Queen Elizabeth II dies

I was thinking why is abdication a big deal because it has happened before but I forgot that was for personal reasons and not political.

Their priorities are ridiculous.

Their titles and kingdom are more important than family.

His mother barely a weekend dead and the new king has plans for NI, welsh and Scottish appearances well underway.

Surely he could be allowed to mourn his mother, spend time with family before getting wheeled out to stoke the fires of the propaganda machine of British greatness and instead visit their conquered lands once the funeral is over.

Family my left one.

Well this is it isn't it.

The family may be very wealthy and want for nothing but they are at the beck and call of protocol and the system.

The King is not allowed to mourn his mother like any son can.

He was not even allowed follow her cortege from the house to the church, instead he has to be hundreds of miles away doing some other duty.

And this week he had to visit x, y and z locations and say a, b and c so that it's all prim and proper.

And that's why Harry got out, he liked the trappings of being a member, the wealth etc but he was not willing to put in the hard yards, not willing to be "owned" by the state and only allowed do what the state dictated he do.

It's like being one of the quintuplets, sure, with more money and "prestige", but you've one life, it's understandable why some would want out of enforced "duty" and creating heirs (isn't that Charles summed up?).

Or you could just take the p*ss out of it like is happening in Thailand right now.

they are speaking on behalf of the irish people, that is just the fact whether you like it or not.

the english who would be bothering to take the time to care about them will get over it, most of us haven't heard of them in years anyway.

Have to say the one thing that really has stuck with me (and I'm not speaking about the British royal family in particular, it would be notable at any funeral or mourning ceremony) over the past few days is the sheer number of people with phones out. I just watched the procession now and it's a sea of phones, not a single person just quietly or respectfully looking on. It might be a huge ceremonial public occasion but it is still a funeral with mourners following the hearse - and yet people are whacking their phones out for a few snaps for their Instagram stories like it's just public entertainment.

Jedward are speaking on behalf of the Irish people with their views/tweets? WTF!!!!

I do sort of agree with the other poster. It ties in again with what I see as the English relationship with grief. Of course this is a generalisation, but there is an expectation that there is a stiff upper lip, a sort of "get on with it" attitude when someone close to you dies. And while the general public are allowed to mourn the Queen's death (and the attending catharsis that brings them from the repressed grief in their own lives) tha,t permission to mourn does not extend to immediate royal family members. How can they push the "blitz spirit" fallacy if the royal family are allowed weeks off to mourn their own family members? It was the same when Diana died - they had William and Harry out photographed while greeting people and looking at the flowers within three or four days of her death. Duty to the public comes first above all else. I do wonder where the royal family get their catharsis? It's probably one of the reasons Harry left.

I do wonder, as King, whether Charles could start dismantling some of this - quite frankly, cruel - protocol. He certainly seems, as time has gone on, to have become more "in touch" with his and his family's feelings and I don't think he'd be easily rolled over by the courtiers if he felt strongly about something.

yes .

realistically most irish people think the monarchy is a load of nonsense.

Ok, so all now seems most.......Fair enough.....maybe we just need to butt out and let Britain decide on what is and isn’t right. The actual neck of those two twits to try lecture Britain on the monarchy.

well this thread and the M&H thread would show that it is most who think it is rubbish but a small few don't.

yeah i have no problem with jedward lecturing britain, it needs to be lectured to as it has regressed in many respects in the name of brexit.

I haven't bothered going through all 61 pages of this thread, but there's an awful bang of North Korea over this. With the one official photo of her on a black background on TV, on all electronic hoarding, and advertising including in shops. I even saw a screenshot of that on some

one's Nintendo FFS. The BBC editing pieces to drown out the boos during the proclamation of the King in Edinburgh, and cops arresting people holding up placards and charging them with breach of the peace.

Even a placard saying something as simple as "Not my king" leads to cops surrounding and "escorting" a protestor away. It reminds me of those anti war protestors arrested in Moscow for holding up placards. Even a blank placard!