Some results were more disturbing. Suicide rates in England and Wales – particularly among young women – were found to be 17% higher in the first month after her funeral. in the first week, rates of self-harm increased by 44%. A study three weeks after Diana’s death found PTSD symptoms in 28% of respondents. Some were unmoved or dismissed the backlash as crazed collective madness, but for many, this sadness was real. How will we look back on this period of mourning for Elizabeth II? Among the crowds gathered in London and Edinburgh this week was a team of researchers from the University of St Andrews, investigating the supposedly unified nation, grieving as one. Diana’s violent death was very different from the quiet passing of a carefully watched 96-year-old. But the meaning and results of this strange week of huge crowds, black posters on ship windows and a queue with its own YouTube channel and social media accounts are equally complex and may also surprise. A woman cries next to flowers and messages for Queen Elizabeth II at the memorial in Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, in London. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP “[One of the questions] what we want to get at is: why do people engage in these things?’ says Stephen Reicher, a professor in the university’s school of psychology and neuroscience. “Everyone says all these people are there to show their respect for the Queen, etc. But people are there for many reasons.” Some no doubt feel real grief, perhaps with lost loved ones in mind. Not without reason the queue currently along the South Bank is being squeezed not only by security and first aid teams, but also priests and Samaritan staff. “Some of the people who seem very tearful are grieving the loss of the Queen, but they may also be finding that they have feelings coming up about something they don’t even fully understand, which may be related to a loss that happened a few years ago,” says Marc Hekster, consultant clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and grief. “This is an opportunity for people to experience loss together. Hence what these people are saying as they stand in line – they’ve brought their tents, their umbrellas and their lunch, and they’re standing there consoling each other. It’s the comfort of knowing you’re not alone.” Anti-monarchy protesters outside Parliament on Tuesday. Photo: Joao Daniel Pereira/Alamy Stock Photography/Alamy Live News. There is also shock, even with the death of a 96-year-old, notes Dr Ruth Penfold-Moons, a senior lecturer at the University of York and founder of a research program on cultural reactions to death. “The Queen has been a consistent and central cultural, social and political figure for 70 years. Although we knew she would eventually die, her death came as a shock. We came to an expected end but too quickly. “The Queen had been growing very weak during the past year, but she was working until the day before her death. That’s not something a lot of people do.” Some feel they have to be there or don’t want to miss an important national moment in history. Some are just curious. An extraordinary 5 million people logged onto the FlightRadar24 website to follow the path of the RAF jet that carried the Queen’s coffin from Edinburgh to London. Did they do it because they were overcome with grief and couldn’t waste a minute? Or because something big was happening and here was something to watch? Meanwhile, unknown numbers watch the elaborate rituals from afar with detachment, alienation or anger as the excess and inequality of the monarchy are thrown into fresh relief. Even if they agree with those who argue that this is not the week to voice those concerns—and there are many who don’t—it’s important not to ignore those voices, Reicher argues. By only emphasizing that the nation is “united in respect for the Queen and respect for the monarchy,” he says, “you start to construct this hegemonic notion of community in which everybody does this, which means that if you don’t do that, you’re outside the community. And indeed, you are even worse, you are inhuman, because you do not feel sorry for the death of another human being. “You have an escape between being in the crowd, being united in respect for the Queen, not being able to say anything bad about not just the Queen but the monarchy and British society in general. So it’s a very powerful way to assert not only a sense of national identity, but also a specific meaning of national identity.” Reicher said examining the responses surrounding the Queen’s death could also provide new insights into the nature of group behavior and how it affects identity and society. “If we understand these processes, then it gives us a greater handle on how we create the type of society we want – how we can use and frame collective events in a way that is inclusive and diverse, that allows for dissent but without people beyond pale”.
