‘Calm, stillness and quiet’: A pause in everyday life as UK holds funeral for the queen

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has been greeted in the UK with grief and pageantry on a grand scale. From the moment the country’s longest-reigning monarch died, her journey from Aberdeenshire to London has been marked with royal spectacle, public grief and almost blanket coverage in the UK media.  

The logistics of the 10-day mourning period to mark the passing of a monarch, who was consistently held in high regard by the majority of the British public and on the international stage, was also no mean feat.  

Hundreds of police officers from other local forces across Britain join London’s Met police to ensure the expected hundreds of thousands of mourners form an orderly queue along the banks of the River Thames on their way to pay respects to the queen.

An unprecedented security operation is expected to accompany some 500 foreign dignitaries, including presidents, heads of states and monarchs, planning to attend the queen’s funeral in London on Monday.

“There are loads of police, and I’ve never seen so many troops,” said Pat, 70, who travelled to London on Wednesday to visit Buckingham Palace. Large crowds and security measures meant Pat could only get within a kilometre of the royal residence. 

Yet at the heart of a logistical operation decades in the making is an epicentre of quiet. London’s skies were cleared of planes Wednesday to ensure a respectful silence as a procession led the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she now lies in state. 

Multiple livestreams broadcast footage of members of the public filing quietly past her coffin. Mourners have been asked to refrain from making noise when inside the hall. “They suddenly get really taken over by the silence and the quietness,” said FRANCE 24’s Bénédicte Paviot, reporting from London. 

The silence will reach an apex when the queen’s funeral takes place on Monday morning, when everyday life in much of the UK is set to come to a standstill and two minutes of silence will be observed across Britain.    

‘A day that people will never forget’ 

The funeral date has been declared an exceptional national holiday, meaning schools and many workplaces will be closed.  

Although the UK government has said there is no obligation for individual organisations to cancel events or close venues, many are choosing to shutter their doors out of respect.   

Leading supermarket chains – which normally operate reduced hours on national holidays – will close along with other national retailers, restaurants, coffee chains and gyms. Amazon deliveries will be paused for the morning, McDonalds will close until 5pm and popular pub chain Wetherspoons will only open after the funeral ceremony ends. 

Entertainment venues, museums, galleries and tourist sites will also shut, with an exception for around 150 cinemas that will open specifically to screen the funeral for free.  

The national postal service will be suspended for the day along with most court hearings and all London Fashion Week shows. Premier League football matches planned for Sunday evening have also been rescheduled.  

Flights in and out of London will again be disrupted to ensure a peaceful procession following the funeral from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle, where the queen will be buried. 

The extent of the closures and cancellations will likely underscore the feeling across Britain that an extraordinary event is taking place. 

“Many people have felt affected by the death of the queen in some way, but they will be impacted directly by the event on Monday,” said Dr Luke Blaxill, a historian of modern Britain at Oxford University. “Even on bank holidays or major public occasions, we are used to a modicum of normal life continuing. But this will clearly be a day that people never forget.” 

A step too far? 

Some organisations have been accused of taking their reverence for the deceased monarch too far.  

Holiday resort operator Center Parcs received an angry response to an announcement that holiday-makers must leave their accommodation on the day of the funeral, as normal activities such as archery and aquaparks would be closed. The British Cycling Association was also ridiculed for its “strong recommendation” – now amended – that people in the UK refrain from using bikes during the funeral ceremony. 

Even more controversially, doctor’s offices can choose whether or not to open for the day and the National Health Service (NHS) said the bank holiday would cause disruption to thousands of planned appointments and operations, although emergency care will continue. 

The NHS said the decision to postpone treatments had been made to allow staff to take time off to watch the funeral despite the high stakes.  

“For patients who may have been waiting up to two years for elective surgery or appointments, if they are then cancelled on the 19th this will be incredibly distressing,” Ellen Welch, co-chair of the Doctors’ Association UK lobby group, told Reuters. 

The scale of closures has also caused rumours to flourish. Suggestions on social media that families would have to cancel funerals planned on the same day as the queen’s turned out to be unfounded.  

As Britain endures a cost-of-living crisis, foodbanks have also been criticised for planning to close.  

‘Unifying to say a final goodbye’ 

For most UK residents, Elizabeth II’s funeral will be the only national event in living memory that has caused daily life to pause so completely – with the exception of Covid lockdowns. Only the elderly have childhood memories of similar scenes when the queen’s father, King George VI, died in 1952.    

Yet most think it is right to close schools, shops and museums to mark the queen’s funeral. 

For Pat in London, the prospect of closures fits with a distinctive mood that has pervaded since news of Elizabeth II’s death was announced. “It all contributes to an atmosphere of calm, stillness and quiet,” she said. “Even the weather has been benign, most of the time.” 

The closures will also serve to focus attention on the events in London and create a shared experience for those living across the UK – whether monarchists or not. “It’s an encouragement for people to unify behind saying a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth,” Blaxill said.    

It is also a moment to observe a new king, which polls suggest many Britons are keen to do. Following his mother’s death, 63% of Britons said that they believe Charles will make a good king, compared with 32% in May 2022. 

As King Charles III takes to the throne, many in Britain are disenchanted with their political leadership. Also called off in the wake of the queen’s death were strikes planned by rail, postal, refuse and dock workers throughout the UK. 

There is a temptation to see a new monarch as a sea change, Blaxill said, “even though he has very limited royal power”.

“The expectations that are building upon the shoulders of the new king are quite considerable. And the more we suspend national life to say goodbye to Elizabeth and hello to the new king, the more that unrealistic expectation ratchets [up].”