To find some language offensive about the funeral?

[Mushroo]

Out at the pub tonight and talk turns to the queens funeral.

Im not an ardent royalist or anything but I will be watching as a historical event and in recognition of the queens service.

My friend is very left wing and said ‘I won’t be watching, fuck that,, fuck the monarchy, I won’t be watching to save the electric’. (This is someone who does not have to count the pennies).

AIBU to say this was a bit offensive, and a simple ‘I won’t be watching, it’s not for me’ would have been fine and respectful to people who do want to watch,

It almost seems as though being offensive is ‘cool’.

Even though swearing in this context would usually be seen as offensive, interestingly there is a 66% vote for YABU, which might be just anti-monarchy voting. Avoid falling out with your friend over this. Two of mine have fallen out over the pro- v anti- monarchy thing and I am quite upset by it. I hope things will cool down after the Funeral and they'll make up. No problem if people have different political etc opinions from me - just enjoy a good debate/arguement. Now's not the time of course, maybe later.

Yes but make sure you blame the Lefties. Rather than the elite because that way the elite will remain in power forever. God forbid that this country properly looked after the less well off. The divide between rich and poor has grown massively over recent years. Because we allow ideas of more equal wealth distribution to be shut down with thinking that being leftwing is an actual insult. The insult is that some people vote for a ruling party that make them poorer.

Some people are being really horrid on this thread to others.People are entitled to feel how they feel and don’t need to justify that feeling to others

I think it's fine to be "offensive" and say "fuck the monarchy" if that's how you feel. I don't see, though, why that can be all right but others' feelings that the Queen was a constant in their lives aren't valid and they've got no right to feel that way.

I couldn't put it better myself.

I am so horribly offended by the fact that people in the UK are struggling so very hard and yet so many are bowing and scraping at these fools.
It actually makes me nauseous to think of them.
I wish the whole disgusting edifice would burn to the ground.

So if someone says "fuck immigrants, they can piss off, we don't want them here" they should absolutely be able to say that and it's your problem if you find it offensive?

I think it's the good old "it's not what you say it's how you say it". Saying it in that tone is uncalled for but there is nothing wrong with not wanting to be part of it.
I think it works both ways though, those who have lined the streets and were videoing it on their phones/taking photographs as she went past were distasteful. Those being interviewed in the queue with smiles on their faces for a chance of a lifetime/part of history seemed tasteless and crass - treating it like a tourist day out too.
You either quietly join in or don't, I mean it is a funeral/period of mourning, I think you just need to remember how you'd behave/talk if it was a family member/friend/acquaintance, you wouldn't use the language described in the OP and you wouldn't be videoing it and taking photos if you weren't taking part you just wouldn't and that would be the end of it, etc so you show the required amount of respect for the Queens too.

I am in no sense left wing OP, but I can’t help wondering how many nonagenarians have been neglected to death by the NHS since we collectively lost our minds over this particular one.

I want it to stop now. It’s ridiculous.

@Deguster it is the last day today.

Not everyone wants to kowtow to the Royal family. I had personal respect for the Queen but being from a former British colony I’m torn about it all.
I’ll be glad when today’s over and we can get back to some kind of normality.

I'll be very surprised if the Queen's death has caused NHS doctors and nurses to neglect their elderly patients.

Next steps - we start stripping Charles of any political power. We are supposed to be a modern nation and having a King as anything other than a completely ceremonial figurehead to roll out a couple of times a year is ridiculous.

@MrsLargeEmbodied until we coronate the tampon-loving septuagenarian.

@ReneBumsWombats I didn’t suggest it had, but it places our rather selective treatment of the elderly in sharp relief. I find that immoral and I’m instinctively small-c conservative.

You either quietly join in or don't, I mean it is a funeral/period of mourning, I think you just need to remember how you'd behave/talk if it was a family member/friend/acquaintance, you wouldn't use the language described in the OP and you wouldn't be videoing it and taking photos if you weren't taking part you just wouldn't and that would be the end of it, etc so you show the required amount of respect for the Queens too.

The head of state dying followed by the intensely political succession process is not like a private citizen dying. There is no comparison between the two. Yours or my grandparents dying doesn't involve a new and unelected head of state being imposed on the country.

The decision that has been made to impose this lengthy mourning period on the nation (large funeral always inevitable really but so much of the rest has been a choice) means that people have every right to respond to it in a way that recognises it for the political process that it is.

Maybe try to regard it as part of the rich tradition that makes up Britain, along with the monarchy. There have been dissenters and anti-authoritarians before and it's great to live in a country that allows freedom of opinion on this matter.

I agree it does seem a little rude, but if I take the historical perspective I can see it with more understanding 🙂

No it won't be there will be the endless coverage of the fecking funeral. All the while this country is in the worst financial crisis of my lifetime. Focus on that not the death of one hugely over privileged 96 year old person.

"Oh yes the wartime mechanic thing. The PR machine was at play even back then. All about showing the royals were doing their bit. She never did full working days. More like a quick drop off and pick up, just enough for a few good publicity snaps then whisked back to the palace., job done.

In all seriousness OP, I find it pretty disturbing that the narrative over the funeral and death is being policed by the state. A man was arrested for holding up a bit of A4 paper that read “not my king”. This is not the 14th century. He was a barrister who held an opinion shared by many. What was the arrestable offence here? Bear in mind that police can rarely be persuaded to attend burglaries these days.

@NooNakedJacuzziness
So if someone says "fuck immigrants, they can piss off, we don't want them here" they should absolutely be able to say that and it's your problem if you find it offensive

What is your point? Are you saying that saying, for example, “fuck the government/Tories/Labour” among a group of friends or online, is NOT protected under our laws of free speech? Obviously if you go up to a person directly or stand shouting in a public place and abuse them because of their appearance/immigration status/religious identity etc etc that is totally different. You’re trying to compare apples with oranges. The monarchy is an institution - one that millions think ought to be abolished.

@ReneBumsWombats
many thousands of important operations and medical consultations have been cancelled. Stop trying to defend the indefensible.

Some of the signs used swear words. Many people still find them offensive, particularly given that kids were watching the processions. Why can't they make their point without swearing?

Perfectlypreserved - Nothing has been forced on to you, don't be daft. For the majority of people this last week has just carried on as normal. If you don't want to watch the coverage there's plenty of other channels to watch, people didn't have to observe the minute's silence last night of they didn't want to.

What have you been forced to do this week that you wouldn't normally do?

You're nuts if you think that a few people saying "how sad, she's been such a fixture in our lives" and walking quietly past a coffin is in any way comparable to the public wailing (under threat of ending up in a labour camp) you'll see in North Korea.

Many people find the monarchy and this entire post death circus offensive, but you evidently don't feel that requires others who do support it and want to participate to modify their behaviour or political expression. Why the difference in the way you treat the two groups?

It’s actually fascinating watching these events unfold, and you really do see just how easily free speech could be severely curtailed or banned.
The irony is that if and when then happens, it’s loudest proponents will almost certainly be among the typically older generations who are constantly whining about “snowflakes” etc - as it has always been historically. Though of course what they do is not curtailing free speech, merely “protecting traditional values and courteous discourse” etc etc.