I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when I heard the news of Princess Diana's death.
I can't explain why, but both my husband and I felt the need to go to London on the Sunday after her funeral, to see the floral tributes at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Gardens. We signed the book of condolence and I will never forget the smell of all the flowers. Whenever I smell lillies now, it always reminds me of that day.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
I didn't cry but I was moved by Diana's death, whether I got swept along with the public grief,maybe, but I don't think so. I even went and laid some flowers in Ken Gardens, admittedly it's on my doorstep, so didn't go out of my way.
I'm not a royalist far from it but she did seem the exception from the vile others and while I'll except, she probably was equally manipulated to suit a particular image, I still felt she had a genuine feel to her, if one can ever say that about a royal.
Public figures who do the odd bit of charity work are hardly worthy of praise compared to the poor bastards working as care workers etc on minimum wage with a zero hours contract.
I thought Diana was as manipulative as the rest of the royasl and she seemed to pave the way for the celebrity culture that we're now submerged in.
I genuinely didn't recognise my own country with the hysterical reaction to her death - I found it embarrassing to behold. I didn't realise that this was just the start of it.
Social media seems to be making hysterical overreaction the norm and I find it a little worrying.
Mine wasn't a comment on how worthy she was or not or making a comparison with those who work at ground level.
It's probably at best a token gesture from a royal but glad to the point that at least she did it.
I also said she was probably equally manipulated into the figure she was but that's public and celebrity life for ya!
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
The minutes silence for those tragically killed in Barcelona took me by surprise. Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States . Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
The minutes silence for those tragically killed in Barcelona took me by surprise. Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States . Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
I didn't cry but I was moved by Diana's death, whether I got swept along with the public grief,maybe, but I don't think so. I even went and laid some flowers in Ken Gardens, admittedly it's on my doorstep, so didn't go out of my way.
I'm not a royalist far from it but she did seem the exception from the vile others and while I'll except, she probably was equally manipulated to suit a particular image, I still felt she had a genuine feel to her, if one can ever say that about a royal.
Public figures who do the odd bit of charity work are hardly worthy of praise compared to the poor bastards working as care workers etc on minimum wage with a zero hours contract.
I thought Diana was as manipulative as the rest of the royasl and she seemed to pave the way for the celebrity culture that we're now submerged in.
I genuinely didn't recognise my own country with the hysterical reaction to her death - I found it embarrassing to behold. I didn't realise that this was just the start of it.
Social media seems to be making hysterical overreaction the norm and I find it a little worrying.
Mine wasn't a comment on how worthy she was or not or making a comparison with those who work at ground level.
It's probably at best a token gesture from a royal but glad to the point that at least she did it.
I also said she was probably equally manipulated into the figure she was but that's public and celebrity life for ya!
I find the way the media and social media stir up grief and direct people's emotions to be very worrying - when it happened with Diana I was genuinely shocked and since then we have had a massive growth in celebrity worship.
Mass hysteria was something which I thought wouldn't take hold in Britain but I was obviously very wrong. Grief seems to be increasingly trivialized and I do question long term how healthy it is for our society - we seem to have gone from one extreme to another. Some people seem more able to grieve for a person they haven't met and know nothing about than they do for their own family.
The minutes silence for those tragically killed in Barcelona took me by surprise. Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States . Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
It's a case of the FA trying to make up for its own multitude of sins by taking every opportunity to take the moral high ground.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
Public displays of grief are a collective for someone whose death (and/or life) is known to millions. Someone else decides which deaths get a minute's silence at a football match - so be it.
Of course people die every day and will be shown respect by those who knew them. The great John Donne had it right:
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
The minutes silence for those tragically killed in Barcelona took me by surprise. Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States . Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
It's a case of the FA trying to make up for its own multitude of sins by taking every opportunity to take the moral high ground.
We could end up with a minute for the football and a ninety minute silence if we try and cover everything.
The minutes silence for those tragically killed in Barcelona took me by surprise. Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States . Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
It's a case of the FA trying to make up for its own multitude of sins by taking every opportunity to take the moral high ground.
Maybe we'll have a minutes silence for the death of football as we know it.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
Public displays of grief are a collective for someone whose death (and/or life) is known to millions. Someone else decides which deaths get a minute's silence at a football match - so be it.
Of course people die every day and will be shown respect by those who knew them. The great John Donne had it right:
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
Great, let's have a mandatory minutes silence before every football game for anybody that's died in the last week/fortnight. In fact, why stop there, make it mandatory at every sporting occasion, perhaps at the theatre and cinema as well.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
Public displays of grief are a collective for someone whose death (and/or life) is known to millions. Someone else decides which deaths get a minute's silence at a football match - so be it.
