Differing Opinions

 I would like to live in a world where differing opinions float free; where people can say, “Gosh, that’s not how I feel but OK.” I hope I’m not alone.

It will be interesting to see how history writes the current outpouring of grief for the Queen. Will it be written that everyone went into mourning, painted their railings black, and queued for days to pay their respects? Almost certainly (except the railings thing because that was Queen Victoria) because it’s true, lots of people have but it’s not everyone. 

Some people are indifferent or even bemused by these displays of grief for someone they didn’t actually know. 

In school I broke up an emerging fight between two boys. They were standing in a line (we practise queuing in school but call it lining up) subtly punching each other’s legs with their fists. After I separated them, I asked the first what was going on.

“He *sob* he said that he didn’t care that the Queen died.”

An interesting discussion followed about different beliefs and respecting other’s opinions with both boys. 

The few protesters with pieces of paper that say, “Not my King!” have had their views highlighted by police officers arresting them and arguments are starting to appear about the role of the monarchy. Radio 4 programmes debate the moral maze of whether it is permissible to question the role of the monarchy before the last one is buried.

I very much doubt if anything much will change because we love it. We fall for the pomp; unquestionably grieving in public for a monarch more deeply than we do our own parents. 

It’s not just because the Queen was a sweet little old lady either. Historical footage shows queues to see King George VI coffin lying in state on the catafalque (I learnt a new word!) stretching just as far, with people looking just the same only with hats.

I am slightly obsessed with watching the queue. I’m not watching it to mock or to join with the grieving but because it is all human life: Silent people: Soldiers that appear to be playing chess every twenty minutes: Some famous people going in the fast-pass lane, while others queue with the public.

I expect that there is quite a party atmosphere in the queue outside. The change into somber shuffling must be quite a shock.

I’ve been writing this blog for a few days (because going back to school has been much harder this year) and when I started writing I was going to make a joke about it being the queue EII but other people have done that now on Twitter and I will look as though I’m not original. The other 3am thought I had (along with a question about who pays the heating bill for all the Royal properties, especially those that are lived in by the unknown or unloved Royals) was that queue is the perfect word. The only letter that is needed is Q but all these superfluous vowels line up behind it.

There has been drama in the queue too: A fainting: A man arrested for charging at the coffin: Liz Truss making it look like a scene out of Harry Potter.

As people are so different, it makes sense that there will be many different opinions. I hope there’s room for them all.