Ukraine 31
Putin … the Queen … collective grief … 504 royal pages in ten days
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Contents
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Prologue
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1 The war
Thirty weeks in, Thursday 22nd September 2022
The military situation
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2 Collectives and attributes
The problem of conceptualisation
The united collective hypothesis
The divided collective hypothesis
The distribution on a continuum hypothesis
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3 The Queen, part 1 (last week)
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4 The Queen, part 2
The Queen: collectives and attributes
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4.1 Collective grief
‘Impact’ in USA and Canada
‘Upset’ in the UK
The upset score depends on the pro-monarchy score
Your upset percentile score
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4.2 Six royal questions; six dimensions in royal space
The percentile scores for each of the answers to the six royal questions
Your percentile multi-dimensional distance from the Queen
The correlation between the six royal variables
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5 Media coverage
TV viewing figures: the Queen, COVID and football
The Times: 504 royal pages in ten days
The front page headlines
The cover sheet words and quotations
Editorials
Letters
Supplements
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6 What do collective rituals mean?
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Prologue
Wednesday morning: no royal photo on the front page.
The Times has produced 504 royal pages over ten days.
The words are true for some people but not for everyone.
“World mourns ‘cherished sovereign’.” …
… but Barack Obama has only five inconsequential sentences about the Queen on three referenced pages (327, 344-345), and refers more frequently to UK prime ministers Blair (3 pages), Brown (7 pages) and Cameron (5 pages) … out of 705 pages.
“Scotland was special to the Queen …” says Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland …
… but the Queen met personally six times more Rest-of-South people than she met Scottish people.
“… and the Queen was special to Scotland.” …
… but the rest of the UK was twice as likely as Scotland to be ‘very upset’ about her death.
My unease about many of the statements about the Queen’s death is that the reality is more complex.
Different social groups are at different distances from the Queen …
… upset score = 30 + 0.5 pro-monarchy score
I show you how to calculate your own distance from the Queen.
Rather than a united collective or a divided collective there is a distribution of individuals in a multi-dimensional continuum.
There needs to be an understanding of the abstract structure of collective attributes.
Notes:
.(i) Barack Obama. A Promised Land. Penguin Viking. 2020.
.(ii) The statements about Scotland are based on a YouGov survey analysed in this report. The Queen met more South people mostly because there are more South people but also a South person was 50% more likely to meet the Queen.
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/c2lzp15u60/TheTimes_RoyalFamily_Results_220912.pdf.
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1 The war
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Thirty weeks in, Thursday 22nd September 2022
The items appearing below are from The Times … or, in the case of Sunday 24th September, from The Observer. “24, 1” indicates 24th September, 2022, page 1. Although not named, the work of the journalists is appreciated – indeed it is what I depend on. I buy the paper version but sometimes cite the online version (The Observer has open access but The Times does not.)
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The military situation
BBC: War in Ukraine:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60525350.
... UN: Zelensky calls for ‘just punishment’ for Russia:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62990141 .
The Map (13th September – same as on the 6th):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60506682 .
Institute for the Study of War:
https://www.understandingwar.org/ :
21st September:
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of “partial mobilization” on September 21 reflected many problems Russia faces in its faltering invasion of Ukraine that Moscow is unlikely to be able to resolve in the coming months. Putin’s order to mobilize part of Russia’s “trained” reserve, that is, individuals who have completed their mandatory conscript service, will not generate significant usable Russian combat power for months. It may suffice to sustain the current levels of Russian military manpower in 2023 by offsetting Russian casualties, although even that is not yet clear. It will occur in deliberate phases, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview on September 21, likely precluding any sudden influx of Russian forces that could dramatically shift the tide of the war. Russia’s partial mobilization will thus not deprive Ukraine of the opportunity to liberate more of its occupied territory into and through the winter.
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Johnson’s Russia List:
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Russia Matters:
https://www.russiamatters.org/ ;
https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/thanking-god-seeing-abyss-russians-react-putins-mobilization ;
https://www.russiamatters.org/news/russia-analytical-report/russia-analytical-report-sept-12-19-2022 .
