Period of mourning has sent some people batshit?

[LimpBiskit]

I've noticed a ramping up of crazy on here over the last few days with some odd threads. Also more fratchy interactions on more balanced ones. AIBU that the queen's death has destabilised things a bit?

I really think that this will be the last time we see such a fanfare of conspicuous pageantry and unbridled ceremony. Within Charles' reign, many countries may cease to accept the monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as their head of state, and serious consideration will be given with respect to just how much of the 'plunder of empire' will be returned to its country of origin.

The Queen began her reign, just as the Mau Mau uprising began in Kenya, and only five years after India became independent from British rule. She reflected something that even at her coronation was in its death throes. Within her reign, the power and influence of this country has waned to impotence. I do not state this to be provocative, it is a simple truth.

I do not think we will see the end of the monarchy, but I am certain, that once the funeral is over, there will be calls for Royal Family to be maintained on a much more sensible budget, and for rituals associated with them to be toned down significantly.

What cooler weather? Still a humid 21 degrees where I am. I'd be happy with a crisp, autumnal 16!

Yep. Competitive mourning and competitive "shows of respect"
Sickening.

@Culldesack you actually sound unhinged.

I feel quite worried about central London.The days to come of thousands queueing and a massive police presence. Sounds like a recipe for reaching a tipping point somehow.

Agreed. An example of what I was referring to in the OP.

It's turned into a 4 ring circus , complete with ring master and numerous clowns

People are coming from all over the world though? I wouldn't, but this isn't a local issue.

You couldn’t. Not at the time. You had to keep your head down and keep quiet if you found it all OTT. It was a very febrile atmosphere that would brook no dissent. Later calmer voices spoke up.

Not that there was SM then.

I think it's the release of several years of pent up emotion. Brexit, the absolute circus of our politics, the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, war. It goes on. All in the space of 2-3 years.

It's a huge amount for people to cope with, and something like the death of the Monarch signals a change that can feel bigger than others. The Queen is the only head of state that several generations of families have ever known.

People were/are already on edge, and this has simply been the final straw that has sent them over the edge.

I'll caveat though, with the fact that the Britist have long been weird about royal deaths. See: Diana.

Meh, I've not really seen anything in the real world like the behavior mentioned in the OP. Just a few people querying if we'll have a day off and people voicing their opinions - liked the Queen and will watch funeral, not really fussed but will watch as it's a historical event, not bothering as don't really agree with RF, etc.

Haven't seen much drama but not surprised there's some on here as mumsnet is pretty much the home of the internet Karen tbh.

Yes, but wasn't a lot of the noise about people wanting a statement from the queen? Even though D had left the RF, people wanted her to be acknowledged by the RF. I thought it calmed down after the queen gave a speech about Diana. All a bit vague in my memory as I just saw snippets of news at the time.

Precisely - a discussion. So why are you asking people to refrain from saying certain things?

Condolences to you @countrygirl99. I think many people in this country are presently exhausted. We've been through rough and very uncertain times in recent years: Brexit represented a sea change of uncertainty; COVID saw us practically under house-arrest spanning two entire years; children's education was disrupted, and certain of our freedoms and liberties have been covertly curtailed on the back of COVID legislation, leaving some people blinking in the daylight and wondered how they sleepwalked into a situation where protest in a democratic country was illegal. As some of us predicted, it's set a precedent that despite the later revoking of these laws, is seemingly continuing. We're seeing the effects of that unfolding right now, and protests seem to be gathering pace with blank placards. All this is leading us down a very concerning road.

The 21st anniversary of 9/11 went all-but unmentioned in the UK press. The most significant developments in the Ukraine war to date have barely created a ripple. The world moves on, even if the media and Centre Parcs et al do choose to stop, and its inevitable that the questions we knew would be asked following the demise of Elizabeth II have already begun. There's a new Monarch. Of course there will be discussion.

I also think life sometimes has an unsparing hand when it comes to dishing out illness, loss, and bereavement. It's hard enough to deal with these things when they actually happen to you, without indulging in performative grieving for a complete stranger.

