The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The King

[69MeDon]

You guys might have a point. Maybe I should just keep in mind all she did for me. I was truly blessed.

[69MeDon]

Apologies. In my grief, I did a double post.

Edited September 9, 2022 by 69MeDon

[The Gaffer]

57 minutes ago, stewdogg said:

This post has really irked me since last night.

If that's really true then you might want to positively re-evaluate your emotional resonance to the passing of a stranger, and another stranger's facetious remarks about it. And I mean that in the best way possible. 

[Mr_Danger]

Like it or not the queen was a massive part in setting the weird subservient mindset that makes this country what it is and without her we’d only have publicly elected officials to lionise and base our identity on. Lucky for us we have a whole chain of people ready to step in to her place and we just need to adjust to licking the boots of someone new, albeit someone better, because he’s a man.

[SuperBacon]

The stencil is actually quite nice (and I know the Queen would've loved the Shakshuka) but the armbands in Waitrose has done me in.

[BomberPat]

6 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Like it or not the queen was a massive part in setting the weird subservient mindset that makes this country what it is and without her we’d only have publicly elected officials to lionise and base our identity on. Lucky for us we have a whole chain of people ready to step in to her place and we just need to adjust to licking the boots of someone new, albeit someone better, because he’s a man.

I think what's coming down the line is far worse than adjusting to licking Charles' boots; he's been a public figure his whole life, with all the baggage that entails, and is pretty widely unpopular because of it; the Cult of Diana hate him and Camilla, the anti-wokes hate him for talking about the environment, the right-wing press hate him as a matter of course (though will likely pivot to pretending otherwise), and to the general public he's had decades of jokes about big ears, waiting around for his mum to die, and him generally being a bit of a doddering old fool. 

There'll be an uptick in royalism in the short-term because of all the pomp and pageantry of the funeral, but I can't see Charles attracting the kind of generalised goodwill and affection that the Queen did. If there's any time to foster a genuine public appetite for republicanism, it's during Charles' reign, because the moment will be lost by the time Lovely William takes over. 

The thing is, even if Charles is deeply unpopular and we lose the monarchy, we don't lose the national tendency towards bootlicking and nationalism. Without the Queen as a relatively benign symbol of Britishness, nationalism will become even more focused on a sense of "British-ness" that is disconnected from government, statehood and monarchy - which means, almost certainly, in more explicit racism and assorted other bigotries. Fun times ahead.

[Loki]

1 hour ago, Gay as FOOK said:

If that's really true then you might want to positively re-evaluate your emotional resonance to the passing of a stranger, and another stranger's facetious remarks about it. And I mean that in the best way possible. 

Isn't this precisely the sort of comment that @stewdoggwas talking about?  I don't think there's a best way of taking that, it reads as (and is) straight patronising.

I do wonder if it's a particular trait of modern Britain that we have such an awkward relationship with patriotism.  In most countries, the death of the Head Of State would be met with a similar emotional response but I wonder if you'd also get a subset of people deciding to judge everyone because of it.  Maybe.  There are certainly countries like the US though where patriotism is assumed and adopted by all sides in the vast majority.  Flying the flag there doesn't cause nearly as much controversy as over here, it's very much part of the everyday culture, along with the pledge of allegiance etc.

I personally think it should be perfectly possible to dislike both the privilege of monarchy, and aspects of this Royal Family's history, and still understand that your fellow countrymen might feel sad at the passing of the person who's been the figurehead of the country for our entire lives.  As Head Of State she embodies Great Britain the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and into her people pour whatever they consider our country to stand for.   So people are grieving both a woman who perhaps they admired personally, and an emblem of patriotic feeling.  It's a natural reaction, not an absurd one.

 

Edit: appeasing Norn types

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Loki

[The Gaffer]

2 minutes ago, Loki said:

Isn't this precisely the sort of comment that @stewdoggwas talking about?  I don't think there's a best way of taking that, it reads as (and is) straight patronising.

Not at all. I genuinely mean it, but if it's still a poor time and place fair enough. There was obviously the risk it could be read that way when I posted it. 

There's all manner of takes in this thread, from innocent whimsy to Frankie Boyle tribute acts, so in the grand scheme of things I don't think suggesting to somebody that a post on a forum getting under their skin overnight because of a reigning monarch's passing is something that can be internally soothed better is that bad a mark. 

I'll take my bag of spuds elsewhere though. 

[Keith Houchen]

8 minutes ago, Loki said:

As Head Of State she embodies Great Britain

Some folk in the north of Ireland might feel excluded by this. 

[gaz2050]

The thing I find most bizarre on a wrestling forum is how some people can't understand that you may feel a personal connection to someone you've never met, and may be genuinely upset by their death.

 

[69MeDon]

The Queen charged a really reasonable amount for signed 8x10s and was great with the Make-a-Wish kids, that's why I loved her. Also she threw a great worked punch.

Edited September 9, 2022 by 69MeDon

[Accident Prone]

Big "having the day off work to 'mourn' the passing of Eddie Guerrero" energy from some of you today.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Accident Prone

[Tommy!]

An element of it is change more than grief in the sense of a lost loved one is. She's been around for all of some people's lives as a constant. The 2 things you could be sure would be on TV every Christmas when I was a kid was her and goldfinger.

People have grown up with her face plastered on everything and regular party's being held to celebrate the fact she hadn't yet died, one very recently. Even the minor parts of her life make the news and have done for 60 years or more.

I'm not going to look down on someone being emotionally impacted by that change just because I'm not.

[SuperBacon]

Pathetic. Go to work, go to school, but don't actually go to or do anything that might make you happy. "MOURN YOU PLEBS!!!" basically. 

Such a British philosophy. 

[westlondonmist]

8 minutes ago, gaz2050 said:

The thing I find most bizarre on a wrestling forum is how some people can't understand that you may feel a personal connection to someone you've never met, and may be genuinely upset by their death.

 

I understand people getting upset about celebrities a bit more honestly. Music, films, TV shows and even wrestling are escapisms and can help people get through tough times. I use music to help me cope with rough patches.