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It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news an

It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all things pass in time, which makes my heart ache deeply.

dijit 4y ago
It's understandable, she's been a constant vague presence for a lot of British people. It feels like a minor part of our personal history died. I definitely feel saddened, even if I don't have a connection with royalty.
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  She's also been a moral authority. She avoided the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the moral family and frequently she's shown leadership. In WWII she trained as a mechanic so she could do something tangible to support the war effort.
  - MichaelCollins 4y ago
    > the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the [royal] family "Soap opera situations" seems like a gentle way to put it. Several of her family members have been accused of serious crimes, and associated with some very nasty people. For years they were shielded by their association with her.
    - PaulHoule 4y ago
      and I think things that were really sad like the triangle between Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Camilla Parker Bowes.
    - bigfudge 4y ago
      Exactly. Her silence/defence of Andrew is shameful. No moral compass there. Her distinguishing feature has been to give no public interviews and to entrench antidemocratic privilege as best we can. Dangs top post irritated me because it felt like this has to be the time to remember the whole life - not just the fantasy we are typically sold.
      - hackerlight 4y ago
        Source on her trying to entrench antidemocratic privilege?
        bigfudge 4y ago
        sustaining and not disbanding the Royal family for 70 years?
        MichaelCollins 4y ago
        Liberal exercise of it, to protect her family's interests: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...
    - smegger001 4y ago
      I think it would be safe to say she put on a stoic face to the world while fronting for what is possibly the most out of touch, dysfunctional, and entitled family in the world.
  - Beltalowda 4y ago
    I really don't want to go on criticizing the queen at length here because I think it's a bit insensitive, so I'll be brief, but I don't think that "avoiding soap opera situations" is really the same as "being a moral authority". Not that I think she was horribly bad either, but my standards for "moral authority" are quite a bit higher. Royal families tend to be neutral to a fault.
  - samstave 4y ago
    - techno_king 4y ago
  - verisimi 4y ago
    An immoral authority. She paid no taxes, lived a lifestyle of luxury paid for by her so called subjects, has offshore accounts, no public accountability, etc. Very easy, paid for life. Nothing moral about it.
  - deleted 4y ago
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- markhahn 4y ago
  Not just British people. Canadians, for instance, still have a role for the head of the commonwealth...
  - murphyslab 4y ago
    It's definitely affected me a bit today. She has a visual and historical presence in so many Canadian institutions, from her portraits hanging in my elementary school growing up, to our currency, the courts, and government itself. It's a bit hard to think of her as a real person sometimes, yet seeing Prime Minister Trudeau speak about her with glistening eyes tells me that she did more than purely her constitutional duty, but genuinely touched many, especially world leaders, with loving humility.
a_c 4y ago
Same here. And I'm an immigrant to the UK. Can't help but feeling sad
djitz 4y ago
I think it’s quite understandable to have an emotional response. People who become fixtures in our lives die and it instantly fires the signals of our own mortality we spend our lives suppressing.
Nursie 4y ago
Apparently, when I was little, I got excited one Christmas when the Queen’s speech was on tv, because I thought it was my Grandmother… I used to take comfort in the idea that all things pass in time, now not so much. Probably because I realised that includes everyone I love, and myself! I’ve no great love for the monarchy, but this is certainly the end of an era in British public life and likely in UK international relations - I can’t see the commonwealth nations welcoming King Charles as their new head of state. And it is weird, there are some things you just never expect to change. I’m hardly a spring chicken, but Queen Elizabeth was not only there my entire life, but Queen far enough into the past before I was born to have interacted with historical figures (like Churchill).
- voisin 4y ago
  > I can’t see the commonwealth nations welcoming King Charles as their new head of state. Well this is precisely what is about to happen. There may be some hand wringing articles in major newspapers about whether the Royal head of state is still relevant, appropriate, blah blah blah, but there is approximately zero chance that anything will change in reaction to this news.
  - Nursie 4y ago
    Immediately? Perhaps not, but I think we’ll see a bunch of countries breaking away from having the British monarch as their head of state in the next few years. I’m pretty sure that (for instance) Australia was just hanging on until we could be sure she was gone, the current government have already planned a referendum on it in a few years if they get a second term. (I say ‘we’, I am a relatively recent British migrant, and not a citizen yet)
    - marcus_holmes 4y ago
      There's a common understanding amongst Aussies (or at least, the Aussies that I know) that we were waiting for Liz to die before getting on with becoming a republic. For 2 reasons: 1. There was a sense of loyalty to Liz personally. She did a good job of Queening and it seemed almost rude to interrupt that. 2. No-one wants Charles as king. He's very weird, and has ideas that he actually wants to do things with. I fully expect the referendum to be brought forward because of her death, and for it to get a strong "yes".
m000 4y ago
Just reflect when we (as outsiders) were astonished by North Koreans mourning Kim Jong-Il.
- the_third_wave 4y ago
  There is just that thing with those prison camps littering North Korea, the recurring famines, the fact that the Kim dynasty claims god-like status and more... so no, this is not a good comparison even though we of course do not really know how much of all this is known to the North-Korean populace.
  - rajamaka 4y ago
    All of which is negligible when compared to the atrocities imposed throughout the world by British Colonialism under the sponsorship of the British Monarchy.
    - hackerlight 4y ago
      Again this is disanalogous. Kim actually perpetrates these hideous crimes to this day. The Queen inherited what you're describing and oversaw decolonisation, today largely serving as a figurehead. It'd be like blaming Hirohito's children for the crimes of Hirohito. Children don't inherit their parent's debt. What you could blame her for is not doing more to dismantle the monarchy's non-figurehead powers from the inside. But what you're trying to do is something else entirely and rather gross.
      - Onewildgamer 4y ago
        I agree only on the point that she doesn't inherit the wrong deeds, nothing on her personally. But the place she sits, is from the blood of millions who were enslaved, robbed and were dealt with a rather inhuman treatment to say the least. In the process empire also justified what they did was in the past and cautiously moved away from that without an inch of guilt. It is sad to see people in India/Pakistan/SriLanka mourn for her death, a pity case of Stockholm syndrome. If as you say, she has done good in her life, she should have relinquished the power, disowned the wealth which was directly a result of the horrific colonialism and imperialism. Or at least have some decency and apologise, give back the stolen wealth as a good gesture. Now I wonder, if she would have given up imperialism out of her own volition if she was in power during that period. I am inclining towards No.. it was convenient she didn't have to oversee those horrors. It has been more than 70 years and even now, they hold their crown so precious adorned with the Diamonds taken away forcefully from our lands. What an absolute shame! There are unheard horrors from the colonial countries, which will ache even the stone hearted. Bringing all this in perspective, we don't think she's Kim, but we have the same respect or the lack of it for anyone in their legacy.
