it, she’s died” and then it was announced.

it was just so surreal. They started playing the national anthem and I was just sitting there in shock as even though it was expected, it was still shocking in some way.

anyone else think they’ll remember where they were and what they were doing that day for the rest of their lives?

OP posts:
Dippydonky · 30/09/2022 22:18

Probably… but because it was my birthday, I was mooching around town alone then popped into a coffee shop for a snack and managed to get a brownie and a hot chocolate for 16p (loyalty card unexpected birthday gift!!) then I sat down and looked at the news on my phone….

if it wasn’t for the date and my 16p snack I wouldn’t!

BrilliantGreenFlamingo · 30/09/2022 22:21

I’ve already forgotten

urrrgh46 · 30/09/2022 22:23

@Dippydonky also one of my daughters' birthday! So yes I will remember the date and what I was doing!! Also, my eldest daughter is autistic and royalty (all European royal families) are one of her interests. So I'm not likely to forget! 🙃

NewBootsAndRanty · 30/09/2022 22:24

I was falling asleep on the sofa with the radio on, and half dreaming about salmon.

Mojoj · 30/09/2022 22:28

No.

OneFrenchEgg · 30/09/2022 22:28

I was working from home with one eye on the tv and one on Mumsnet. No eyes on work 😂

IScreamMonday · 30/09/2022 22:31

I don't think Diana and 9/11 are exactly on the same pegging. I remember the latter but not the former except that people kept saying we should be part of history and go to London and it seemed ghoulish. No idea where exactly for queen but the speculation went on all day so not even sure which moment would count

MrsFezziwig · 30/09/2022 22:34

TotallyWhatever · 30/09/2022 21:56

Probably not. It was end of an era, but not shocking. Princess Di was shocking and tragic which is why we all remember

Who are “we all”?

AlwaysAnonymous · 30/09/2022 22:37

100%. We had just walked into a pub when we heard the national anthem playing and saw the Queen’s portrait on the tvs. Looked around, everyone was standing with heads bowed. The atmosphere afterwards was indescribable.

drinkallthecoffee · 30/09/2022 22:41

I will because it was the day my dad retired and we were getting ready to go out.

I wasn't quite 2 when Princess Diana died so obviously don't remember that and was nearly 6 when 9/11 happened. So this is the first really big thing I can look back on and say "I remember where I was when X happened".

WheelofLife · 30/09/2022 22:45

I don’t remember already. I think I might have found out on Mumsnet as that’s what I read before I get out of bed

EfficientDynamics · 30/09/2022 22:45

No

Georgeskitchen · 30/09/2022 22:45

Yes, same with John Lennon and Princess Diana. 9/11 as well but there's a big clue in that. People always said everyone around the globe remembered where they were when JFK was assassinated. I was about 2 years old so couldn't say 😉

NannyGythaOgg · 30/09/2022 22:56

Some yes - some no
If it coincides with something in my life I remember - others, which may be equally important to me, I don't remember as I have nothing to fix it with.

I'm old enough to remember Kennedy being shot - but I just remember coming home from school to shut curtains (because you couldn't see a black and white tv screen in daylight not for respect)
Similarly Elvis and Lennon

I remember 9/11 as I returned from a holiday in Turkey that morning
Diana was my daughter's 19th birthday
Queen - again, I was in Turkey on holiday.

other biggies similar - i I have a link YES, if I don't, then not really

lisaJN1986 · 30/09/2022 22:56

Nothing will ever be quite as shocking to me as watching that second plane crash into the south tower of WTC, literally hundreds of lives lost in an instant 😮

Pollytiffin · 30/09/2022 22:59

No because although it was sad, it wasn't a shock, we all knew it was coming.

Stand out ones for me were Princess Di and 9/11. Can still remember exactly where I was and the emotion upon hearing about them, particularly 9/11.

Cookerhood · 30/09/2022 22:59

Yep. I was cooking & DH yelled "Queenie's popped off".

pinkstripeycat · 30/09/2022 23:02

I can’t remember and it was only 2 weeks ago or was it 3? It wasn’t a shock really was it? She was 96 and hadn’t long lost her husband

Ekerty72 · 30/09/2022 23:06

The memory will be with me forever. I had just a few hours previously had the vet round to put my dog to sleep. We drove to the pet crematorium and stopped off at McDs on the way home. Whilst in there I was hit with a wave of grief, I got very emotional and had to leave. When I got to the car I saw the news had broken about the queen. I still wonder if people saw me in Mcds and thought I was sobbing over our Queen passing 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️.

My friend wrote me a beautiful mesaage which said if there was a heaven and a waiting room she thought that the Queen would be giving my dog a snuggle 💕

Luredbyapomegranate · 30/09/2022 23:13

No. It wasn’t a shock was it.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 30/09/2022 23:14

I was just in the garden weeding when I heard the Queen had died.

At home when I heard Diana had died.

Out with DD at the beach when 9/11 happened.

Luredbyapomegranate · 30/09/2022 23:14

Cookerhood · 30/09/2022 22:59

Yep. I was cooking & DH yelled "Queenie's popped off".

@Cookerhood OFF WITH HIS HEAD 👸🪓

ParkheadParadise · 30/09/2022 23:15

NO

Brigante9 · 30/09/2022 23:33

Sitting using my iPad watching the news at home thinking this sounds ominous, looked at my iPad, a Unilad article came up saying she’d died. I was shocked, despite thinking it was on the cards.

When Diana died, I was in the BnB we were staying at for my db’s wedding. It was the day after. We had a dreadful bed so had put the mattress on the floor then we were woken by the news being on downstairs, very loud. We were like ‘Why the hell is that so loud?:’

caringcarer · 30/09/2022 23:36

I was driving in car when first announcement made saying Queen was under medical supervision. I said to DH I am worried about Queen. I felt uneasy all afternoon. I watched TV in afternoon and saw RF arrive at Balmoral and said I hope they are in time. Now we know they weren't in time. I was drinking coffee and watching news when announcement made. I watched funeral and can't get the funeral marching music out of my head either.