The age of those flocking to see the cortege of the Queen and to the lying in state.

henetha

Yes, that's right, Elegran. I was just mulling it over in my head. I can think of others, - Chris Packham, Claire Balding, etc. There are probably quite a few. But then it means elections every few years, and talk of corruption, etc.
In my opinion the present system is best, so Long Live King Charles.

" talk of corruption etc"

No hint of corruption within the RF of course.

That’s not what I said volver, and you know it. He would doubtless be the first to say he couldn’t cope with being HoS. And you know that.

Oh, but getting annoyed at people about pen trays and complaining loudly about fountain pens is fine.

This Head of State thing is a minefield isn't it?

Germanshepherdsmum

If I told you why volver my post would be deleted. Let’s just say not the world’s best with people.

That's really one of the most disgusting things I've read on here for a while.

Man with Asperger's shouldn't be allowed to hold public office? Because he'll embarrass us, maybe?

You've outdone yourself GSM.

If I told you why volver my post would be deleted. Let’s just say not the world’s best with people.

Is there a tumbleweed emoji?

Why?

Chris Packham? You must be joking.

I was thinking Chris Packham. And also as whole lot of people none of us have heard of!

Elegran

henetha

I was just cogitating to think who would be a good head of state if we were a republic, and it occurred to me that Charles would.
That's all.

I thought that Charles occurred to Henetha as an example of a good head of state, not as the only possible candidate. Of course, interpretations may vary, and another interpretation could be as accurate as mine. That said, my interpretation is as good as anyone else's.

The question posed was: who would the republican supporters think a suitable candidate as HofS

I came up with 5 names and then 2 more later on.

If the idea is that any HoS is just there to do the job Charles is doing, then yes, stick with Charles. But the point for most republicans is that they wouldn't be doing the job Charles is doing, they'd be doing a whole different job.

Upthread a criticism of the list of names I gave was that some of them wouldn't be able to do it for as long as the Queen has done it. Again; that's the point. They wouldn't be there for life.

Just because a person has been President, that doesn't mean that they would get a State Funeral with Lying in State and what seems like all of the armed services mobilised to take part, with the country in suspended animation for 2 weeks.

We seem to be thinking that there are certain things we have to have (State Funerals, living in Palaces, HoS who graciously support charities day and night, etc) and that they'll be there come what may. At the risk of being repetitive, that's the point. We don't need all those things and we can, believe it or not, live without them.

And let's just take notice, anybody who is about to complain about all this republican talk; please don't complain about republicans monopolising the conversation when other people ask questions about republicanism and we give answers.

Yes, that's right, Elegran. I was just mulling it over in my head. I can think of others, - Chris Packham, Claire Balding, etc. There are probably quite a few. But then it means elections every few years, and talk of corruption, etc.
In my opinion the present system is best, so Long Live King Charles.

henetha

I was just cogitating to think who would be a good head of state if we were a republic, and it occurred to me that Charles would.
That's all.

I thought that Charles occurred to Henetha as an example of a good head of state, not as the only possible candidate. Of course, interpretations may vary, and another interpretation could be as accurate as mine. That said, my interpretation is as good as anyone else's.

Cost of the Queen's funeral.

Well, she will never have another, will she, and it'll be the last thing that she will cost us. All those people travelling to Britain to be here for the lying-in-state and the funeral must be spending a fair bit on accommodation and raincoats, and the fabulous scenery on show in the video of her last journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh caused a lot of comments from people who would now like to come and see it in person. She was doing her bit for tourism from Mr Purvis' limousine hearse.

The previous monarch to die was George VI On average, it is one every generation - and the Royal family in general are long-lived. Charles may live until he is 96 too. If some have their way, he could be the last King or Queen in our history, then it would be state funerals for each ex-president. I wonder how long the interval would be between those?

I was just cogitating to think who would be a good head of state if we were a republic, and it occurred to me that Charles would.
That's all.

henetha

Absolutely not, Volver.

Then with respect, its hardly surprising that you think the only person who could possibly be Head of State is the son of the recently deceased Head of State.

Out of 64 million people, only him. Or maybe his son, at a push.

Absolutely not, Volver.

Saetana

Nobody knows exactly how much the Queen's funeral will cost but the Queen Mother's funeral cost around £6 million - so we are talking a few million, rather than billions! Whoever came up with that ludicrous figure? We also do not know who is paying for the funeral - so lets not jump to conclusions shall we?

It will be in the billions not millions. The Queen Mother's funeral was nowhere near the scale of this one so cost comparisons are useless. Also, we are not talking about just the cost of the day of the funeral.
The security and infrastructure costs of lying-in-state run into the tens if not hundreds of millions alone, without all of the same security costs of all the Royal estates around the country at the moment.
The cost of a bank holiday is estimated to cost @ £2.3 billion
The cost of the coronation has been estimated at @ 50 million not counting the £2.3 billion of another bank holiday.
All in all, costs in connection with the death of the Queen of £8 billion is not that wide of the mark.
State funerals are publicly funded so will be borne by the UK taxpayers.

I’ve heard some young people say they want to be part of history, others that they want to be part of a big event and then of course there’s social media.

I went to London yesterday with a friend. We queued for 12 hours and it was a wonderful experience. Emotional and unforgettable There were all ages and nationalities around us, people had travelled the length and breadth of the country to pay their respects and I’m so proud that I was one of them. The atmosphere was fabulous. It was very tiring but I felt it was the least I could do to thank the Queen who gave so much for so many years. And then we saw the King and the rest of the Royal family as they arrived at Westminster Hall for the Vigil. And yes, I’m a Monarchist.

Nobody knows exactly how much the Queen's funeral will cost but the Queen Mother's funeral cost around £6 million - so we are talking a few million, rather than billions! Whoever came up with that ludicrous figure? We also do not know who is paying for the funeral - so lets not jump to conclusions shall we?

Pantglas2

I have no problem with any of volver suggestions apart Dubs who did the main/second home switch for financial gain - rules him out IMO.

The problem is of course, the age of those suggested- not sure any of them would have kept working at the same job for as long as the Queen, assuming they’d have signed up in the first place!

It really doesn't matter if you have a problem or not at the moment though Pantglas. Currently, and I appreciate it could change, most are okay with the status quo.

My son has just seen her about an hour ago and he’s 34. I’m very proud of him for going. He waited 14 hours and said it was worth the wait

I think it's very much a matter of "I was there when..." and here's the selfie to prove it!
What has struck me (although I'm not watching wall to wall coverage) is how many are tourists from various countries Australia, Canada, NZ, Germany. After all surely people have work to go to? I know I do!
I'm not convinced it's a display of the unity of a grief-stricken nation, and I think the support for the monarchy and establishment will plummet in the coming weeks as the temperatures drop and the bills start coming in.

Riverwalk "I'm not a monarchist but yesterday went to Green Park to see the flowers and enjoy the atmosphere."

Really!!

I have no problem with any of volver suggestions apart Dubs who did the main/second home switch for financial gain - rules him out IMO.

The problem is of course, the age of those suggested- not sure any of them would have kept working at the same job for as long as the Queen, assuming they’d have signed up in the first place!