orobinson 4y ago
I feel the same. I think it’s because it really represents the end of an era. The 20th and early 21st century ushered in unprecedented improvements to quality of life in Britain but it has felt of late that that has peaked and the country is facing a serious decline: Brexit, the increasingly visible effects of climate change, the aftermath of covid, the possible break up of the union, rising costs of living, recession, possibly even war. The death of Elizabeth II coincides with the end of a long period of stability and comfort and is not only a poignant point in history itself but a marker for a transitional point in history for our country.
- ralusek 4y ago
  - dang 4y ago
    We've banned this account for repeatedly posting flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's not allowed here. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Since someone is now about to accuse me of stealth Brexit sideage—no, this is just about the tiny business of moderating an internet forum, and that is all.) I don't lightly ban a 7-year-old account, but (a) we've warned you many times: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22976700 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22976700 (April 2020) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20912638 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20912638 (Sept 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20477028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20477028 (July 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19765448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19765448 (April 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17865589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17865589 (Aug 2018) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17623237 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17623237 (July 2018) ... and (b) you've broken the site guidelines repeatedly lately.
    - fit2rule 4y ago
NoraCodes 4y ago
meanwhile, Irish Twitter and TikTok have been absolutely ablaze with celebration...
- sph 4y ago
  Twitter is an echo chamber of edginess and not indicative of the average person in the real world. It's like wondering what 4chan thinks of this.
  - JAlexoid 4y ago
    Average person don't care... All kinds of republicans(anti-monarchists, not American republicans) are content.
  - BitwiseFool 4y ago
    >" Twitter is an echo chamber of edginess and not indicative of the average person in the real world." For now, at least. I think we are all underestimating just how much Twitter impacts public perception. Not just on topics, but how people feel, act, and interact with others. Twitter seems to have a cancerous negativity it inflicts on its users.
- hackerlight 4y ago
  The hashtag #IrishTwitter that artificially gets pumped up by Twitter's recommendation algorithm does not equal Irish Twitter, and it certainly does not equal Ireland.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- MrRiddle 4y ago
  - dang 4y ago
    We've banned this account for posting flamewar comments. That's not allowed here, and you've been doing it repeatedly (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32110385 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32110385). If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
readme 4y ago
as an American this also makes me sad, the Queen is one of the leaders of the free world and in her passing, the world has lost a great leader
- Emma_Goldman 4y ago
  The phrase 'free world' is ironically apt. It was developed in the Cold War to refer to the US-led anti-communist bloc, precisely because 'free' is equivocal enough to cover despots ruling over capitalist economies. Of course, a Queen by definition is not an emblem of free government.
  - deleted 4y ago
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  - readme 4y ago
    compare the UK to the US honestly, I think the UK is a freer country I love the monarchy
throwawayacc2 4y ago
I share your feeling. I was struck by a deep sense of sadness as well. Maybe it’s silly, I don’t know, I sort of felt she was the grandma of the nation. It was a nice feeling knowing she’s there and a sad one knowing she no longer is. One thing is for sure. She did leave a mark. Winston God damn Churchill was her first time minister! When I will be old and have grandchildren, I will tell my grandchildren how I became a British citizen. And when they’ll ask me when, I’ll tell them during the reign of The Queen. And they will know who I mean. God rest her soul.
- TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
  The most useful Twitter comment I saw today described the Queen as "iconic". And I realised that's exactly what she was. She was iconic in the religious sense - an embodied icon of a nationalist religion. This suddenly made a lot of things about the current state of the UK much clearer. There is no practical sense in which she was genuinely "grandma of the nation." That personification goes one way only - from the population to what psychologists would call a parental projection. Objectively she paid almost no attention to her subjects, except for a tiny number who were socially or financially notable. She may have been witty and personable socially - as reported by many people - and perhaps the most interesting thing about her as an individual is that she trained as a mechanic during the war, taking delight in a job that women didn't usually do, and continued that interest through her life. But I find the crypto-religious elements of the UK's (actually mostly just England's) relationship with her very unsettling. And I genuinely believe she could have done far more for the people of the UK than she did. Especially recently. Monarchy is a strange thing. When I flew to Bali on a Thai airline in the 90s a fair few pages of the inflight magazine were full of carefully manicured praise for the talents of the reigning monarch. It seemed bizarre and alien. But over time I realised the UK has a similar relationship with its monarchy. And where Heads of State are nominally expected to work for the Greater Good, it seems to be assumed that monarchs do the same, mostly by modelling social ease and extreme privilege. This is all quite odd. I'm sure there are reasons for it - possibly evolutionary - and I suspect they're not obvious.
  - gizajob 4y ago
frereubu 4y ago
I'm very much the same, and have an enormous amount of respect for her. There's a part of me that wonders whether this feeling of continuity - from the start of her reign which was only a few years after the independence of India until now - has kept the country in a kind of a weird stasis though. It'll be interesting to see whether the UK's view of itself shifts significantly over the next few years.
hahaitsfunny 4y ago
BoxOfRain 4y ago
The words 'God save the King' in the national anthem are going to feel very alien for a while I think, I feel a genuine sense of loss with the Queen's death. I think it comes from a place of national identity in general rather than royalism specifically, royalist or republican it can't be denied that Queen Elizabeth played a significant role in how the UK sees itself and to an extent how the rest of the world sees us and now she's suddenly not there.
- throwaway894345 4y ago
