To think it's actually insane to take your children to Buckingham Palace at 1am

[ConstantlyChanging]

I wouldn't normally 'pick on' someone in the news for their actions but am I alone in thinking this is actual insanity? A man took his children to Buckingham Palace at 1am to pay their respects to the Duke (to 'avoid the crowds').

He also says they were 'quite cut up' about the Duke dying. I mean come on - he's 99 and you didn't know him?! Why the hell would you drag your kids out in the freezing cold street to stand in front of the palace at 1am?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56699776

YABU: This is normal behaviour

YANBU: This is ridiculous

Very odd - to do another ‘bit of a stretch’
I got strong black cab driver vibe and, if so, that changed my thinking a bit just in terms of driving/parking up etc.
Poor girl looked absolutely knackered !

I don't see anything wrong with it.

The Dad presumably thought the children could cope with being up.
They didn't have school the next day.
It's an adventure.
Going at night meant they did avoid the crowds.

It's not up to others to say how someone should feel about the death of Prince Philip. People get upset about all sorts of 'celebrities' dying that they don't know. The Duke spent nearly 70 years supporting The Queen, and the DofE scheme alone has been beneficial to hundreds of thousands of youngsters.

Ok - so I wouldn’t due to the fact I’m not really a person who gets emotionally
Involved when someone I don’t know dies however the whole 1 am thing I think people are slightly overreacting.
As a one off it’s fine the kids will survive it’s not really a big deal.

@Roussette

I think there is nothing wrong in someone feeling sad and if going to Buckingham palace supports them then I support that

There is everything wrong... here is the official statement

"With the safety and wellbeing of the public in mind, and in accordance with Government guidelines, members of the public are asked not to gather in crowds."

"Those wishing to express their condolences are asked to do so in the safest way possible, and not to gather at Royal Residences," it continued. "During this time the Royal Family ask that members of the public consider making a donation to a charity instead of leaving floral tributes in memory of The Duke of Edinburgh."

How can you draw attention to yourself following that guidance, though? I suppose you could screenshot the page confirming ou've made a donation and paste it all over social media.

Completely agree this competitive public 'grieving' is extremely distasteful. The lines between reality and fiction are blurred for many as a result of gorging on sleb twaddle on the net and in trashy mags. I think some people end up believing they really know the famous people they've read so much about. It's not healthy to indulge them and treat them as genuine mourners and representative of the wider public mood.

I feel for the RF and sympathise with their loss but I'm not convinced strangers , especially children would be that upset. My DC own grandparent died last month and clearly they are v upset about them, but they've barely passed comment on the D of E, I wouldnt expect them to. And they (and DH) would look at me as if i was completely bonkers if I suggested going to Buckingham palace today respects at all 1am!

I don't see how going and standing around outside an official residence is "paying respects". And surely leaving flowers when you've expressly been asked not to is the very reverse of showing respect.

It's not a good lessen for the kids is it. Equality and all that.

Bonkers. But the kids will remember it all their lives, and what’s the harm? Kids don’t turn into mice after midnight, it isn’t Cinderella.

First of all, no children were harmed in the making of Cinderella!

But secondly, with regards to ‘where’s the harm’ I think that importing grief into your family after a year of a global pandemic is confusing and unpleasant for children. Their dad just said he’s ‘quite cut up’ on the news and they will probably feel nothing but think they should or genuinely start to feel sad, which they have no need to do.

I wouldnt go for that but I bet the kids loved it as an adventure - no real diff to setting off at 1am on a holiday or something. the idea they were upset is pretty silly though. but people do subscribe to that - like they were upset about diana or any other person they dont even know

To be fair the two children weren't overly young and it probably felt like an exciting adventure to go out at 1am.

Dd would have been fine going out as a one off at that time, at that age. She'd have slept in the next morning and she'd have loved the excitement of being up and out so late at night. The odd time we did an airport run in the early hours she loved it.

Not all children need a 'be in bed at 7pm' type routine every day.
Not all children get up at 6:30am regardless either.