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RUSI
https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/regions-and-country-groups/ukraine.
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Putin’s speech, 21 September 2022
Two translations:
flows well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S36c8uX9FRw ;
not so well: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/21/russias-putin-orders-partial-mobilisation-what-did-he-say .
“Biden condemns Putin’s nuclear threat to West. President brands comments
‘reckless’ after Russia escalates tensions over Ukraine.” 22, 1.
“Arrests as Russians rise up in protest and try to flee the country.” 22, 6-7.
“Cornered Putin is getting desperate. The Russian president is twisting the truth to
make his country look ready for a showdown.” 22, 6.
“300,000 more soldiers are unlikely to give Kremlin breakthrough.” 22, 6-7.
“British prisoners of war released in exchange deal.” 22, 7.
“Putin is shouting at his own people. By reframing the conflict as the West versus
Russia, the president’s speech was intended to justify an unpopular call-up.” 22, 35.
“Letters. Putin and Ukraine.” 22, 38.
“Putin’s provocations. The disastrous course of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine has
prompted bluster and nuclear threats from the kremlin. Nato should redouble its
support for Kyiv.” 22, 39.
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2 Collectives and attributes
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The problem of conceptualisation
Society involves ‘collectives’ of individuals and their attributes. The individuals have attributes and the collectives have attributes. A fundamental question is how we should conceptualise the relationship between the attributes of the individuals and the attributes of the collectives. The question is addressed in the literature on social choice and social welfare, public choice and game theory.
A major early work was Mancur Olsen’s The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (1965).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action
More specifically in the field of politics is the notion of “the will of the people”, a notion critiqued in Albert Weale’s The Will of the People: A Modern Myth.
https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Will+of+the+People:+A+Modern+Myth-p-9781509533275
Cases of collectives and attributes arise in a routine way whenever opinion polls are carried out. The sample is a collective and the attributes are the individual responses. The analysis summarises the data in terms of attributes of the collective. The field of statistics might be thought of as concerning collectives (samples and populations) and attributes (variables). Reports on opinion polls tend to be rushed out and condensed and so lack depth. My own analyses involve greater depth (still short of statisticians’ proper analysis) and I refer to “the abstract structure of public opinion”:
Trump: the Abstract Structure of Public Opinion, USA 2020
In my view casual remarks about public opinion and even reports of opinion polls can sometimes be unsatisfactory.
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The united collective hypothesis
One hypothesis about the collective is that it is united, all individuals are the same and in terms of opinion there is 100%. This hypothesis is sometimes claimed explicitly, sometimes merely implied. There are various ways in which the hypothesis is claimed but in a weaker version.
My investigations often find that the hypothesis is false. The collective is more complicated than that.
The discussion of the death of the Queen provides a good example of the united collective hypothesis being made – despite the evidence showing it is false.
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The divided collective hypothesis
If the collective is not united, then perhaps it is divided – specifically it is divided into two polarised groups. Similar remarks to those made in the previous section apply.
The Brexit debate in the UK and politics in the USA provide good examples of the divided collective hypothesis being made – in my own analysis I suggest that the evidence shows it to be false, or at least only weakly true.
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The distribution on a continuum hypothesis
Whereas the united hypothesis and the divided hypothesis are both common in ordinary language discourse what is fairly standard amongst social scientists is the notion that attributes have values along a continuum and that a collective of individuals have a distribution of values along that continuum. In politics for example there is reference to the left-right continuum – and indeed to a multidimensional space.
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3 The Queen, part 1 (last week)
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4 The Queen, part 2
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The Queen: collectives and attributes
The outpouring of words following the death of the Queen frequently refers to collectives and attributes. Many examples are to be found in the quotations I give in a later section.
Some of this discourse is unsatisfactory and I discussed this last week under the title “private truths and public displays”.
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4.1 Collective grief
Responses can be positive or negative, and can vary in strength and in the manner of their expression.