  Honestly even the phrase from the article "In a statement, His Majesty the King said" struck me as unfamiliar.
  - jesuscript 4y ago
    In most of our lifetimes we will also utter “The King and Queen of England” since Charles is already 76. British seem to treasure this tradition, where as we Americans definitely got rid of a Jefferson stature somewhere recently. struck me as unfamiliar. Nope, it’s been quite familiar to even someone several hundred years ago.
    - secondcoming 4y ago
      I don't think Camilla will become Queen, but I'm not 100% sure of the arcane rules
      - mizzao 4y ago
        I think GP may have been referring to Prince William and Catherine.
      - bregma 4y ago
        She is styled the Queen Consort. She is not a queen.
        4y ago
Beltalowda 4y ago
I was reading [1] (from 2017) this afternoon, I guess it came up because the queen was reported as being ill. "People who are not expecting to cry will cry." Looks like they were right! Interesting read by the way which touches on many aspects. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens...
shadowgovt 4y ago
Royalty is interesting. I think it's a very understandably human urge to hold up someone for emulation. The only odd thing about a noble class in that sense is that we decide the job of "role model and leader" should be hereditary. But I think it's a very understandably human reaction to feel sorrow when someone who millions of people have invested so much energy into making the best person that can be is still mortal.
- nemo44x 4y ago
  > The only odd thing about a noble class in that sense is that we decide the job of "role model and leader" should be hereditary. I don't think it's odd at all, in fact it's pretty normal when you look at a long stretch of history. I'd wager that heredity based monarchy is probably the most common form of regime.
  - shadowgovt 4y ago
    Interesting! So I'd never really thought about this dimension before, but yes: at least among monarchies, hereditary monarchy is the most common form. Whether it's the most common form of government is unclear. In modern times, democracy is most common. I think what was most common historically might be a complicated question and changes in terms of how it's asked (in terms of distinct governments, total territory controlled, or total population loyal to?).
    - nemo44x 4y ago
      Today yes. But until the 19th century, heredity based monarchy was the most common form of government historically. Monarchy is still the most common form of organization as well. For instance, every corporation is a monarchy with a board that acts as the king/queens court and executives that represent the remaining nobility. Same with Military arrangements. It's probably a reason that these forms of organization tend to dominate others, like collectives, etc. Strong leadership from the top will always be optimal. Of course, weak leadership from the top is fatal. I'll add: Consider there are 3 forms of organization: Rule by 1, Rule by some, and Rule by many. These can be broken into 6 implementations, 2 for each form. Monarch/Tyrant, Aristocracy/Oligarchy, Democracy/Populism. There's interesting relationships between these 6 and what some historians believe are natural transitions from 1 to another: Monarch->Aristocracy->Democracy->Oligarchy->Populist->Tyrant
JAlexoid 4y ago
Now you know why people say "good old days". Even though you're living in the best days and the future will be even better. Your emotions is a result of imparted and perceived.
enjoy-your-stay 4y ago
I'm surprised to say I feel the same. I'm Scottish and never really had much affection for the royal family, but I also feel quite sad and that it's the end of an era. She was the last of the best, we'll see what comes next.
onemoresoop 4y ago
>It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all things pass in time, which makes my heart ache deeply. I'm not even British and find myself feeling likewise. The Queen has been a fixture for a long time (before my birth and even before my parent's birth as well). It is also probably because of Queen Elisabeth's story was somewhat moving. It will take some time to get used to King Charles III...
StacyC 4y ago
Beautifully said. I’m an American and I feel this one too for some reason. It feels nice to stop and reflect on this a bit today — life, and all of it.
tailspin2019 4y ago
Fellow Brit here. I share this sentiment. I've never had strong views for or against the royal family but always felt genuine respect towards the Queen herself. She always appeared to be a morally strong character who tried to do the right thing. I always expected this would feel like a very strange moment when it finally arrived. I wasn't wrong.
- jll29 4y ago
  Even many non-Brits shared that respect and admiration. In 70 years, the number of gaffes/crises linked to her person (rather than other members of her family) are few, perhaps the only dents were the Diana incident and the secret influencing of the law by the crown ("royal consent" and "royal assent" - e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...).
- flkiwi 4y ago
  I'm am American, but with a substantial Commonwealth connection. I am vigorously, vocally, unapologetically antiroyal. (I'm going to take this to an absurd extreme to make point, not to be incendiary.) I despise the whole cosplay, exploitative embrace of what is effectively an echo of dictatorship. But... Elizabeth was a remarkable person, filled with evident curiosity and willingness to connect with people despite being a reserved personality. She was a bit mischievous. She wasn't defined by her job, she defined it. And beyond that, there are just so many constants that are about to change. I keep thinking how lucky we are that we have cashless transactions, because the abrupt switch from the ubiquity of Elizabeth's face would have been much more noticeable 15 years ago (which sounds like a non sequitur, but ... her face is everywhere on money).
  - jesuscript 4y ago
    It’s a cult and she is a cult leader. But the the thing is, you cannot entirely remove the need humans have for cults, religions, nationalism and their corresponding figureheads. You cannot entirely remove the need for unity via shared rituals and traditions, how ever inane. So we have two options, pick good cults and cult leaders or live with bad ones. The Royal Family at the moment asks nothing from the devout. Literally, you don’t have to pray, believe ideologies, support politics, almost nothing. Just show up for the weddings, respect the titles and play along with the ceremony. That’s the best version of religion we can get.
PurpleRamen 4y ago
In some way, she was like one of those nice Grannies from your neighborhood. Had no big negatives, also not much positive for the average observer. Just a nice old lady, doing stuff with her family and being around for such a long time that she was some casual part of your world awareness.
andywood 4y ago
IMO this is a normal way to feel about it. I'm american and while I'm not shedding tears, I do feel the significance. I'd have immense respect for her even if it were only for fulfilling one large role, honorably and consistently, for an entire human lifespan. How many politicians have? And I think she had a hard, hard job. Imagine having to live up to the expectations of a great Queen of England for that long without a meltdown or scandal. It's quite a different context, however I felt sort of similar about John McCain, mostly for what he endured as a POW, and what he nevertheless went on to accomplish in politics.
- deleted 4y ago
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youngtaff 4y ago
- youngtaff 4y ago
jxramos 4y ago
there is something that harkens to our mortality when we witness something come to an end. I remember having some reactions to businesses failing and closing shop that I encountered as a youth. They always seemed and appeared so permanent. A place we'd always go to or pass by. Then the years go by and after encountering enough mainstays that had their heyday go under you realize that sentiment of durability and a perpetual landmark were never warranted in the first place and its kind of jarring and unsettling to realize how much flux there is in life.
