To ask if you have ever grieved for someone who’s passed away who you have never met?

[Acapulco12]

It seems strange, I know. I don’t think this has ever happened to me before, but at the moment, I think I’m feeling all the usual stages of ‘grief’ for someone whose death I read about in the news and who I’ve never met. It’s very strange and unexpected. I just wondered if anyone else has ever had anything like that.

No, I haven't.

Plenty of people have. Remember when Princess Diana died? And I've seen people get overcome when people like George Michael, Prince and David Bowie died.

As in a famous person or someone who's death has been reported in a news story? I didn't personally but I think some people grieved for the Queen although they hadn't met her. I think it is possible to experience some form of grief for someone you haven't met but it's not the same experience of grieving for a person you actually know if that makes sense.

The queen. I still miss her.

I've sometimes felt a little sad but have never felt anything approaching grief.

Grief is a very natural emotion. Just because you hadn't met someone doesn't mean you can't feel grief at their death.

No, but lots of people seem to. I find it a bit odd tbh.

I found I got more upset than I expected to when the Queen died.

No, definitely not.

Grief, no. Sadness, yes.

Yes, quite a few. Several Royals, and quite a few celebrities. Especially The Queen, and George Michael. Quite upset over a few more too. Incl Prince, Whitney, and Bowie. And I cried a little when Matt Perry died. Still upsets me to think about it.

Music has been and is, a huge part of my life. I'm at an age where all the old soul singers are passing away..too many to name..they're all dropping like flies..and whilst I don't weep and wail I do feel quite a profound grief for a while, at their loss. Their music meant so much to me. It always feels like something is slipping away little by little.

snap.

I felt very sad when David Bowie and Alan Rickman died, but it wasn't grief.

Yep definitely me. I cried this morning when I found out dave Myers from the hairy bikers had died. Also cried buckets when we lost the queen. She had always been a part of my life.

I have been very upset about a local child who went missing from his grandparents house and was found in the river the next day. I think a lot of my feelings were imagining how his family will feel and wondering how they move on as there will inevitably be blame etc. It was also an awful winter night and the thought of him suffering is unbearable. There but for the grace of god....

Thanks all, I appreciate it. I definitely think it’s a feeling of grief rather than sadness for me.

I’d never felt it before, but I know people experienced similar feelings when Princess Diana died, or George Michael or David Bowie, for example, as people mention here. I did feel very sad when Amy Winehouse died, for example, but I don’t think I felt grief.

With this situation, I think I feel grief - or what I identify as grief - because I feel sad about the person’s death and the fact that their beliefs and values have died with them.

The person whose death I feel upset about is Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader. I actually went to lay flowers at a memorial near where I live the other day, which felt very uplifting, as it was a beautiful and respectful memorial that was also quite peaceful.

Same.

I was gutted when Sir Terry Wogan passed away. I wouldn’t say I grieved, but was gutted!

Not personally but I know it's quite common for people to describe feeling genuine grief for strangers they know of.
I think because maybe people feel like they 'know', say, a famous actor because they watch their films and their interviews and they know facts about them which creates the false impression that they know them personally. Sort of the illusion that they were a part of your life iyswim. If that happens then I can understand that grief would be a natural reaction.

Sadness yes but not grief. Grief for a loved one who was a physical and emotional presence is a very different emotional process to having a good weep over the Queens death. I was very weepy the day the Queen died and watching her funeral but I don’t feel the deep visceral grief I did when I lost my parents.
I could happily carry on with every day life between sobbing uncontrollably as the media showed the royal family arriving at Balmoral. That feeling is is empathy and sympathy. Knowing exactly what they are going through.
I think about my parents most days even 26 yrs on, I rarely think about the Queen.

It was very sad to hear about Dave Myers. I didn’t watch his programmes much, but always enjoyed them if I caught them when they were on and his recipes always looked so delicious.

No, I haven't personally and pretty sure I never will, but I can see how some people might.
I suppose it's on the grief spectrum, which will also include things like losing pets but maybe also things like the end of relationships or friendships, even though these people haven't died.
I think that grieving for a person you didn't actually know is a bit similar in that it's about what the person has transmitted to you, rather than a reciprocal relationship.

It goes without saying that it shouldn't be "compared" to the death of a close family member because it's unhelpful if in the presence of someone going through that level of grief.

Not grief, but I’ve felt sad. Probably the saddest was when Chester Bennington died.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, iverpickle.

Sadness but not grief. I don't believe you can grieve for someone you've never met unless they were personally connected to you in some way- parent you never met for example. The profound personal connection is what differentiates grief from sadness.