James Viscount Severn

[RoachTheHorse]

He looks so so young standing vigil. That must be hard.

spot on

I strongly suspect that James would have been closely involved in the decision, along with his parents who would have had his best interests at heart. I also strongly suspect that he would have been very keen to join his 7 cousins in paying his respects to his grandmother in the manner that had been selected as part and parcel of the massive event that the death of a sovereign requires.

Sorry. I've just read somewhere that 14 isn't a child. Really?

Given that at least three pps have fathers who started work at 14, and that the school leaving age when I was at school was 15, then no, 14 isn't a "child".

@onlythreenow do you think we should go back to that? If not a child what is he?

Just because things happened in the past to older children didn't make them right, not should they be held up as positive events.
14 is an older child. They are not an adult, no matter how much they want to believe they are at times!

You can be worried about horrendous things happening to other teenagers, and also be concerned that this one is OK, and admire his bravery.

yes, many 14 year olds might be fine and not think it's a big deal. Many younger ones will attend funerals, and this one will too. But doing things like this in front of a huge worldwide audience (and obviously he will know that, even with only a few cameras in the room), cameras focused on his face and his grief, knowing that as the youngest he will be covered by the media. Those would be stressful for a typical teenager too, let alone if he perhaps is not, and doing it anyway is brave. I'm sure he was given the choice, and I think that is right, and that if he felt he wanted to do it he should have been given the chance. But it doesn't stop me thinking about some aspects that might have made it particularly hard, and admiring the strength it took for him.

It's not the same as a family funeral, or even sitting in the actual funeral service, which I imagine there would be no question about him doing, given that he's been to previous events like that.

It was William - Harry was adamant he wanted to walk.

But a girl of 14 would be considered a child. Is it different for boys? I certainly was a child when I was 14. I consider a boy of 14 a child.

You said, Sure, I don’t particularly have a view on whether he should have done it. Just bemused by people comparing it to their 14yo attending a family funeral.

Because it is their family funeral, well the start of the funeral process. So comparing it to other GC playing a part in remembering their GPs is relevant.

I don’t think it’s anything like attending a family funeral. It’s being identified very publically as part of the royal family when previously he’s had a very low profile. It’s also having to ‘perform’ in front of the world media with the fear of putting a step wrong or fainting.

I don’t regard a 14 year old as an adult and many teen boys experience agonies of self consciousness and being seen as singled out from the crowd.

I think it’s become pretty mawkish now. Doing these rituals for the publics delight. Roll on Monday.

It isnt the family funeral though. Its a state occasion, with cameras doing close ups and members of the public walking past.
At some point he will go back to school, knowing that everyone has seen him at his most vulnerable
Same for George attending tomorrow, I think few people have any idea of what a state funeral entails. Big Ben will be tolling, gun salutes, hundreds of forces personal involved in pulling the gun carriage and the escort, thousands of unknown faces in the congregation. I would imagine many of the adults present will be overwhelmed.
The family funeral will take place at Windsor when the cameras have gone.

It is still their family funeral, she wasn't just a queen, she was a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother as well as a sister, a cousin, a daughter and a cousin. Much of how things are done are dictated by protocol but that doesn't stop it being a family funeral for people who lost a part of their family.

If people don't want their 14 year old involved in funerals that is their decision but this is another family with a 14 year old boy who knows what he wants to do and parents who love him and are in a far better position to judge than people on here.

They will have seen him being perfectly composed and coping with it all. Some of his older cousins looked like they were struggling more than him.

I consider a boy or girl of 14 to be an adolescent. Legally there is that line on their 18th birthday where one day they are a child and the next an adult, but developmentally there is a transition period where they are neither. I think that is more relevant to this discussion than the legal age. One young adult may need more support than a younger teen in the circumstances.

Very true, criminal responsibility is still 10 isn't it so he's well past that, he'd likely be Gillick competent for medical treatment, if his parents split up a judge would certainly listen to his wishes about where he lives. There is a middle ground, it doesn't all change at midnight one night.

I'm all for involving children and young people in funerals myself but usually in more age appropriate ways and not as a public spectacle. One of my teens attended their grandmother's funeral, one didn't want to go at all. I've been to funerals where the young children have played an instrument, read something, drawn or written poems, but usually people have an out if it all gets a bit much and aren't stared at like zoo exhibits. It's all being done publically and not as a way of processing their natural emotions or grief, IMO, but I see lots of people find it moving or 'don't know how they do it', answer, they just stuff their emotions down and act, that's what they do as part of the RF.

He’s a 14 year old who stood vigil for his 96 year old grandma. A grandma whose death wasn’t unexpected and he was watched by both his parents and almost certainly made his own decision to take part. It is NOTHING like 2 young boys in shock following the coffin of their 36 year old mother who died tragically and unexpectedly,

He’s 14, not 8. He’ll be fine. How long was the vigil? 15 minutes? It won’t kill him.

He is practically the same age as my DS so I really felt for him.

Absolutely agree

I don’t think his parents would have let him do that unless he really wanted to. When my father passed away my nephews (14 and 12) both insisted on being allowed to help carry the coffin and my boys, both under 10, wanted to be involved as well and the undertaker kindly organised a ‘role’ for them. Grandkids want to honour their granny no matter their age.

Apparently he wanted to do it. His parents were there watching over both him and his sister

It was his choice and his parents were there to support from the balcony (as was his big sister of course). Be proud of the young man, not down about it.

I’m suprised he’s there at all as it’s very rare to see him on royal appointments at all.

Well he isn't going to have a lot of hardship is his life is he