bpye 4y ago
I was very quietly watching BBC News whilst in a meeting. The news was announced just a couple minutes in, I didn't expect to particularly care, but, apparently I do...
icedchai 4y ago
As an American, the news also made me very sad. Though it's definitely not the same thing, we all "grew up" with the Queen.
nazka 4y ago
We sometimes feel the weight of what we loved only when we lost them.
deleted 4y ago
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purim 4y ago
laustta 4y ago
Same here, sad news indeed
atlgator 4y ago
Perhaps it's because the world is in such turmoil these days and we just lost one of the most (if not the most) stalwart figures on the world stage. I'm not British but that's how it hits me.
- BitwiseFool 4y ago
  And, I have this dreaded sense that the turmoil is only going to get worse.
supernova87a 4y ago
I find this super interesting, and I have a hunch it has to do with how much the Queen/monarchy has been revealed as human to us through media, movies, entire Netflix shows, etc. I mean, the Queen could just as well have been a made up figure to you or me, given the vanishing possibility she would affect any of our lives directly. Yet after watching those stories about her life, the monarchy, it manipulates your neurons to actually have a person to mourn. Funny, isn't it? And the length of her life certainly gave enough material to feel some story. I imagine that before QE2, much state/people mourning of the sovereign was just symbolic, and though perhaps somewhat heartfelt (I daresay, but more for loss of the symbol), not deep. For all their quirks and personality problems revealed to us on TV, it actually caused them to mean more to us.
danudey 4y ago
I can't think of much else that has been the case as long as Queen Elizabeth II being the monarch. There are more than a few pensioners out there who weren't even born when she ascended the throne; I daresay that very few people under 75 years of age remember a time when she wasn't queen before today. As a Canadian, the idea that she's gone is... strange? Every single time I've ever held a coin (in Canada), she's been on it. Every dime, every cent, every ten dollar bill. I have a difficult time with visual memory, but I know what those images look like because I've seen them a hundred thousand times. Now it's going to be someone else? It makes sense, but it doesn't feel right.
ploppyploppy 4y ago
I feel similar. I am pro-monarchy but I'm not usually attached in this manner.
vasac 4y ago
That's perfectly normal - people felt that way (cried) when Kim Il-sung died, for some reason some people tend to worship their rulers.
kabes 4y ago
I also don't know why I feel that, but I wonder if it's not for a more selfish reason. As in: "I'm getting old and the things I knew disappear"
- jesuscript 4y ago
  No one gets out alive.
theirishrover 4y ago
DubiousPusher 4y ago
I would respectfully submit that this is perhaps the product of conditioning.
tigerlily 4y ago
Well now you mention it I do feel rather odd myself today, to the extent that I visited the cafe downstairs of my place of work and bought a lolly cake, which is simply the last thing I expected to happen today. Or perhaps the second-to-last thing… well, you get the picture.
deleted 4y ago
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leemailll 4y ago
Would you guys change the national anthem?
- dataengineer56 4y ago
  Yes it immediately changed to God Save the King.
Rackedup 4y ago
As_You_Wish 4y ago
Dude, I'm American and even more anti-monarchy. Hell, I'm anti-president, anti-congress, everything. But I feel the exactly same as you do, and it's not even my damn country to boot. But, we all know why, or at least it seems to me...a lifetime of dedicated service, consistent and steady service to UK and the world both. Calm, cool. Loyal to country, husband, the whole shooting match. There's a LOT to admire about the woman that has nothing to do with monarchy. But, almost everyone likes tradition. The 60 second minute and 60 minute hour have been around since Sumerian epoch 5,000 years ago. Tradition. We still use the name of the months from Rome 2,000 years ago. When a head of government has been around for 70 years, the person is not a monarch, that person an institution. So I had a lump in my throat, and felt some tears well up. Especially as I read that there was a double-rainbow as it was announced. I am not superstitious in the least, and still not about that, but still...
- jesuscript 4y ago
  Dat double rainbow … Gotta agree, what the fuck lol
nxmnxm99 4y ago
POPOSYS 4y ago
bearmode 4y ago
prmoustache 4y ago
I am an atheist and as a french who lived in the Paris surroundings for years I got some tears when I saw Notre-Dame de Paris burning. I guess it is more nostalgia and the loss of what feels like a constant in our life. The more they stay the harder it is to see them go. Having said that while I am not the kind to wish for heads to roll I think it is a good time to realise you might not wish to allow someone else take her place and be an expensive parasite now =)
aydnina 4y ago
I found the psychology of this comment very interesting. Beautiful expression of the realization that the West has lost to Russia.
- dang 4y ago
  It looks like your account has been using HN primarily for political/ideological/nationalistic battle. We ban accounts that do that, because it's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. I'm not going to ban you right now because you posted a few better comments when you first created the account, but if you keep up this pattern, we're going to have to. Same for posting flamewar comments generally, so please don't do that either. Incidentally, we don't need you to change any of your views, nor do we need you to conform to the majority here (which, although highly international, is certainly mostly Western). But we need you to follow the site guidelines, which means using the site for intellectual curiosity and thoughtful conversation, avoiding name-calling and personal attacks, avoiding flamebait, and not using an account for a mostly-political agenda. There are other places on the internet to fight those wars. We're trying for a different sort of forum here. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
  - aydnina 4y ago
    The fact that you did not remove the flags from my comment and instead preaching to me about some guidelines shows that you are a pretty pathetic and incompetent moderator.
jiscariot 4y ago
"God save the Queen" is a beautiful song and anthem. I know it wouldn't be kosher, given that it uses the same underlying music, but "My country 'tis of thee" would be ten times better the US anthem than the "Star-Spangled Banner". It'd be a stretch, but we could just say its metaphoric. :-) Musically, I think even "Dixie" is much better than SSB. My condolences the the country of GB and the world for this loss.
rcdwealth 4y ago
Eupraxias 4y ago
The Queen was mostly a symbol, right? It makes sense that you feel sad - it is not just the person who has passed, but also, in part, some essence of that which she symbolized.
zouhair 4y ago
You most likely not one of those who were at the end of her might. You were not the one who suffered when she went on a tour to curtail the independence movements in the colonies, making her one of the biggest PR person for death and destruction. Or one of the Children that her son raped and who she protected. And so on and so forth. One less evil person in the World.
rambojazz 4y ago
The same effect as watching a cartoon from your childhood.
mikestaub 4y ago
She was a motherly figure to all Brits. It's painful to lose someone who you know genuinely cared for you. Even if she never met you.

