RIP HM Queen Elizabeth II

[Coco]

That's because you are still an American

 

[skategal]

I’m in the Commonwealth and the Monarch is ours too but I wouldn’t line up to see the coffin either…..

However, I have lined up in the past to see the Queen, Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Prince Edward.

I don’t line up for the dead.

 

[Karen-W]

This USA Today article says David Beckham joined the line at 2:00 AM and waited for10 hours to pay his respects.

Saw footage of him just now, replayed on Sky News.

I would also not queue for 10 hours to pay my respects. I'd do what @Louis did and watch the procession pass by instead.

 

[made_in_canada]

I’m in the Commonwealth and the Monarch is ours too but I wouldn’t line up to see the coffin either…..

However, I have lined up in the past to see the Queen, Princess Diana, Prince Charles and Prince Edward.

I don’t line up for the dead.

The queen came to our city when I was a kid and people were buzzing at school about it so I went home and asked my mom if we were going. She convinced me we would have a better view watching the news

 

[skategal]

The queen came to our city when I was a kid and people were buzzing at school about it so I went home and asked my mom if we were going. She convinced me we would have a better view watching the news

When I was really little, the Queen visited my city on my birthday.

I was convinced she came for my birthday and we went to see her.

Your mom was right though….better views on TV.

We did get really good views of Princess Diana and Prince Charles though.

My school choir performed for their visit.

I wasn’t in the choir (too young) but got to sit in the reserved section for the parents of the kids in the choir with my friend’s parents.

 

[once_upon]

I dont know that I would stand in a line for hours to pay tribute to a casket of a famous person monarchy or political or celebrity.

I did stand in line on a very, very hot day in August to attend Hillary Clinton's political rally in 2016 - over 7 hours.

 

[PRlady]

There have been many, many famous dead people in the Rotunda since I came to DC in 1978. Not once have I stood in line to pay respects.

I briefly considered it for John McCain and John Lewis.

 

[kedrin]

There have been many, many famous dead people in the Rotunda since I came to DC in 1978. Not once have I stood in line to pay respects.

I briefly considered it for John McCain and John Lewis.

Interesting choices. Not RBG?

 

[PRlady]

Interesting choices. Not RBG?

Ha. I was working so hard getting out statements, doing media, prepping boss for interviews about impact on our issue, I would never have had time.

 

[MacMadame]

Maybe it’s the Catholic in me, but if I was lining up to pay my respects I would want to see a body so I could say how well the dead person looked.

That is normal in all the wakes I've gone to. They weren't all Catholic viewings either.

There have been many, many famous dead people in the Rotunda since I came to DC in 1978. Not once have I stood in line to pay respects.

I briefly considered it for John McCain and John Lewis.

I might have for John Lewis. I really admired that man.

 

[MsZem]

Maybe it’s the Catholic in me, but if I was lining up to pay my respects I would want to see a body so I could say how well the dead person looked.

That is normal in all the wakes I've gone to. They weren't all Catholic viewings either.

Goyim are weird

In Judaism we bury people ASAP.

 

[Sylvia]

BBC News' current live stream of HM Queen Elizabeth II Lying-in-State at Westminster Hall in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQYBO8P7gLE

Thre Queen's children are about to start their second public vigil.

 

[Karen-W]

Many members of the extended royal family are present on the dais/balcony - I saw Zara, Mike, Mia & Lena Tindall; Eugenie & Jack; Beatrice & Edoardo; James, Louise & Sophie; Camilla; Tim Laurence; Peter, Savannah & Isla Phillips; the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke of Kent; and a lot of other Gloucester & Kent cousins that I don't recognize by sight. Didn't see the Wales or Sussex families, but the camera didn't pan all the way across.

I suspect, given how fidgety Lena Tindall is here tonight that she won't be at the funeral on Monday; but the others all seem to be standing and able to pay good attention.

 

[ballettmaus]

In Judaism we bury people ASAP.

Very sensible, if you ask me.

 

[Deleted member 221]

In Judaism we bury people ASAP.

You have the right idea.

I confess, I did wonder how the Queen's corpse would tolerate being in the coffin for so long, 24 hours a day, especially with the warmish, humid weather. Apparently it's a lead-lined coffin, which provides an airtight seal and slows decomposition. This is also why the coffin is so heavy.

 

[MacMadame]

Very sensible, if you ask me.

I like it, myself. Then have a memorial service any time it's convenient to get the people closest to the deceased together.

 

[once_upon]

I've been to close casket visitations and funerals before. Most of those involve traumatic injuries that were the cause of death. Some were severe disfigurement cause by the disease (like facial cancers).

Some of them have an open casket pre service, but close it prior to rolling the casket into the church. I assume this is part of the particular religious norms.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I like it, myself. Then have a memorial service any time it's convenient to get the people closest to the deceased together.

We also have an unveiling, where the headstone or plaque is unveiled at the cemetery. (Until then, it's a mound of dirt with a marker in it.) In my family, this is usually either around the one year anniversay (by the Hebrew calendar) or in the weeks before Rosh Hashanah, when we'd generally visit the graves of our ancestors. (And then go eat up a storm.)