“There is no ‘correct’ way to experience grief. …An exhibition of showy sorrow is no more helpful to the bereaved that the Victorian mourning rules it has replaced. … In the aftermath of bereavement, we have the right to be weird. … Some find comfort in the ancient rituals of death, others do not.” 19, 24.
For some, the most immediate response to hearing about the death of the Queen is a negative emotional response such as sadness, feeling upset or feeling grief … or the less specific question of whether “the death has impacted you”. Last week I reported on ‘impact’.
“Call me cold but mourning simply leaves me blank.” 21, 30. Matthew Parris.
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‘Impact’ in USA and Canada
Which of the following best describes how Queen Elizabeth's death has impacted you personally?
Has it had … a major impact; a moderate impact; a minor impact; no impact at all … unaware of her death; don’t know / prefer not to answer?
Canada results:
a major impact 6%; a moderate impact 17%; a minor impact 25%; no impact at all 49% … unaware of her death 1; don’t know / prefer not to answer 2%.
USA results:
a major impact 6%; a moderate impact 10%; a minor impact 22%; no impact at all 58% … unaware of her death 2%; don’t know / prefer not to answer 3%?
Canada and USA give a similar response. The mode, median and mean responses are either ‘no impact at all’ or halfway between ‘a minor impact’ and ‘no impact at all’.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9125023/queen-elizabeth-death-canada-poll/
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‘Upset’ in the UK
The whole sample response
This week I consider an opinion poll which asked about “feeling upset”. (YouGov, 11-12 September 2022):
How upset, if at all, do you personally feel over the passing of Queen Elizabeth II?
Very upset 22%; Fairly upset 25%; A little upset 29%; Not upset at all 22%; Don’t know 3%.
What is the average response? The mode is “A little upset”. So is the median (but nearer ‘fairly upset’ than ‘not upset at all’). The mean is 0.50 halfway in a scale of 0 to 1.
What is the distribution of responses? The percentages, 22%, 25%, 29% and 22%, give a distribution which is unimodal with a mode of 29% at ‘a little upset’. The mode is not at all pronounced and the distribution has a fairly even spread over the range – a good approximation to what is called a uniform distribution – in other words all points on the ‘upset’ continuum are equally likely.
In what follows we shall use a measure U, the combined percentage of very or fairly upset. Because it is a percentage its values can range between 0% and 100%. We can think of an Upset continuum raging between 0% and 100%. Here, for the whole sample, U=22%+25%=47%. The measure U is easy to calculate and suits our present purposes – although it can mislead and I emphasise this by referring to is as a ‘net aggregated one-sided percentage’.
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Social groups
Different social groups feel different amounts of upset. The table below lists the eighteen groups which were asked about in this opinion poll. Also in the list is ‘All’, the whole of the sample.
The numbers in the first column gives the upset percentages U for the groups and for ‘All’. Let us just look at the numbers in this column. They range from 23 to 66. We can think of this as roughly the middle half of the Upset continuum. The numbers are 23, 32, 33, 36, 30, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 54, 59 and 66. In other words, groups are located at seventeen different points along the Upset continuum. As noted, they are in the middle half of the continuum. Moreover there are more groups in the middle of the middle half of the continuum! (One group in the 20s; five in the 30s; six in the 40s; four in the 50s; and one group in the 60s.)
Let us now look at specific groups. The Conservatives (U=66) have the highest U and Leave (U=59) the second highest. The young 18-24s (U=23) have the lowest U and Scotland (U=32) the second lowest. Naturally ‘All’ (47) is in the middle.
Politics: Lib Dem are in the middle, less upset than Conservatives but more upset than Labour. Age: the older the group the higher the percentage – except that age 50-64 is just slightly higher than Age 65+. Geography: the South (outside London) is highest and Scotland is the lowest … the nearer to South the higher the percentage – London however is low. Brexit: Leave is high and Remain is low. Female is high and Male is low. Working class is slightly higher than Middle class.