dijit 4y ago

It's understandable, she's been a constant vague presence for a lot of British people. It feels like a minor part of our personal history died. I definitely feel saddened, even if I don't have a connection with royalty.

PaulHoule 4y ago
She's also been a moral authority. She avoided the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the moral family and frequently she's shown leadership. In WWII she trained as a mechanic so she could do something tangible to support the war effort.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  > the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the [royal] family "Soap opera situations" seems like a gentle way to put it. Several of her family members have been accused of serious crimes, and associated with some very nasty people. For years they were shielded by their association with her.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    and I think things that were really sad like the triangle between Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Camilla Parker Bowes.
  - bigfudge 4y ago
    Exactly. Her silence/defence of Andrew is shameful. No moral compass there. Her distinguishing feature has been to give no public interviews and to entrench antidemocratic privilege as best we can. Dangs top post irritated me because it felt like this has to be the time to remember the whole life - not just the fantasy we are typically sold.
    - hackerlight 4y ago
      Source on her trying to entrench antidemocratic privilege?
      - bigfudge 4y ago
        sustaining and not disbanding the Royal family for 70 years?
      - MichaelCollins 4y ago
        Liberal exercise of it, to protect her family's interests: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...
  - smegger001 4y ago
    I think it would be safe to say she put on a stoic face to the world while fronting for what is possibly the most out of touch, dysfunctional, and entitled family in the world.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  I really don't want to go on criticizing the queen at length here because I think it's a bit insensitive, so I'll be brief, but I don't think that "avoiding soap opera situations" is really the same as "being a moral authority". Not that I think she was horribly bad either, but my standards for "moral authority" are quite a bit higher. Royal families tend to be neutral to a fault.
- samstave 4y ago
  - techno_king 4y ago
- verisimi 4y ago
  An immoral authority. She paid no taxes, lived a lifestyle of luxury paid for by her so called subjects, has offshore accounts, no public accountability, etc. Very easy, paid for life. Nothing moral about it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
markhahn 4y ago
Not just British people. Canadians, for instance, still have a role for the head of the commonwealth...
- murphyslab 4y ago
  It's definitely affected me a bit today. She has a visual and historical presence in so many Canadian institutions, from her portraits hanging in my elementary school growing up, to our currency, the courts, and government itself. It's a bit hard to think of her as a real person sometimes, yet seeing Prime Minister Trudeau speak about her with glistening eyes tells me that she did more than purely her constitutional duty, but genuinely touched many, especially world leaders, with loving humility.

a_c 4y ago

Same here. And I'm an immigrant to the UK. Can't help but feeling sad

djitz 4y ago

I think it’s quite understandable to have an emotional response. People who become fixtures in our lives die and it instantly fires the signals of our own mortality we spend our lives suppressing.

Nursie 4y ago

Apparently, when I was little, I got excited one Christmas when the Queen’s speech was on tv, because I thought it was my Grandmother… I used to take comfort in the idea that all things pass in time, now not so much. Probably because I realised that includes everyone I love, and myself! I’ve no great love for the monarchy, but this is certainly the end of an era in British public life and likely in UK international relations - I can’t see the commonwealth nations welcoming King Charles as their new head of state. And it is weird, there are some things you just never expect to change. I’m hardly a spring chicken, but Queen Elizabeth was not only there my entire life, but Queen far enough into the past before I was born to have interacted with historical figures (like Churchill).

voisin 4y ago
> I can’t see the commonwealth nations welcoming King Charles as their new head of state. Well this is precisely what is about to happen. There may be some hand wringing articles in major newspapers about whether the Royal head of state is still relevant, appropriate, blah blah blah, but there is approximately zero chance that anything will change in reaction to this news.
- Nursie 4y ago
  Immediately? Perhaps not, but I think we’ll see a bunch of countries breaking away from having the British monarch as their head of state in the next few years. I’m pretty sure that (for instance) Australia was just hanging on until we could be sure she was gone, the current government have already planned a referendum on it in a few years if they get a second term. (I say ‘we’, I am a relatively recent British migrant, and not a citizen yet)
  - marcus_holmes 4y ago
    There's a common understanding amongst Aussies (or at least, the Aussies that I know) that we were waiting for Liz to die before getting on with becoming a republic. For 2 reasons: 1. There was a sense of loyalty to Liz personally. She did a good job of Queening and it seemed almost rude to interrupt that. 2. No-one wants Charles as king. He's very weird, and has ideas that he actually wants to do things with. I fully expect the referendum to be brought forward because of her death, and for it to get a strong "yes".

m000 4y ago

Just reflect when we (as outsiders) were astonished by North Koreans mourning Kim Jong-Il.

the_third_wave 4y ago
There is just that thing with those prison camps littering North Korea, the recurring famines, the fact that the Kim dynasty claims god-like status and more... so no, this is not a good comparison even though we of course do not really know how much of all this is known to the North-Korean populace.
- rajamaka 4y ago
  All of which is negligible when compared to the atrocities imposed throughout the world by British Colonialism under the sponsorship of the British Monarchy.
  - hackerlight 4y ago
    Again this is disanalogous. Kim actually perpetrates these hideous crimes to this day. The Queen inherited what you're describing and oversaw decolonisation, today largely serving as a figurehead. It'd be like blaming Hirohito's children for the crimes of Hirohito. Children don't inherit their parent's debt. What you could blame her for is not doing more to dismantle the monarchy's non-figurehead powers from the inside. But what you're trying to do is something else entirely and rather gross.
    - Onewildgamer 4y ago
      I agree only on the point that she doesn't inherit the wrong deeds, nothing on her personally. But the place she sits, is from the blood of millions who were enslaved, robbed and were dealt with a rather inhuman treatment to say the least. In the process empire also justified what they did was in the past and cautiously moved away from that without an inch of guilt. It is sad to see people in India/Pakistan/SriLanka mourn for her death, a pity case of Stockholm syndrome. If as you say, she has done good in her life, she should have relinquished the power, disowned the wealth which was directly a result of the horrific colonialism and imperialism. Or at least have some decency and apologise, give back the stolen wealth as a good gesture. Now I wonder, if she would have given up imperialism out of her own volition if she was in power during that period. I am inclining towards No.. it was convenient she didn't have to oversee those horrors. It has been more than 70 years and even now, they hold their crown so precious adorned with the Diamonds taken away forcefully from our lands. What an absolute shame! There are unheard horrors from the colonial countries, which will ache even the stone hearted. Bringing all this in perspective, we don't think she's Kim, but we have the same respect or the lack of it for anyone in their legacy.

