Queen Elizabeth II

[all new Phil]

The app for my gym tells me it’s the busiest it’s been in a while. It’s what HRH would have wanted.

I think I’ll leave it a day or two. Last time I went, all the music was off and the screens that usually show music videos just had static images of the Queen. Bit much that.

[Blewatter]

Just had to pop out for a battery for a clock.

The great British public seem to be convinced that all the shops will shut for the next two weeks for the Queen's funeral.

I know, right? I have seen countless people on Twitter getting upset because 'Tesco was shut for a day, now I can't get xyz'. It is a first world problem, if ever I have seen one. The shops will be there tomorrow

[BBC TV Centre]

I ventured out to the supermarket (as normal for Sunday as that is when I do the shopping). Couldn't believe how busy it was, and one of the staff said it was like Christmas eve.

Usually it is pretty dead at 3pm on Sundays but christ it looked like the entire town had turned out, the carpark was rammed.

I'm always convinced that a section of Britain likes to do nothing other than shop.

[WillPS]

I arrived in Blackpool on Sunday - trip booked long ago, nowt to do with the monarchy. The place was the busiest I've ever seen it that evening, absolute gridlock along the promenade right up to the last hour of that evening's illuminations display.

I'm always convinced that a section of Britain likes to do nothing other than shop.

Guilty as charged.

We went to Asda on the evening of the funeral and it was whammo. In fairness there was almost nobody in the George/Home sections (except us!) so I can only imagine it was mostly people who needed stuff rather than people that needed a retail fix after 25 long hours. The promenade was pretty busy despite almost none of it being open, just pubs, 1 arcade and a couple of restaurants. Wetherspoons doing a roaring trade.

[thegeek]

Wetherspoons doing a roaring trade.

isn't that always the case for that spoons?

A mate of mine - usually a bit of a low-level grumpy republican - was convinced the country had gone mad last week. I'm no royalist, but I felt like it wasn't quite as over-the-top as I was expecting things to be. The initial announcement on BBC One was serious but not overly solemn; save for the day of the funeral, most entertainment generally continued. If you wanted MournHub, then the BBC had you covered; if not then you could look elsewhere.

Sure, some companies completely misjudged the mood (Center Parcs anyone?), and I'm a little surprised that nearly all retail succumbed to peer pressure to close for the day of the funeral, but it's kind of what we were told to expect.

Having seen a tiny bit of the broadcast plans in advance, I was really impressed with how seamlessly it all just came together. We had a few non-Royal OBs to deal with over the week, and I think the client was generally understanding of the fact that some of the usual facilities weren't available and they had to trim a few fripperies from theie spec. Meanwhile pretty much every OB company in the country (plus a few of their foreign branches it seems) came together for a pretty remarkable 11 days of programming, covering stuff that's been partly planned in great detail for decades while still having to make up bits on the fly.

[Martin Phillp]

We went to Asda on the evening of the funeral and it was whammo. In fairness there was almost nobody in the George/Home sections (except us!) so I can only imagine it was mostly people who needed stuff rather than people that needed a retail fix after 25 long hours. The promenade was pretty busy despite almost none of it being open, just pubs, 1 arcade and a couple of restaurants. Wetherspoons doing a roaring trade.

I popped into the supermarket sized Co-op on Monday evening just after 5 and that was also packed with people largely picking up odds and ends for the evening rather than doing a full size shop. I was surprised they even had copies of The Sun for sale. They must have cancelled the newspaper order for the other titles.

The only other shop open was the Sainsbury's Local which also opened at 5pm and an off-licence, but some cafes and restaurants did open for evening service.