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Table U: very or fairly upset: the net aggregated one-sided percentages for various social groups
. U
Conservative 66
Age 65+ 52
Leave 59
Lib Dem 41
Rest of South 51
Female 54
C2DE 48
Age 50-64 53
Midlds/Wales 52
All 47
North 46
ABC1 45
Remain 40
Male 38
Age 25-49 39
London 36
Scotland 32
Labour 33
Age 18-24 23
Notes:
.(i) Report, YouGov, Times, 11-12 September 2022
(ii) Tables for U: YouGov, Times, 11-12 September 2022
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/c2lzp15u60/TheTimes_RoyalFamily_Results_220912.pdf.
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The upset score depends on the pro-monarchy score
The numbers in the table above are in decreasing order – almost but not quite! In fact the ordering of the groups is the same as that given in a table last week – the groups are ordered by decreasing pro-monarchy score. The fact that the orderings are similar indicated that there is a relationship between the upset score and the pro-monarchy score. The more pro-monarchy a group is, the more upset it is. A prediction (P) gives a very rough approximation to U:
(P)=30+0.5M
U is approximately equal to (P)
The table below gives U, (P) and M. In most cases the prediction (P) is within 4 of U. The four exceptions are given an *. Age 65+ and Lib Dems are less upset than predicted. The other three * have errors of just 5.
Note that U and M come from quite different surveys: U is from a YouGov, Times, survey on 11-12 September 2022; and M is from a YouGov, Republic, survey on 30 April – 2 May, 2022.
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Table U: very or fairly upset: the net aggregated one-sided percentages for various social groups U (P) M
Conservative 66 66 +71
Age 65+ 52 62* +63
Leave 59 57 +54
Lib Dem 41 55* +49
Rest of South 51 53 +45
Female 54 52 +43
C2DE 48 50 +39
Age 50-64 53 48* +37
Midlds/Wales 52 48 +35
All 47 47 +33
North 46 45 +30
ABC1 45 44 +28
Remain 40 42 +24
Male 38 42 +23
Age 25-49 39 42 +23
London 36 41* +22
Scotland 32 33 +5
Labour 33 31 +1
Age 18-24 23 28* -3
Notes: U can vary between 0% and100%; and M can vary from -100% to +100%.
.(i) Report, YouGov, Times, 11-12 September 2022
(ii) Tables for U: YouGov, Times, 11-12 September 2022
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/c2lzp15u60/TheTimes_RoyalFamily_Results_220912.pdf.
.(iii) Tables for M: YouGov, Republic, 30 April – 2 May, 2022.
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/mzho6zm7ps/Republic_Results_220502_W.pdf
.(iv) YouGov trackers:
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-the-monarchy-good-or-bad-for-britain
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Your upset percentile score
Let us return to the whole sample results.
Consider the 22% who are ‘very upset’. We can think of them as being ordered by the amount of their upsetness. They can be thought of as ranging between the 0% upset percentile (most upset of the ‘very upset’) to the 22% upset percentile (least upset of the ‘very upset’). The mean upset percentile of the ‘very upset’ is 11%. In the absence of better information about the individual, we assign an upset percentile score of 11% to all who respond ‘very upset’.
A corresponding argument leads us to assign an upset percentile score of 34% to all who respond ‘fairly upset’.
A corresponding argument leads us to assign an upset percentile score of
49% to all who respond ‘don’t know’.
65% to all who respond ‘a little upset’.
89% to all who respond ‘not upset at all’.
In this way each individual can be assigned an upset percentile score.
(Note that I have chosen to place the ‘don’t know’ option in the middle of the set of options for each question.)
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4.2 Six royal questions; six dimensions in royal space
The question on feeling upset was one of a number of questions in the survey. The upset question and five others provide a rounded picture of opinion about the Queen and the monarchy. I have labelled the questions A to F:
A Generally speaking, do you support or oppose Britain having a monarchy?
B How upset, if at all, do you personally feel over the passing of Queen Elizabeth II?