orobinson 4y ago

I feel the same. I think it’s because it really represents the end of an era. The 20th and early 21st century ushered in unprecedented improvements to quality of life in Britain but it has felt of late that that has peaked and the country is facing a serious decline: Brexit, the increasingly visible effects of climate change, the aftermath of covid, the possible break up of the union, rising costs of living, recession, possibly even war. The death of Elizabeth II coincides with the end of a long period of stability and comfort and is not only a poignant point in history itself but a marker for a transitional point in history for our country.

ralusek 4y ago
- dang 4y ago
  We've banned this account for repeatedly posting flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's not allowed here. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. (Since someone is now about to accuse me of stealth Brexit sideage—no, this is just about the tiny business of moderating an internet forum, and that is all.) I don't lightly ban a 7-year-old account, but (a) we've warned you many times: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22976700 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22976700 (April 2020) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20912638 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20912638 (Sept 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20477028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20477028 (July 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19765448 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19765448 (April 2019) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17865589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17865589 (Aug 2018) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17623237 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17623237 (July 2018) ... and (b) you've broken the site guidelines repeatedly lately.
  - fit2rule 4y ago

NoraCodes 4y ago

meanwhile, Irish Twitter and TikTok have been absolutely ablaze with celebration...

sph 4y ago
Twitter is an echo chamber of edginess and not indicative of the average person in the real world. It's like wondering what 4chan thinks of this.
- JAlexoid 4y ago
  Average person don't care... All kinds of republicans(anti-monarchists, not American republicans) are content.
- BitwiseFool 4y ago
  >" Twitter is an echo chamber of edginess and not indicative of the average person in the real world." For now, at least. I think we are all underestimating just how much Twitter impacts public perception. Not just on topics, but how people feel, act, and interact with others. Twitter seems to have a cancerous negativity it inflicts on its users.
hackerlight 4y ago
The hashtag #IrishTwitter that artificially gets pumped up by Twitter's recommendation algorithm does not equal Irish Twitter, and it certainly does not equal Ireland.
deleted 4y ago
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MrRiddle 4y ago
- dang 4y ago
  We've banned this account for posting flamewar comments. That's not allowed here, and you've been doing it repeatedly (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32110385 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32110385). If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

readme 4y ago

as an American this also makes me sad, the Queen is one of the leaders of the free world and in her passing, the world has lost a great leader

Emma_Goldman 4y ago
The phrase 'free world' is ironically apt. It was developed in the Cold War to refer to the US-led anti-communist bloc, precisely because 'free' is equivocal enough to cover despots ruling over capitalist economies. Of course, a Queen by definition is not an emblem of free government.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- readme 4y ago
  compare the UK to the US honestly, I think the UK is a freer country I love the monarchy

throwawayacc2 4y ago

I share your feeling. I was struck by a deep sense of sadness as well. Maybe it’s silly, I don’t know, I sort of felt she was the grandma of the nation. It was a nice feeling knowing she’s there and a sad one knowing she no longer is. One thing is for sure. She did leave a mark. Winston God damn Churchill was her first time minister! When I will be old and have grandchildren, I will tell my grandchildren how I became a British citizen. And when they’ll ask me when, I’ll tell them during the reign of The Queen. And they will know who I mean. God rest her soul.

TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
The most useful Twitter comment I saw today described the Queen as "iconic". And I realised that's exactly what she was. She was iconic in the religious sense - an embodied icon of a nationalist religion. This suddenly made a lot of things about the current state of the UK much clearer. There is no practical sense in which she was genuinely "grandma of the nation." That personification goes one way only - from the population to what psychologists would call a parental projection. Objectively she paid almost no attention to her subjects, except for a tiny number who were socially or financially notable. She may have been witty and personable socially - as reported by many people - and perhaps the most interesting thing about her as an individual is that she trained as a mechanic during the war, taking delight in a job that women didn't usually do, and continued that interest through her life. But I find the crypto-religious elements of the UK's (actually mostly just England's) relationship with her very unsettling. And I genuinely believe she could have done far more for the people of the UK than she did. Especially recently. Monarchy is a strange thing. When I flew to Bali on a Thai airline in the 90s a fair few pages of the inflight magazine were full of carefully manicured praise for the talents of the reigning monarch. It seemed bizarre and alien. But over time I realised the UK has a similar relationship with its monarchy. And where Heads of State are nominally expected to work for the Greater Good, it seems to be assumed that monarchs do the same, mostly by modelling social ease and extreme privilege. This is all quite odd. I'm sure there are reasons for it - possibly evolutionary - and I suspect they're not obvious.
- gizajob 4y ago

frereubu 4y ago

I'm very much the same, and have an enormous amount of respect for her. There's a part of me that wonders whether this feeling of continuity - from the start of her reign which was only a few years after the independence of India until now - has kept the country in a kind of a weird stasis though. It'll be interesting to see whether the UK's view of itself shifts significantly over the next few years.

hahaitsfunny 4y ago

BoxOfRain 4y ago

The words 'God save the King' in the national anthem are going to feel very alien for a while I think, I feel a genuine sense of loss with the Queen's death. I think it comes from a place of national identity in general rather than royalism specifically, royalist or republican it can't be denied that Queen Elizabeth played a significant role in how the UK sees itself and to an extent how the rest of the world sees us and now she's suddenly not there.

throwaway894345 4y ago
Honestly even the phrase from the article "In a statement, His Majesty the King said" struck me as unfamiliar.
- jesuscript 4y ago
  In most of our lifetimes we will also utter “The King and Queen of England” since Charles is already 76. British seem to treasure this tradition, where as we Americans definitely got rid of a Jefferson stature somewhere recently. struck me as unfamiliar. Nope, it’s been quite familiar to even someone several hundred years ago.
  - secondcoming 4y ago
    I don't think Camilla will become Queen, but I'm not 100% sure of the arcane rules
    - mizzao 4y ago
      I think GP may have been referring to Prince William and Catherine.
    - bregma 4y ago
      She is styled the Queen Consort. She is not a queen.
      - 4y ago