And why assume he is a divorced dad making a stance to his ex wife?
Mum could quite easily be at home in bed asleep, he could be widowed, etc.

@ConstantlyChanging

Bonkers. But the kids will remember it all their lives, and what’s the harm? Kids don’t turn into mice after midnight, it isn’t Cinderella.

First of all, no children were harmed in the making of Cinderella!

But secondly, with regards to ‘where’s the harm’ I think that importing grief into your family after a year of a global pandemic is confusing and unpleasant for children. Their dad just said he’s ‘quite cut up’ on the news and they will probably feel nothing but think they should or genuinely start to feel sad, which they have no need to do.

Totally agree. If you are going to make childhood learning points about this, it should be along the lines of 'a very old man who was famous for xyz died, his family will mourn, its amazing had such a long life and did so many things, thats the way it goes' NOT 'I feel so sad that a 99yo stranger died'.

Re Diana, I can understand people being more emotional - she died in a sudden and traumatic way and left two young children motherless. That's a lot more sad than living to 99 and dying peacefully home with your nearest and dearest beside you.

@grumpygiraffe

Anybody who goes to Buckingham Palace to “pay their respects to the Duke” at any time of day is a complete simpleton anyway, so this isn’t much more ridiculous.

This. I have always been a bit confused when thousands of people just stand outside a well known dead persons home. Quiet contemplation at a grave side is one thing but the rest of it is a bit ghoulish.

I would have struggled to keep a lid on my republlican beliefs.

It's very hard isn't it, there's so much you want to say but half the time it falls on deaf ears. We've been conditioned to accept.

Yet more posters saying this would have been an adventure for those children? An adventure????? Wtf? I wasn’t a fan of Philip but he has died and it will be very sad for his family. It’s sick and twisted to say it would be an adventure to use his death to ‘have an adventure’.

@GreenSlide

Well why not, it's not like they're hurting anybody. They'll look back and remember the time dad took them in the middle of the night to leave flowers for Prince Philip and it'll be one of those family stories.

This.

Some of you are WAY too judgemental.

@WeekendCEO

Yet more posters saying this would have been an adventure for those children? An adventure????? Wtf? I wasn’t a fan of Philip but he has died and it will be very sad for his family. It’s sick and twisted to say it would be an adventure to use his death to ‘have an adventure’.

not really, it's not about the individual, it's about the royal figure.

Happens every time a royal has a life event. All the wierdo's crawl out from under their rocks to make a pilgrimage to london to wave flags and/or weep. There is something not right about most of them.

Oh seriously

What children (apart form those related to Prince Philip) are devastated

Parents creating a drama as they are bored

People have been asked to stay away if you really respect the Royal family then respect their wishes

It makes a memory, I am always keen to make memories.

@Cissyandflora

It’s the sort of adventure I’d do with my kids. Not because we are mourning but just because it’s good fun to go out together and have exciting adventures. I’m too tired or I’d do it myself.

Your attitude towards a death is pretty disgusting.

I have to be honest, I find public displays of grief for a “celeb” very odd. Any celeb inc members if the royal family. I see pics in the media of people hugging each other ans weeping outside the palace and just can’t quite understand it. These people never knew him. They make special trips and stand hugging strangers and visibly weeping. For me it is very odd behaviour.

@Bluntness100 I think the psychology behind it is that there is an element of transference of grief. They’re generally not grieving the actual person focussed on but reliving their own personal grief for another person/situation.

I agree it’s still a bit odd but I would presume that these people haven’t quite reconciled their own grief and people performing an act of remembrance/respect get lost in the crowd.

I don't agree with why they went, as in grieving for someone they didn't know.

However, I don't see any issue in when they went. In essence I don't think it unreasonable to take your children somewhere at 1am, if it's something you all want to do. Not everyone has children who fall apart if they aren't in bed by 8pm.

Of course YANBU. Far from it: the idea of raising mine to believe in hereditary privilege, or that they should bow and scrape to those the establishment deems their social 'betters', is anathema to me.

I'd prefer to teach the value of a work ethic, and that respect is hard-earned and easily lost.