I Wonder Why Some People Go To The Lying In State

[Stargazer]

Watching the people going past, some of them appear to be wandering along, neither looking at or acknowledging the coffin. Other cross themselves, bow or nod.

[1ozzy]

Respect to the offspring of the family that repressed all and sundry to gain their wealth?

[emmie]

you can look at it like that but most don't.

[1ozzy]

I guess I'm a member of the minority ;-/

[emmie]

she has been a great Queen, Ambassador for the collection of Commonwealth countries, has done more for the country than can possibly be imagined. She has had to meet despots, tyrannical leaders, and often people like Martin McGuinness in aid of peace particularly in Northern Ireland, i know most wouldn't have done it.

[Bobbisox1]

I’ve never felt anything but respect for HM, never a feeling about their wealth or lifestyle,I’d hate to live in a Republic and hope I never have to in my lifetime

[burlyshirley1]

I would go because I loved the Queen and would have loved to be a part of it all, apart from the usual wish to pay my respects. To be a part of that massive queue and make friends with all the people of a like mind seems like a good thing to do and something that will always be remembered. I would have bowed my head deeply at her coffin and without doubt shed a few tears. In my humble opinion, she deserves all of this.

[lankeela]

I did wonder how respectful it was to file past wearing shorts and trainers as some were! I would at least have worn something suitable had I felt the need to queue for hours on end to pay my respects. I also wondered why they had bothered when not even seeming to glance at the coffin or pausing for a second or two to reflect.

[Hopkirk]

It's a chance to see the inside of Westminster Hall, which is apparently pretty impressive.

[pastafreak]

I watched some of the live footage...interesting if only to people-watch. Before the queue had become double...triple...I saw people pause, bow, curtsey, make the sign of the cross, blow a kiss. Many, as they passed, looked back several times...making sure they took it all in. With the numbers now, I'm not sure there's time for any of that.

[tiggerblue10]

Westminster Hall is impressive, Hoppy. I went there a few years ago.

[naomi24]

It reminds me of the dining hall at Hogwarts.

[fiveleaves]

Slighty off topic but have we actually been told what the Queen died of?

[nailit]

Ive always found something morbid about showing respect to dead corpses in a box.
(That includes my own recently deceased mother)

No matter what you are, Monarchist or otherwise,
Its still just a corpse in a box.

Have your memories or whatever.
They will mean more to you than walking past a box containing a decomposing body.
Sorry, but that's the reality!

[Canary42]

I do wonder whether some of it is Virtue Signalling.

I was offered the opportunity to visit my Mum's coffin after the undertaker treatment but I declined - I was beside her bedside when she died and kissed her goodbye then.

[Redhelen72]

If a body is decomposing then the embalming procedure hasn’t been carried out.

[237SJ]

Walking past a coffin is not virtue signalling.

[pastafreak]

Apparently, a lead lined coffin can delay decomposition for up to a year. Add embalming, and a body will keep its shape for good while. ;)

[nailit]

//I do wonder whether some of it is Virtue Signalling//
Its ALL virtue signalling Canary....
Everything from the soldiers in their silly uniforms
(Who goes to battle in a Bearskin hat or Beefeater uniform)?
To the individuals who never knew or met her.

I can have absolute sympathy for her offspring who have to go through all these ridiculous rituals, and not allowed to mourn in private, but this //virtue signalling// is sickening.

[nailit]

//I was offered the opportunity to visit my Mum's coffin after the undertaker treatment but I declined - I was beside her bedside when she died and kissed her goodbye then//

My dad died 20 yrs ago.
I saw him in an open coffin.
he looked like a parody of his former self.
It was actually sickening to see.

I vowed never to look upon a corpse again.
My mum died last year.

She was a rotting corpse by then and nothing more.
I accepted that reality 20 years later...
My mum (like the queen) was a mortal. And destined for nothing more than death, like the rest of us.
Nature doesn't distinguish wealth or prestige.

[JimF]

Surely nobody really believes that there's anything / anyone in the coffin...