I'm not watching the spectacle(s), even avoiding it you will still see or read things, but a lot of it is frankly exceptionally boring
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The BBC have been following with what seems 24/7 live coverage of every stage since Sunday, when the Queen's coffin spent 6 hours travelling by road from Balmoral to Edinburgh.
I've only dipped in and out of that, but I am finding it increasingly moving as the days go on. I watched the hearse travelling through London yesterday evening, for example - the Queen's final return to Buckingham Palace after 70 years.
I also happened to catch the beginning of the procession this afternoon - the Queen's coffin leaving the Palace en route to Westminster Hall, where she now will lie in state until early Monday morning.
It's difficult for me to articulate how I felt at that point - there was so much weight and respect and gravity behind the solemn marches being played, punctuated by the tolling of Big Ben and the gun salutes from Hyde Park, once a minute, every minute, accurately marking every step of the journey.
I'm not given to hyperbole usually, but even I'm beginning to believe that the scale and majesty of Monday's State Funeral will be something none of us have ever experienced.
I just returned from London having arrived there the day after the Queen passed away. It's worth mentioning that the significance of her passing meant something to just about everyone I encountered, the most common of observations being how she carried herself (almost everyone started their commentary with, "No matter what you might think of the monarchy ...") and her lifelong duty to her country and devotion to her family.
The general consensus being that she was a class act, that we're not likely to see her kind again anytime soon, and that this signifies a change in the role of the monarchy to their society.
The BBC has been doing an amazing job of covering all these events. There’s a lot of negative talk about the coverage, but it really has been moving to watch.
Having said that, Charles may well have made a mistake by announcing that Andrew will be his deputy should he not be able to attend/carry out functions.
I really do not think the public will wear that, & I can see this decision being changed pretty quickly.
Respect for the Queen of course, she has been a real part of my life and my community and family's, but here the talking heads thinking up anything they can to talk about over the live feed touches on preposterous; topics like who inherited what trait from whom as well as comparisons with Diana's funeral! It is taking up a lot of only a few channels, but when you're wanting news from Ukraine or area wildfires and they're the second or third story if you're lucky after a recap of a casket displayed and moved and displayed again and who stood by it and who walked behind and what the commentators can think of to say about it and them... and this is going to go on for over another week? With one entire holiday day created for official Commonwealth mourning? If you push something hard too much a lot of people will react negatively. It's a bit like every protest over anything shutting down traffic all the time, or always being on the library steps and you just want to return or check out your books. It is news... part of the news, not all or even half the news. They do not have to work so hard to find something to say or some new angle to the main story; a recap of her dogs' names and hats with outfits through the years makes who she actually was and her role seem trivial and that's a disservice.
I stopped getting BBC Canada when it became BBC First at a higher price (but the same few shows mostly), and we lost BBC News about the same time from the cable bundle. I know there's also a new Royal specialty channel but I doubt that will be around much longer (although some channels go on forever it seems with limited fare of sharks, wrestler biographies and house flipping). Maybe I'd be happy with their 24/7 coverage, I can't know, but a lot of what we are getting is just excessive and frankly thoughtless, and as I say, trivializing, shallow, sometimes exasperating.
I hope people will give King Charles II a chance, it would be a shame to see the institution and role diminish, though I wish the celebrity/soap aspect would go away.
I hope people will give King Charles II a chance, it would be a shame to see the institution and role diminish, though I wish the celebrity/soap aspect would go away.
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You mean Charles III, obviously. I agree about the celebrity/soap aspect. But I'm also appalled at how Meghan is being treated while all of this is going on.
This is a momentous event, but the ridiculous level of padding to the coverage is almost embarrassing (I've lost count of the amount of interviews where people are actually struggling to find anything to say).
Not to trivialize, but the first mention of Westminster Hall made me think of the comic marts that were held there in the 80's. frequented by the likes of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.
It is an unbelievable spectacle. I can't think of any other person who would get every major world leader turning up to their funeral (in the case of Canada, it's not just Trudeau but four previous ex-PMs going as well).
I also can't help but admire the fortitude of the guards standing by the coffin. My back aches in sympathy.