C Did you ever personally meet or see Queen Elizabeth II?
D Do you think Queen Elizabeth II was good or bad for Britain?
E When future historians look back, do you think Queen Elizabeth II will or will not
be seen as one of Britain's greatest monarchs?
F Do you think people's response to Queen Elizabeth’s passing will divide us, or bring
people together, or will it make no difference?
These six questions are all about royalty and relate to what might be thought of as six dimensions in royal space.
My hypothesis is that those closest to the Queen would give the answers: A support; B very upset; C personally met; D very good; E probably will; F bring people together.
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The percentile scores for each of the answers to the six royal questions
Just as we defined a percentile score for each of the answers to the upset question, we can define a percentile score for each of the answers to the other five variables. These scores are displayed in the Table below. (Note that I have chosen to place the ‘don’t know’ option in the middle of the set of options for each question.)
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Table The percentile scores for each answer to each of the six questions A to F
A Support monarchy 32
A Don’t know 40
A Oppose monarchy 91
B Very upset 11
B Fairly upset 34
B Don’t know 49
B A little upset 65
B Not upset at all 89
C Met her personally 1
C Saw but not met 16
C Not sure 30
C Never met or saw 65
D Very good for UK 32
D Fairly good for UK 74
D Don’t know 90
D Fairly bad for UK 96
D Very bad for UK 98
E Probably greatest 44
E Don’t know 48
E Probably not greatest 98
F bring together 20
F No difference 62
F Don’t Know 86
F Divide us 96
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Your percentile multi-dimensional distance from the Queen
Given an individual’s answers to the six questions, we can take the corresponding six percentile scores and calculate the mean percentile score for that individual. This mean can be thought of as the individual’s percentile multi-dimensional distance from the Queen.
As an example consider those closest to the Queen. They would give the answers: A support; B very upset; C personally met; D very good; E probably will; and F bring people together. From the above table these answers give the following six percentile scores, total score and mean score:
32, 11, 1, 32, 44, 20. This sums to 140, giving a mean percentile score of 23.
As a second example consider those most distant from the Queen. They would give the answers: A oppose; B not upset at all; C never met or saw; D very bad; E probably will not; and F will divide us. From the above table these answers give the following six percentile scores, total score and mean score:
91, 89, 65, 98, 98, 96. This sums to 537, giving a mean percentile score of 90.
What are your answers to the six questions? What are your six percentile scores? What is your percentile multi-dimensional distance from the Queen? It will be somewhere between 23, ‘very close to the Queen’, and 90, ‘very distant from the Queen.
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24 points on the distance-from-the-Queen continuum
Another way of thinking about this is to order the 24 answers to the six questions by increasing distance (percentile score), giving 24 points on the distance-from-the-Queen continuum
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Table 24 points on the distance-from-the-Queen continuum
C Met her personally 1
B Very upset 11
C Saw but not met 16
F bring together 20
C Not sure 30
A Support monarchy 32
D Very good for UK 32
B Fairly upset 34
A Don’t know 40
E Probably greatest 44
E Don’t know 48
B Don’t know 49
F No difference 62
B A little upset 65
C Never met or saw 65
D Fairly good for UK 74
F Don’t Know 86
B Not upset at all 89
D Don’t know 90
A Oppose monarchy 91
D Fairly bad for UK 96
F Divide us 96
D Very bad for UK 98
E Probably not greatest 98
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The correlation between the six royal variables
We have already shown that there is a correlation between a pro-monarchy score and the upset score – in terms of groups. It seems likely that there are similar correlations between all the six royal variables. My hypothesis is that were a principal component analysis were carried out then the first principal component would correspond to the
‘percentile multi-dimensional distance’ defined here.
The table below, contrasting the scores for selected groups for the six variables is suggestive of possible relationships.
