God Save The King

[Josephus]

Props to David Beckham for spending 12 hours in the queue to see the lying in state, I'm sure he could have pulled some strings if he wanted to.

Yes, I'm sure there was a VIP entry, he could have got.

[mongers]

Props to David Beckham for spending 12 hours in the queue to see the lying in state, I'm sure he could have pulled some strings if he wanted to.

Yes, I'm sure there was a VIP entry, he could have got.

Jos, but not for the likes of us.

And I'm now regretting not having gone and queued, but the trains would have been packed.

[Josquius]

I was thinking today.
The scenes when the new king was proclaimed at st james and the crowd shouted god save the king...
Its so very post-modern. People weren't organically doing this. Rather they showed up just to do it as they had seen it in the movies and thought it was the thing to do.

[garbon]

After 8 years here, this will clearly be something I'll never understand about Britain. This being desiring to stand in that queue.

[The Larch]

So it seems that Bolsonaro is using his attendance to the funeral as an electoral campaign stunt.

Bolsonaro uses visit to London for Queen's funeral as 'election soapbox'
Speaking from the balcony of his ambassador's home, Brazilian president rounds on leftists, abortion and 'gender ideology'

Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of using the Queen's funeral as a political soapbox after he flew into London to deliver a speech to supporters about the dangers of leftists, abortion and "gender ideology".

Speaking from the balcony of the Brazilian ambassador's 19th-century Mayfair home on Sunday, the South American populist voiced "profound respect" for the royal family and UK citizens and claimed that honouring Queen Elizabeth II was the "main objective" of his visit to London.

But Bolsonaro – who looks poised to lose next month's presidential election in Brazil – then switched immediately into campaign mode, despite the moment of mourning.


"We're on the right path," Brazil's president told hundreds of yellow-clad supporters who had rallied outside the building – less than two miles from Westminster Hall where the Queen was lying in state.

"We are a country that does not want to discuss the legalisation of drugs, that does not want to discuss the legalisation of abortion and a country that does not accept gender ideology," Bolsonaro went on. "Our slogan is: God, homeland, family and freedom."

Bolsonaro's politically charged comments delighted the hardcore supporters who had come to hear him in central London but sparked anger in the UK and Brazil.

(...)

Reports in the Brazilian media claimed Bolsonaro's team saw the Queen's funeral as a golden opportunity to boost his flagging re-election campaign by rubbing shoulders with world leaders who have largely shunned him since he came to power in 2019.

"Sources close to the president say [the decision to attend] was influenced by the opportunity to record footage for his campaign propaganda," the conservative Estado de São Paulo reported last week.

One presidential aide told Brazil's O Globo newspaper that Bolsonaro saw the funeral as a chance to outdo his leftist rival, the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is leading the race to become Brazil's next leader.

In his balcony address, Bolsonaro claimed he was on track for victory on 2 October. "There's no way we aren't going to win in the first round," he said to loud cheers and wolf whistles.

However, polls suggest Lula – who boasts a lead of between 12 and 15 points – will prevail when 156 million Brazilians vote.

[mongers]

So passes one of the very last post-war certainties, the Queen in UK public life.

Tomorrow the focus has to return to Climate Change, the war in Ukraine, cost of living crisis and preparing for the next pandemic.


Meanwhile TV coveage moves from blanket royal coverage to a full blown soporific daytime tv schedule.

[Oexmelin]

Props to David Beckham for spending 12 hours in the queue to see the lying in state, I'm sure he could have pulled some strings if he wanted to.

BBC map of the queue, which I prefer as it's better suited to webpages:

Perhaps for the next funeral, they could simply float the royal down the Thames...

[Sheilbh]

Down the Thames, on a Royal Train - and incorporate this solution:
https://twitter.com/_RichardParry_/status/1570706799975862272?s=20&t=au39yR3wutgomEW7oO_HdA

[Tamas]

One way this relentless two-weeks media mourning worked, I guess, is that now it is hard to imagine there was a time the Queen was alive. Being sorry for her death and remembering her life has some become the constant background noise.

[Valmy]

Perhaps for the next funeral, they could simply float the royal down the Thames...

I like it. Viking funeral style.

[mongers]

Oh dear, the care of the Queens last two corgis has been entrusted to Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah. :-(

[Syt]

Monarch's funeral procession 1952 vs 2022.

[Valmy]

Wow so much has changed since then.

[Tamas]

Wow so much has changed since then.

Which is an interesting generic point and I don't necessarily mean it applies to the UK in any negative way - what determines when a society prefers to embrace new instead of the traditional?

Those uniforms, that arrangement were once brand new. At some point, society was not afraid to try a new thing for a funeral.

[garbon]

Wow so much has changed since then.

Which is an interesting generic point and I don't necessarily mean it applies to the UK in any negative way - what determines when a society prefers to embrace new instead of the traditional?

Those uniforms, that arrangement were once brand new. At some point, society was not afraid to try a new thing for a funeral.

Umm, the hats on top pic weren't white.