Beltalowda 4y ago

I was reading [1] (from 2017) this afternoon, I guess it came up because the queen was reported as being ill. "People who are not expecting to cry will cry." Looks like they were right! Interesting read by the way which touches on many aspects. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens...

shadowgovt 4y ago

Royalty is interesting. I think it's a very understandably human urge to hold up someone for emulation. The only odd thing about a noble class in that sense is that we decide the job of "role model and leader" should be hereditary. But I think it's a very understandably human reaction to feel sorrow when someone who millions of people have invested so much energy into making the best person that can be is still mortal.

nemo44x 4y ago
> The only odd thing about a noble class in that sense is that we decide the job of "role model and leader" should be hereditary. I don't think it's odd at all, in fact it's pretty normal when you look at a long stretch of history. I'd wager that heredity based monarchy is probably the most common form of regime.
- shadowgovt 4y ago
  Interesting! So I'd never really thought about this dimension before, but yes: at least among monarchies, hereditary monarchy is the most common form. Whether it's the most common form of government is unclear. In modern times, democracy is most common. I think what was most common historically might be a complicated question and changes in terms of how it's asked (in terms of distinct governments, total territory controlled, or total population loyal to?).
  - nemo44x 4y ago
    Today yes. But until the 19th century, heredity based monarchy was the most common form of government historically. Monarchy is still the most common form of organization as well. For instance, every corporation is a monarchy with a board that acts as the king/queens court and executives that represent the remaining nobility. Same with Military arrangements. It's probably a reason that these forms of organization tend to dominate others, like collectives, etc. Strong leadership from the top will always be optimal. Of course, weak leadership from the top is fatal. I'll add: Consider there are 3 forms of organization: Rule by 1, Rule by some, and Rule by many. These can be broken into 6 implementations, 2 for each form. Monarch/Tyrant, Aristocracy/Oligarchy, Democracy/Populism. There's interesting relationships between these 6 and what some historians believe are natural transitions from 1 to another: Monarch->Aristocracy->Democracy->Oligarchy->Populist->Tyrant

JAlexoid 4y ago

Now you know why people say "good old days". Even though you're living in the best days and the future will be even better. Your emotions is a result of imparted and perceived.

enjoy-your-stay 4y ago

I'm surprised to say I feel the same. I'm Scottish and never really had much affection for the royal family, but I also feel quite sad and that it's the end of an era. She was the last of the best, we'll see what comes next.

onemoresoop 4y ago

>It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all things pass in time, which makes my heart ache deeply. I'm not even British and find myself feeling likewise. The Queen has been a fixture for a long time (before my birth and even before my parent's birth as well). It is also probably because of Queen Elisabeth's story was somewhat moving. It will take some time to get used to King Charles III...

StacyC 4y ago

Beautifully said. I’m an American and I feel this one too for some reason. It feels nice to stop and reflect on this a bit today — life, and all of it.

tailspin2019 4y ago

Fellow Brit here. I share this sentiment. I've never had strong views for or against the royal family but always felt genuine respect towards the Queen herself. She always appeared to be a morally strong character who tried to do the right thing. I always expected this would feel like a very strange moment when it finally arrived. I wasn't wrong.

jll29 4y ago
Even many non-Brits shared that respect and admiration. In 70 years, the number of gaffes/crises linked to her person (rather than other members of her family) are few, perhaps the only dents were the Diana incident and the secret influencing of the law by the crown ("royal consent" and "royal assent" - e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...).
flkiwi 4y ago
I'm am American, but with a substantial Commonwealth connection. I am vigorously, vocally, unapologetically antiroyal. (I'm going to take this to an absurd extreme to make point, not to be incendiary.) I despise the whole cosplay, exploitative embrace of what is effectively an echo of dictatorship. But... Elizabeth was a remarkable person, filled with evident curiosity and willingness to connect with people despite being a reserved personality. She was a bit mischievous. She wasn't defined by her job, she defined it. And beyond that, there are just so many constants that are about to change. I keep thinking how lucky we are that we have cashless transactions, because the abrupt switch from the ubiquity of Elizabeth's face would have been much more noticeable 15 years ago (which sounds like a non sequitur, but ... her face is everywhere on money).
- jesuscript 4y ago
  It’s a cult and she is a cult leader. But the the thing is, you cannot entirely remove the need humans have for cults, religions, nationalism and their corresponding figureheads. You cannot entirely remove the need for unity via shared rituals and traditions, how ever inane. So we have two options, pick good cults and cult leaders or live with bad ones. The Royal Family at the moment asks nothing from the devout. Literally, you don’t have to pray, believe ideologies, support politics, almost nothing. Just show up for the weddings, respect the titles and play along with the ceremony. That’s the best version of religion we can get.

PurpleRamen 4y ago

In some way, she was like one of those nice Grannies from your neighborhood. Had no big negatives, also not much positive for the average observer. Just a nice old lady, doing stuff with her family and being around for such a long time that she was some casual part of your world awareness.

andywood 4y ago

IMO this is a normal way to feel about it. I'm american and while I'm not shedding tears, I do feel the significance. I'd have immense respect for her even if it were only for fulfilling one large role, honorably and consistently, for an entire human lifespan. How many politicians have? And I think she had a hard, hard job. Imagine having to live up to the expectations of a great Queen of England for that long without a meltdown or scandal. It's quite a different context, however I felt sort of similar about John McCain, mostly for what he endured as a POW, and what he nevertheless went on to accomplish in politics.

deleted 4y ago
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youngtaff 4y ago

youngtaff 4y ago

jxramos 4y ago

there is something that harkens to our mortality when we witness something come to an end. I remember having some reactions to businesses failing and closing shop that I encountered as a youth. They always seemed and appeared so permanent. A place we'd always go to or pass by. Then the years go by and after encountering enough mainstays that had their heyday go under you realize that sentiment of durability and a perpetual landmark were never warranted in the first place and its kind of jarring and unsettling to realize how much flux there is in life.

bpye 4y ago

I was very quietly watching BBC News whilst in a meeting. The news was announced just a couple minutes in, I didn't expect to particularly care, but, apparently I do...

icedchai 4y ago

As an American, the news also made me very sad. Though it's definitely not the same thing, we all "grew up" with the Queen.

nazka 4y ago

We sometimes feel the weight of what we loved only when we lost them.

deleted 4y ago

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purim 4y ago

laustta 4y ago

Same here, sad news indeed

atlgator 4y ago

Perhaps it's because the world is in such turmoil these days and we just lost one of the most (if not the most) stalwart figures on the world stage. I'm not British but that's how it hits me.

