RIP Queen Elizabeth

[Dogtrousers]

Around the Palace including Green Park is already being used for people wishing to lay/see the flowers and other tributes.
And she’s lying in state at Westminster Hall not the Palace isn’t she, hence the queuing route along the river? The queue is part pavement wide presumably?

Green Park being in use is a good point.

But South Bank is, by and large, nowhere near Westminster, until the queue crosses the river at Lambeth Bridge and doubles back on itself. It starts in Bermondsey!

It's not important, I just find it a bit odd. It seems to have been designed for maximum length which I would have thought would make it less manageable.

Maybe they have shoved everyone South of the river in order to be able to clear areas for the funeral itself.

 

[Venod]

I haven't seen any mention of Covid safety for the crowds, I understand its still about.
I can't imagine what the funeral arrangements would be if we were still in lockdown.

 

[vickster]

Green Park being in use is a good point.

But South Bank is, by and large, nowhere near Westminster, until the queue crosses the river at Lambeth Bridge and doubles back on itself. It starts in Bermondsey!

It's not important, I just find it a bit odd. It seems to have been designed for maximum length which I would have thought would make it less manageable.

Maybe they have shoved everyone South of the river in order to be able to clear areas for the funeral itself.

Fewer security concerns than having it actually going around Westminster I’d think

 

[vickster]

I haven't seen any mention of Covid safety for the crowds, I understand its still about.
I can't imagine what the funeral arrangements would be if we were still in lockdown.

They would have been extremely limited, similar to Prince Phillip’s I’d imagine.
There’s relatively little Covid now, lower than in March 2020 apparently

 

[oldwheels]

Green Park being in use is a good point.

But South Bank is, by and large, nowhere near Westminster, until the queue crosses the river at Lambeth Bridge and doubles back on itself. It starts in Bermondsey!

It's not important, I just find it a bit odd. It seems to have been designed for maximum length which I would have thought would make it less manageable.

Maybe they have shoved everyone South of the river in order to be able to clear areas for the funeral itself.

Probably maximum length is to create an impression of even more people.

 

[winjim]

Spending two days in a queue would be bad enough but at least you get to see the sights of central London as it moves. Having it all in one place constantly doubling back on itself would be purgatory and lead to a lot of frustration potentially boiling over. Imagine being stuck right in the middle of it.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

They would have been extremely limited, similar to Prince Phillip’s I’d imagine.
There’s relatively little Covid now, lower than in March 2020 apparently

Probably more accurate to say there is little testing for COVID now, though to be fair the current variants are milder for the majority of people. Many even go unnoticed.

Routine testing still exists for me and my teams and I am still seeing more positive results than during the height of the pandemic.

 

[PaulSB]

Other than 30 minutes or so last Thursday evening I've avoided everything on TV re the Queen's death other than the odd snippet on the news programmes which I've largely avoided as well. Until last night. We were hanging around the house after eating and waiting to go out so idly put the TV on and caught the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. I was struck by how well we do pageantry. It was quite a sight. I doubt I'll watch any more, we've a day out on Monday as part of a trip we started planning a year ago.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I am still seeing more positive results than during the height of the pandemic.

Covid is at very low levels compared to the height of the pandemic.

The ONS does a random testing survey, so independent of overall testing levels.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...ruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/9september2022

 

[PaulSB]

just read that Guinea Pig Awareness Week has been postponed.........................you really couldn't make it up. This country can be absolutely utterly bonkers at times. People's behaviour and reactions are unbelievable. Which is why I have avoided all coverage of HRM other than above. I'm definitely switching off now.

 

[Dogtrousers]

just read that Guinea Pig Awareness Week has been postponed.........................you really couldn't make it up. This country can be absolutely utterly bonkers at times. People's behaviour and reactions are unbelievable. Which is why I have avoided all coverage of HRM other than above. I'm definitely switching off now.

I intended to remain strictly unaware of Guinea pigs for the entire 12 days of mourning. But now you've gone and mentioned them. I'll have to start again now

 

[captain nemo1701]

just read that Guinea Pig Awareness Week has been postponed.........................you really couldn't make it up. This country can be absolutely utterly bonkers at times. People's behaviour and reactions are unbelievable. Which is why I have avoided all coverage of HRM other than above. I'm definitely switching off now.

I'm no royalist. To me, celebrating the platinum jubilee was essentially about a rich lady refusing to retire. Witness the poor people using foodbanks but dutifully waving flags at a wealthy family stood on the balcony of a palace....perverse in my book. The social conditioning about these people is like a drug.

I heard this on the radio the other day, from one of the people charged with organising the funeral:
" We've rehearsed for months but I hoped this moment would never arrive..."

Memo to pro-royalists: An infinite amount of hope won't stop death. Monarchs die like the rest of us, thus proving in the end they're not special and possess no death-defying powers.

 

[winjim]

What's a Guinea Pig?

 

[mjr]

“
There will be those who say, what is the point of all this frivolity, the expensive uniforms, the outlay on policing and security? The answer lies in what the republics of the world do elsewhere.
<snip>
If the United Kingdom were to do away with this, we would only end up reinventing it all over again, and at similar cost. The objections of the nay-sayers are more a reflection of their own petty-mindedness than the mood of a nation.
“

Oh yes, all republics have elaborate state funeral rituals and pagentry for former presidents. Who can forget the elaborate funeral procession, numerous heads of state participating, and thousand statues erected to unification German president Weizsäcker when he died in 2015? Oh wait, no, they didn't. That was unification German Emperor Wilhelm I. So it seems it's not necessary to reinvent all the trappings of monarchy for a president, after all.

Heck, I suspect Charles III won't even adopt all the luxuries of Elizabeth II.

 

[mjr]

What's a Guinea Pig?

Argh! Now we're aware of them again and therefore committing treason!