Are swans fair game now?
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She is gonna haunt the shit out of you nowâŚ
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Think far too many people have put on the rose tinted spectacles, old lady dies, what a shame, worked really hard, tough gig etc etc. There will be no mourning from me. Far too many atrocities to list. Hopefully Charlie mk 3 sees some sense and asks the government to hold a referendum to see if a monarchy is still relevant. Get them all to fck.
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From what is normally a satirical page:
Few things in life are constants; there in the background, always, your entire life, creating a sense of continuity.
Even if you donât really pay attention, figures in public life give a sense of time and place. As established norms and realities fracture and change and become new and different, or are burned in war and rebuilt, a durable figureâs presence acts as a reassurance â a lodestone against which change can be measured and a reassurance that the future need not be as uncertain as you fear.
And then one day theyâre gone. Itâs only then you see the gap in their place.
Without the constants, the changes seem so much bigger and the challenges all the greater. Itâs a moment of mental dislocation, a moment when certainties become uncertain.
From those early photos of an uncertain but hopeful mechanic fixing up lorries to carry troops and weapons to punch Hitler in the face, to sharing a cuppa with Paddington, the Queen was there, her face on banknotes with a slightly quizzical smile as if slightly surprised.
And it was there for your entire life. Itâs easy to lose sight of how valuable that stability is, not just to individuals but to a sense of identity.
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Waking to consider her passing. Itâs all been said above. Iâd never personally met her yet she was part of my / our collective consciousness. We are poor in this country at looking at death, with her passing there is a reminder that triggers memory and loss across the board - The outpouring on here is a micro example (Never seen so many RIPâs from Meat men)
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I liked the story of her joining crowds and dancing in the streets of London when the war ended wearing a borrowed officerâs cap tilted down so people wouldnât recognize her.
Also an anecdote about a Saudi king visiting Balmoral and being offered a landrover tour of the estate. He got into the passenger seat and was shocked by the queen getting in next to him. Heâd never been in a car driven by a woman before. She then drove in a very âspiritedâ way alarming him so much he was telling his translator to ask her to slow down. 
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By no means a royalist but quite fond of Lizzie and a great respect for her duty and commitment to a âjobâ that I and likely many others might consider a millstone not to be envied.
Of her many qualities I think itâs her mischievous sense of humour that became more apparent with time that I find the most endearing.
However my feelings towards her do not extend to the family that she leaves behind but thatâs a topic for another day.
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A quick gander through social media this morning is already revealing some limitations to this strategy. Ignoring the uptick in general approval of the monarchy that is priced in with the death of QEII and will presumably be fairly fleeting, the chance for âRepublicansâ to air a few views shows that, while they can be grouped together insofar as they donât want a monarchy, after that all bets are off. Iâve seen everything from âkeep every bit of pomp and tradition but lose the monarchâ to âhang, draw and quarter them and send the organs to Commonwealth countries as an apology.â
It gets even more complex when talk turns to what form a replacement head of state should take. Put simply, thereâs absolutely no consensus at all. I think the recent trend of⌠sub optimal⌠Prime Ministers means we can probably agree we donât want them to assume to role of head of state but after that everyone seems to have different ideas. Less immediately structural things like the Crown estates etc also have little to no common ground between people who all describe themselves as Republicans.
To win any referendum, there would need to be at least the rudiments of âthe alternative would be this, this and thisâ and there isnât one. Furthermore, I donât believe that the current state of Republicanism in the UK could create one and if it tried, it would risk being hijacked by the sort of terribly online people whoâs views tend to be kryptonite to the general public.
Iâve said on here before that I consider the construct of hereditary monarchy to be absurd but if any proposed alternative showed the slightest danger of creating another layer of political power and contest around it, I will unhesitatingly vote for the status quo. Iâm also fairly sure Iâm not the only one either.
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Itâd be interesting to at least have some proper discussion about what âRoyalâ actually means other than being sketchily descended from William the Conqueror or Alfred the Great
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That is a relief
A Royal Mail statement said:
Following the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Mail has confirmed that stamps bearing the image of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II remain valid for use.
These include definitive stamps â regular âeverydayâ stamps â and special stamps. As previously announced, following the introduction of barcodes to everyday stamps, these stamps remain valid until the end of January 2023.
All special stamps that have already been announced will be issued, although the launch dates of some may change. In line with past practice, following the death of a monarch all existing post boxes will remain unchanged. Post boxes already in production or being prepared for installation will also retain the insignia of Queen Elizabeth II.
I had forgotten this bit of top trolling
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I agree. Theyâre would need to be a full plan with detail, and there should be 3 options:
1 keep the monarchy, and no further vote for 20 years
2 this alternative
3 some other republican system, to be decided
If 1 or 2 get over 50%, then itâs decided, and if 3 then there would be another vote in 2-5 years. If nothing gets over 50% then at least 5 years to the next vote.
You should rebrand as C3-PO
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Marketing tag line âWeâre doomedâ
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Or in the case of R2D2 - âweâre domedâ
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I think youâre gonna have to ban yourself
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Probably. But not before I ban 
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