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Table The scores on the six variables for four contrasting groups
. Cons South Labour Scotland
pro-monarchy 87 71 49 47
upset 66 51 33 32
meet/see 42 32 29 33
very good 86 69 47 47
great 95 89 82 82
together 54 43 34 32
Tables for U, etc.: YouGov, Times, 11-12 September 2022
https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/c2lzp15u60/TheTimes_RoyalFamily_Results_220912.pdf.
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The data used by me is made available publicly by YouGov gives tables for the groups but not the raw data for the individuals in the sample. The relationship between variables at the group level can sometimes be quite at variance with the relationship between variables at the inedividual level.
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5 Media coverage
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TV coverage: the Queen, COVID and football
“TV coverage of funeral at abbey seen by 26 million.” 21, 11.
Top: Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997.
Second: Euro 2020 final at Wembley: 29.8 million, BBC and ITV
Also Boris Johnson policy on COVID, March 2020: 27.1 million
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The Times: 504 pages in ten days
The Queen died on Thursday 8th September. In the following ten days The Times: produced 504 pages covering the event.
In the days before the Queen’s death the lead story in The Times and The Observer front pages was the anticipated (then incoming) Liz Truss government:
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Sunday 4 September to Thursday 8 September 2022 to (Times and Observer)
Sun 4: “Pack cabinet with Johnson loyalists at your peril, Truss told.”
Mon 5: “Truss team hold talks on freezing energy bills.”
Tues 6: [Truss wins]
Wed 7: “Liz Truss vows to get country ‘working and growing’”
Thurs 8: “Prime minister will borrow more to cap costs until next election.”
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Friday 9 September 2022 to Tuesday 20 September 2022 (10 Times and 2 Observers)
Following the Queen’s death, The Times and The Observer produced extensive coverage of the Queen and the monarchy. In The Times each day there was an extra four-page cover sheet. Each day there was a special supplement of between 20 and 68 pages. Each day the first so many pages of the main bit of the paper was devoted to the topic. The topic was covered in the editorial and in the letters. There were also occasional pieces in the rest of the main paper and in the Times 2 section.
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Wednesday 21 September 2022 (Times and Observer)
There was no royal photo on the front page, no royal four-page cover, no royal supplement and no royal editorial – just four royal pages demoted to the interior of the paper (10-13) and some residual royal Letters to the Editor.
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Friday 9 September 2022 to Tuesday 20 September 2022 (10 Times and 2 Observers)
The number of pages each day:
Fri 9 = 1-35 + 40 obituary + 4 + letters, editorial, other articles = 79+
Sat 10 = 1-27 + 24 Queen 1 The royal marriage + 4 + = 55+
[Sun 11 = … +24 Observper writing …]
Mon 12 = 1-17 + 24 Queen 2 A family affair + 4 + = 45+
Tues 13 = 1-15 + 24 Queen 3 Queen and country + 4 + = 43+
Wed 14 = 1-15 + 20 Queen 4 The world stage + 4 + = 39+
Thurs 15 = 1-15 + 20 Queen 5 Royal life + 4 + = 39+
Fri 16 = 1-15 + 20 Charles + 4 + = 39+
Sat 17 = 1-13 + 68 Queen 1 glossy* + 4 + = 85+
*[Elizabeth II, 1926-2022. A life in pictures, Part 1]
[Sun 18 =
Mon 19 = 1-13 + 16 order of service + 4 + = 33+
Tues 20 = 1-23 + 20 + 4 + = 47+
10 days of The Times produced 504 royal pages
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The front page headlines
Friday 9 September 2022 to Tuesday 20 September 2022 (Times and Observer)
Fri 9 Death of the Queen. Her Majesty passes away aged 96. King to be titled Charles
III. World mourns ‘cherished sovereign’.
Sat 10 I pledge myself to you. King’s solemn vow in first televised address.
Emotional tribute to ‘darling mama’. William becomes Prince of Wales.
[Sun 11 Charles III assumes ‘the heavy duties of sovereignty’. … yesterday’s
extraordinary proclamation ceremony.]
Mon 12 Five-mile queue for Queen. Extraordinary respect shown at every roadside
and village.