I think the Queens death has tipped people over the edge. We’ve had a very stressful last 5 years. We’ve brexited, we’ve had covid with lockdowns, we’ve seen a war kick off between Ukraine and Russia which has raised our anxiety levels with the possibility of a world war, we’ve had huge fuel increases and cost of living. Things have been difficult for a lot of us in a short space of time.

I was only saying tonight that there seems to be so much anger on Mums-net threads at the moment.
But I track it back to the week before the Queen passed.
I was following a thread with a lot of anxiety about a certain topic.
There was some very supportive answers.
But when a positive resolution came
Everything turn very angry and bitter very quickly.
And it seemed a lot threads followed suit.
As for the Queen I liked her very much.
She had a good innings.
Once Philip died it really was only a matter of time.
I watched some of the coverage and then turn the tv over.
I'm looking forward to the bank holiday and will follow the funeral.

If you didn't have a TV and didn't listen to the radio, all the preparation for the funeral would barely register. You could read what you want to read online and select as much of the respect- paying as you choose.

Do people really feel connected to their tellies, as if the box has been transplanted on to their brain? Myself, I don't care for the background noise of the radio, either. It's nice to have peace and stillness to reflect over the day.

Maybe that is the answer. Learn not to absorb all this frenzy of feeling and commentary, amplified by social media, and then it WON'T sound like a crazy cacophony. The sense of batshitness and societal tipping point😂would all fade away. Be your own filter. Allow the brain to do its job and select and synthesise. Thinking isn't lonely, just because you're doing it on your own.

Oh, and let other people mourn the Queen in their own way and as they want to.

YANBU! Half the country seems to have been lobotomised. The other half is either in hiding until it's all over, or going along with it for an easy life.

I lived in Kensington when Diana died. Shops didn't close but there was a weird atmosphere everywhere.

I'm glad I'm not in London right now, and I'm a bit concerned about the amount of people expected there over the next few days. I've suggested to my DD not to go in until after the funeral.

I quite like that visiting dignitaries are not allowed to fly in for the funeral in their private jets and are going to be bussed in from "west London" (Heathrow?)

I'm not madly pro-Royalty, nor anti. Quite like having them but not crazily obsessed.

Just a few of my thoughts! ^^

I have been offered staff support from my employer, just in case any of us are traumatised. Well, really. Especially to those of us who are already well-versed in the effects of actual, real trauma, that's just insulting.

She was a stranger whom none of us ever met. It's sad on a human level and that's all. This is a bloody weird era - and this was going on with COVID too - when an entire workforce are being told we all have such fragile mental health, that we are all so delicate and not at all emotionally robust, and that help is on hand 24/7 for our emotional wellbeing. And then, that same calibre of employers start doing things like putting trigger warnings on authors as tame as Jane Austen, are wondering why criticality is dead in the water, and have to grapple with the fact that the mildest controversy in debate and discussion has to be avoided in case someone gets offended and tries to have you fired for it.

Wish they'd just fuck off with the performative grieving, continual offers of counselling because 'we are all having SUCH a difficult time and they KNOW how hard it is,' and trying to condition us all into a state of learned helplessness.

This will become a self-fulfilling prophecy if we don't look out. In fact, I have the sinking sensation that it's already too late.

How old are you? Do you remember the death of Diana? Half the country went berserk. Some still are as a result!

It does feel like people over 70 grabbing the initiative for the last time.

What's that supposed to mean. Do you mean the King or the crowds?

No, you really couldn't. I had friends in London who were asked by colleagues if they'd gone and laid flowers. They hadn't. They felt so threatened that they went that evening to do it.
When Diana was hopping round the Med, people were openly critical. A couple if weeks later at her funeral, she was practically a saint.

I think the prospect of unrest dampened after her speech but you still really couldn’t say anything critical of the whole grief festival in company. I remember whispering something about it to a close friend in the corner of a pub. It was compulsory grieving. Very overwrought and very strange.

The books and more considered viewpoints came months later.

Yes @MarshaMelrose that kind of accords with my memory of it all. I was living in London.