 

[allezfred]

Goyim are weird

In Judaism we bury people ASAP.

In Ireland we do too. The wake and funeral happen very quickly. It is always so strange to us to see funerals in the UK take place weeks and weeks after a death.

 

[MsZem]

I like it, myself. Then have a memorial service any time it's convenient to get the people closest to the deceased together.

That's what the shiva is for - secular Jews observe it without some of the associated religious practices.

 

[rfisher]

The historical reason for vigils is to make certain the person is really dead. There are all sorts of reasons regarding spirits and ghosts depending on the culture, but they are grounded in practical matters. Mortuary rituals are fascinating and have some universals.

 

[VGThuy]

I think in my culture we try to bury them fast too, but with modern refrigeration and mortuary handling, we don’t feel so need to be so quick to bury. At two recent funerals in my family, we were able to wait till the following weekend even if there was that week’s weekend that was closer to wait and bury the loved one to give people time to see them one last time. Seeing the body, if possible, is very important in my family, even if embalming always makes them look off. My family is more scattered all over than it was in the past so this is a more recent development. But that’s Catholic Viets. I think the Buddhists need to bury them ASAP because something about their spirits or ghosts being stuck on Earth and being lost forever.

 

[DFJ]

I find all of it morbid. Instructions to my kids is no funeral, absolutely no burial. Just the thought of that is cringeworthy. I belong to a Memorial Society. Cremation is already paid for. I asked my kids to take me to the mountains and spread my ashes there. I'll be more than happy.

 

[Coco]

I've always thought the ceremonial aspects are for the living, so they can share their grief and gain support from others who are grieving, get some closure. During covid I lost a few relatives and going without funerals has been awful. Feels like limbo, you know?

 

[ballettmaus]

I like it, myself. Then have a memorial service any time it's convenient to get the people closest to the deceased together.

We don't have vigils in Germany but in the city, there's a wait time because cemeteries only do so many days of funerals per week. At the cemetery that my grandma is buried at, it's only one day per week, so we had to wait almost three weeks to have the funeral. I hated that because I wanted it to have that closure and have that step be done with.

As far as a memorial service is concerned, I don't think you need to have a coffin standing there to remember the person you're burying.

As far as the Queen's funeral is concerned, I think this is a bit too much with regards to the family. They've got all these appointments and cameras shoved into their face and they can't really grieve in private. To them, she wasn't a Queen but a mother and grandmother and one public memorial service with a private burial shortly after should be enough. They've lost a family member, let them grieve in private.

 

[skategal]

In Ireland we do too. The wake and funeral happen very quickly. It is always so strange to us to see funerals in the UK take place weeks and weeks after a death.

The third day is customary for Atlantic Canada and that is really only 2 days after the day of death.

 

[once_upon]

I've always thought the ceremonial aspects are for the living, so they can share their grief and gain support from others who are grieving, get some closure. During covid I lost a few relatives and going without funerals has been awful. Feels like limbo, you know?

When we had dad's funeral it was October 2020. It was delayed for 3 weeks because of travel needs of my brother and some of dad's grandchildren and great grandchildren. That day, the funeral home was doing 11 funerals - all but one were delayed (because of Covid) funeral. The funeral director told me they had at least 40 urns/ashes of people who died in the previous 8.months.

Wakes, funerals are indeed for the survivors and closure. Queen Elizabeth was millions of people's monarch. The time of public mourning.is necessary - but it has/will take it's toll on her family.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I find all of it morbid. Instructions to my kids is no funeral, absolutely no burial. Just the thought of that is cringeworthy. I belong to a Memorial Society. Cremation is already paid for. I asked my kids to take me to the mountains and spread my ashes there. I'll be more than happy.

I completely agree. I especially find burial in a crypt depressing and feel like the deceased should be able to return to the elements, ashes to ashes and dust to dust. I love to travel, and I have told my kids I want to be cremated and taken on one last awesome family vacation for them to sprinkle what's left of me in some amazing place where they can enjoy reminiscing.

 

[Spikefan]

I find all of it morbid. Instructions to my kids is no funeral, absolutely no burial. Just the thought of that is cringeworthy. I belong to a Memorial Society. Cremation is already paid for. I asked my kids to take me to the mountains and spread my ashes there. I'll be more than happy.

Yeah. I want my body donated for organs and then what’s left science. If not usable for science, cremation or fertilizer (not that they have that here now). No burial plot even though I love old cemeteries. Spreading my ashes in the non-Catholic cemetery in Rome sounds nice but that’s not a thing either. Then for those left celebrate/grieve how you see fit. Hold hands, yell, play loud music. Good thing I’m not a Royal as they would hate me.

 

[allezfred]

The third day is customary for Atlantic Canada and that is really only 2 days after the day of death.

Yes, having the wake and funeral within 48 hours is not uncommon here so I guess that must be the Irish influence.