Tues 13 Royal family united in grief. Queen’s children keep vigil over coffin.
Thousands line Royal Mile for procession. King addresses parliament.
Wed 14 A last night at the palace. Royal family gather in private to receive Queen’s
coffin. Cheering crowds line 15-mile route into central London.
Thurs 15 A nation pays its respects
Fri 16 A service for the world. Queen’s children will unite for Princes’ Vigil over
coffin. Foreign royalty and leaders to attend historic abbey funeral. … Procession
brought back bad memories, says William.
Sat 17 Silence speaks volumes. Queen’s children stand vigil at her coffin in emotional
end to week of national mourning. … King’s fears over rising cost of living
[Sun 18 United in sorrow: grandchildren join vigil for Queen Elizabeth.
Mon 19 Charles gives thanks. King says he is ‘deeply touched’ by public support.
Elizabeth II will be laid to rest at Windsor today.
Tues 20 Go forth upon thy journey. Queen is laid to rest at Windsor after tens of
thousands line the streets for a funeral marked by splendour and pageantry.
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The cover sheet words and quotations
The four-page cover sheet consisted of a two-page photograph with words and quotations and two pages of more detailed information.
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Fri 9 A life in service. Queen Elizabeth II. April 21, 1926 – September 8, 2022. …
“I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can
do something else: I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands,
and to all the people of our brotherhood of nations.”
The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast, 1957.
Sat 10 God save the king …
“Wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the realms and territories
across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall
endeavour to serve you with loyalty and love.”
King Charles III.
[Sun 11]
Mon 12 Her final journey begins. … “Scotland was special to The Queen and she was
special to Scotland.” Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland.
Tues 13 The Queen’s guard. … “As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel
the weight of history which surrounds us.” King Charles III, Westminster Hall.
Wed 14 Home to rest. … “I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest
mother’s life. It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final
journeys.” The Princess Royal.
Thurs 15 Her crown and glory …
“Grief is the price we pay for love.” Queen Elizabeth II, 2001.
Fri 16 In loving memory …
“Don’t cry – you’ll start me.” The Prince of Wales
Sat 17 Guarding their mother … “We have been overwhelmed by the tide of emotion
that has engulfed us. And now, we are there for her, united in grief.” The Earl of
Wessex.
[Sun 18
Mon 19 Final farewell. … “each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God.” Queen Elizabeth II, 2002.
Tues 20 Carried to her rest. … “Leave then thy foolish ranges, For none can thee secure, But one who never changes, Thy God, thy life, they cure.” Songs of farewell, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.
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Editorials
Fri 9 A life of service. Queen Elizabeth II was an anchor of stability throughout a 70-
year reign in which Britain experienced immense change. The nation will forever
be in her debt for her dignity, stoicism and selfless devotion to duty. p. 47
Sat 10 Crown and convention. A constitutional monarchy serves a crucial function in
a modern democratic age by transcending politics and binding a diverse and
pluralist nation. p. 29.
[Sun 11 Charles has a huge task ahead to help the UK secure its place in the world.
She has been an extraordinary public servant, a point of stability during times of
huge social and economic flux. 36]
Mon 12 Princes’ truce. The monarchy would be well served by a show of unity in the
royal family. p. 27.
Tues 13 Queen’s land. The dignified scenes of mourning for Elizabeth II throughout
Scotland exemplify the common identity of the constituency nations of the United
Kingdom. p. 31.
Wed 14 royal progress. Despite the warm welcome for the King in Northern Ireland,
support for the Union could suffer without a negotiated solution to problems with
the protocol.
Lese-majeste. The police should not be arresting anti-monarchist protesters. p. 33.
Thurs 15 People’s procession. It is not too late to amend the Queen’s funeral plans to
enable still more members of the public to witness in person her last journey and
pay their respects. p. 31
Fri 16 A long line of gratitude. The patient weight by so many people to pay their
personal respects to the Queen is a measure of the extraordinary hold she had over
her country and the world. p. 31.