BitwiseFool 4y ago
And, I have this dreaded sense that the turmoil is only going to get worse.

supernova87a 4y ago

I find this super interesting, and I have a hunch it has to do with how much the Queen/monarchy has been revealed as human to us through media, movies, entire Netflix shows, etc. I mean, the Queen could just as well have been a made up figure to you or me, given the vanishing possibility she would affect any of our lives directly. Yet after watching those stories about her life, the monarchy, it manipulates your neurons to actually have a person to mourn. Funny, isn't it? And the length of her life certainly gave enough material to feel some story. I imagine that before QE2, much state/people mourning of the sovereign was just symbolic, and though perhaps somewhat heartfelt (I daresay, but more for loss of the symbol), not deep. For all their quirks and personality problems revealed to us on TV, it actually caused them to mean more to us.

danudey 4y ago

I can't think of much else that has been the case as long as Queen Elizabeth II being the monarch. There are more than a few pensioners out there who weren't even born when she ascended the throne; I daresay that very few people under 75 years of age remember a time when she wasn't queen before today. As a Canadian, the idea that she's gone is... strange? Every single time I've ever held a coin (in Canada), she's been on it. Every dime, every cent, every ten dollar bill. I have a difficult time with visual memory, but I know what those images look like because I've seen them a hundred thousand times. Now it's going to be someone else? It makes sense, but it doesn't feel right.

ploppyploppy 4y ago

I feel similar. I am pro-monarchy but I'm not usually attached in this manner.

vasac 4y ago

That's perfectly normal - people felt that way (cried) when Kim Il-sung died, for some reason some people tend to worship their rulers.

kabes 4y ago

I also don't know why I feel that, but I wonder if it's not for a more selfish reason. As in: "I'm getting old and the things I knew disappear"

jesuscript 4y ago
No one gets out alive.

theirishrover 4y ago

DubiousPusher 4y ago

I would respectfully submit that this is perhaps the product of conditioning.

tigerlily 4y ago

Well now you mention it I do feel rather odd myself today, to the extent that I visited the cafe downstairs of my place of work and bought a lolly cake, which is simply the last thing I expected to happen today. Or perhaps the second-to-last thing… well, you get the picture.

deleted 4y ago

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leemailll 4y ago

Would you guys change the national anthem?

dataengineer56 4y ago
Yes it immediately changed to God Save the King.

Rackedup 4y ago

As_You_Wish 4y ago

Dude, I'm American and even more anti-monarchy. Hell, I'm anti-president, anti-congress, everything. But I feel the exactly same as you do, and it's not even my damn country to boot. But, we all know why, or at least it seems to me...a lifetime of dedicated service, consistent and steady service to UK and the world both. Calm, cool. Loyal to country, husband, the whole shooting match. There's a LOT to admire about the woman that has nothing to do with monarchy. But, almost everyone likes tradition. The 60 second minute and 60 minute hour have been around since Sumerian epoch 5,000 years ago. Tradition. We still use the name of the months from Rome 2,000 years ago. When a head of government has been around for 70 years, the person is not a monarch, that person an institution. So I had a lump in my throat, and felt some tears well up. Especially as I read that there was a double-rainbow as it was announced. I am not superstitious in the least, and still not about that, but still...

jesuscript 4y ago
Dat double rainbow … Gotta agree, what the fuck lol

nxmnxm99 4y ago

POPOSYS 4y ago

bearmode 4y ago

prmoustache 4y ago

I am an atheist and as a french who lived in the Paris surroundings for years I got some tears when I saw Notre-Dame de Paris burning. I guess it is more nostalgia and the loss of what feels like a constant in our life. The more they stay the harder it is to see them go. Having said that while I am not the kind to wish for heads to roll I think it is a good time to realise you might not wish to allow someone else take her place and be an expensive parasite now =)

aydnina 4y ago

I found the psychology of this comment very interesting. Beautiful expression of the realization that the West has lost to Russia.

dang 4y ago
It looks like your account has been using HN primarily for political/ideological/nationalistic battle. We ban accounts that do that, because it's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. I'm not going to ban you right now because you posted a few better comments when you first created the account, but if you keep up this pattern, we're going to have to. Same for posting flamewar comments generally, so please don't do that either. Incidentally, we don't need you to change any of your views, nor do we need you to conform to the majority here (which, although highly international, is certainly mostly Western). But we need you to follow the site guidelines, which means using the site for intellectual curiosity and thoughtful conversation, avoiding name-calling and personal attacks, avoiding flamebait, and not using an account for a mostly-political agenda. There are other places on the internet to fight those wars. We're trying for a different sort of forum here. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
- aydnina 4y ago
  The fact that you did not remove the flags from my comment and instead preaching to me about some guidelines shows that you are a pretty pathetic and incompetent moderator.

jiscariot 4y ago

"God save the Queen" is a beautiful song and anthem. I know it wouldn't be kosher, given that it uses the same underlying music, but "My country 'tis of thee" would be ten times better the US anthem than the "Star-Spangled Banner". It'd be a stretch, but we could just say its metaphoric. :-) Musically, I think even "Dixie" is much better than SSB. My condolences the the country of GB and the world for this loss.

rcdwealth 4y ago

Eupraxias 4y ago

The Queen was mostly a symbol, right? It makes sense that you feel sad - it is not just the person who has passed, but also, in part, some essence of that which she symbolized.

zouhair 4y ago

You most likely not one of those who were at the end of her might. You were not the one who suffered when she went on a tour to curtail the independence movements in the colonies, making her one of the biggest PR person for death and destruction. Or one of the Children that her son raped and who she protected. And so on and so forth. One less evil person in the World.

rambojazz 4y ago

The same effect as watching a cartoon from your childhood.

mikestaub 4y ago

She was a motherly figure to all Brits. It's painful to lose someone who you know genuinely cared for you. Even if she never met you.