Sat 17 Royal approval. King Charles III’s reign could hardly have got off to a better
start. His well-judged speeches and public appearances show that the crown can
remain a source of unity. … 73% think he has made a good start. p. 31.
[Sun 18] Will our spirit of unity survive this divisive age? p. 40.
Mon 19 Rest in Peace. As she is laid to rest, Queen Elizabeth will be remembered by
a grateful nation and Commonwealth for her devotion to duty and furtherance of
the public good.” p. 27.
Tues 20 Majestic farewell. The precision and beauty of the state funeral of Elizabeth
II provide a memorable symbol of the bonds of common civic attachment that she
advanced. p. 31.
…
Letters
Fri 9 Remembering our gracious, noble Queen. p. 46.
Sat 10 Personal touch of an unforgettable Queen. p. 28.
[Sun 11
Mon 12 The Queen’s legacy and what comes next. p. 26.
Tues 13 Monarchy’s ability to bind a diverse nation. p. 30.
Wed 14 Commonwealth’s future in a time of turmoil. p. 32.
Thurs 15 Charles III’s role as Defender of the Faith. p. 30.
Fri 16 How to keep faith with Queen and carry on. p. 30.
Sat 17 Line of duty: the queue for Queen and country. p. 30.
[Sun 18
Mon 19 Life of service touches the soul of Britain. p. 26.
Tues 20 Spellbinding majesty of the Queen’s funeral. p. 30.
…
“Historic Times edition on sale at £95.” 21, 11.
…
6 What do collective rituals mean?
Dear friends,
If you’re in the UK, you’ve spent the last two weeks witnessing an upswelling of public mourning. Twenty-hour queues snaking through London, acres of floral offerings, and a near-total eclipse of all media with a solemn performance of ritual. Not everyone has enjoyed the spectacle. Those with ambivalent feelings about the monarchy have found it hard to escape the constant bombardment of red, gold and black. But for many, this public outpouring was an opportunity to mark other, silently held sorrows. Here was a broad canvas where people could project some of the private griefs so many of us are carrying. Whether it’s loved ones lost to Covid, or eco-anxiety, or the loss of livelihood from lockdown or the cost of living crisis - we live in an age of unprocessed trauma. In her commemorative poem about the queen, Carol Ann Duffy draws this connection between private and public griefs, and how the funeral of Elizabeth II was a proxy for our sense of loss on a much larger scale. ‘Soon enough they would come to know this had long been/ the Age of Grief; that History was ahead of them. The crown of ice melting/ on the roof of the world.’
For me, the upsurge of public feeling at the queen’s passing speaks to this deeper need we all have for shared rituals. Tomorrow is the Equinox, the half-way point between the season of light and the season of darkness. Throughout history and across cultures, people have marked this time with ritual. It’s about the balance between light and dark, and how human beings play a role in maintaining this balance. And it’s about the rhythm of the seasons and how these changing rhythms are a part of a greater wholeness. I was struck by how Duffy’s poem drew a link between mourning the queen and mourning the damage to Earth’s living systems. I’m left wondering what it would be like if we still gathered to honour the Equinox as a symbol of the intricate balance of life on this planet. Could you imagine a civic celebration that united us to honour the Earth, one that commanded such respect as the ritual we’ve just seen?
Until that day comes - and I hope it does! - when we have civic rituals honouring the Earth, we continue to offer spaces for shared reflection at St Ethelburga’s. Earlier this month we hosted our first contemplative practice gathering. We were a group of about fifteen in our Bedouin tent, from a range of faith backgrounds, bringing different forms of meditation and contemplation. Shared silence is so simple and restorative. It was a joy to welcome those of you who came, and please do come along for our next Contemplative Practice on October 11th, which will be a special gathering celebrating our patron St Ethelburga! Whether you’re new to meditation or not, do come along, and help us remember a woman who led with courage in a time of plague and turmoil.
…
Warmly,
Clare Martin
And the St Ethelburga’s team
…
THE END