Of course people die every day and will be shown respect by those who knew them. The great John Donne had it right:
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
Great, let's have a mandatory minutes silence before every football game for anybody that's died in the last week/fortnight. In fact, why stop there, make it mandatory at every sporting occasion, perhaps at the theatre and cinema as well.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
Personally I just think there's enough to worry/be pissed off about in this world, that to do so over a minute's silence is ridiculous.
I was on a weekend in Paris the weekend of her funeral. A lady on the trip told me in the hotel that she and her husband had considered cancelling their trip as a mark of respect, and had I? I replied "No, if I'd died last weekend, she wouldn't have cancelled hers for me" and was looked at as though I was the devil. Felt like asking her whether they would have done the same for a relative, but thought it better to end the conversation there.
It seems unusual for any game to not start with a minutes silence (or applause, which is even more annoying) nowadays. players may just as well have a black armband sewn permanently onto their kits to save time. It preceded Diana in football - a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding at all games played that weekend. A very sad death and a tragedy for his family and possibly Chelsea fans, but for everyone else?
This minutes silence thing that's crept in on a regular basis now at our games for people with no connection to the club used to piss me off big time but now, as long as I know it's going to happen, I recognise it as an opportunity to spend a little longer savouring a pint or have a piss. Perhaps a rendition of 'who the fcking ell was he?' from fans at clubs where there was no connection might discourage the club and the EFL from imposing these things on its customers.
Really? Even if you have no connection to them, is it that much of an inconvenience just to stand in silence for a minute out of respect for someone's life?
People die every day and more often than not in very tragic circumstances and we dont show them any respect. What makes some of these people that are afforded a minutes silence at a football club that they have no connection to so special?
Public displays of grief are a collective for someone whose death (and/or life) is known to millions. Someone else decides which deaths get a minute's silence at a football match - so be it.
Of course people die every day and will be shown respect by those who knew them. The great John Donne had it right:
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
Great, let's have a mandatory minutes silence before every football game for anybody that's died in the last week/fortnight. In fact, why stop there, make it mandatory at every sporting occasion, perhaps at the theatre and cinema as well.
It's not for any of us to be judgemental of how others grieve. We're all different emotionally and should be tolerant of those reacting differently from us. If you're being asked to be silent for a minute to acknowledge a life or lives that's not a lot to ask, is it?
It's not for any of us to be judgemental of how others grieve. We're all different emotionally and should be tolerant of those reacting differently from us. If you're being asked to be silent for a minute to acknowledge a life or lives that's not a lot to ask, is it?
I realise I'm in a minority nowadays but this trend that started with the death of Lady Di really does my head in. It's been a great boost for florists but it does my nut in.
Watching the Diana doc with Tony Blair talking about the 'people's princess' is like a spoof.
Totally agree. Obviously a sad event for her family but I found the whole 'people's princess' thing toe-curling. The nearest thing to mass hysteria I've ever witnessed in this country.
I will frequently shed a year or two privately for all manner of things that move me. I have to confess tho, that when watching Diana's funeral, with the speeches by her brother and Tony Blair, and the song by Elton John I was taken by the large red carpeted space at the alter end and thought 'what we need now is a group of beautiful smiling Irish youngsters to come in and do a Riverdance number.
It's not for any of us to be judgemental of how others grieve. We're all different emotionally and should be tolerant of those reacting differently from us. If you're being asked to be silent for a minute to acknowledge a life or lives that's not a lot to ask, is it?
I was gutted the day she died, as they cancelled all the football. Luckily friends were getting married on the day of the funeral so managed to avoid all of that mularky. In between I went to a works beano in a pub in Kensington and loads of people were going up the escalator with floral tributes (and life sized inflatable models of ET), laughing and joking, not a sign of any grief. It was like "Oh, we have done Madame Tussaud's and the Tower of London, lets do the flowers in the park thing and then tomorrow we'll go to the zoo...".
Why so much angst from some of you? We are all different and nothing more so than in expressing ones sorrow at someone's passing (who ever they are), it's a personal emotion. You don't feel it, that's fine......but to criticise folk who are affected differently is pretty disrespectful if you ask me. We aren't all cut from the same cloth.......fortunately!
It's not for any of us to be judgemental of how others grieve. We're all different emotionally and should be tolerant of those reacting differently from us. If you're being asked to be silent for a minute to acknowledge a life or lives that's not a lot to ask, is it?
It is if you have no respect for whoever died.
How about respect for those who ARE grieving?
It still depends who it is. What if it's some mass murderer who has a following? Would that be something you should respect?
It's not for any of us to be judgemental of how others grieve. We're all different emotionally and should be tolerant of those reacting differently from us. If you're being asked to be silent for a minute to acknowledge a life or lives that's not a lot to ask, is it?
It is if you have no respect for whoever died.
How about respect for those who ARE grieving?
My problem with that is the compulsion element. If you want a spend a minute in silent contemplation over the death of someone like Diana, John Lennon, the Duchess of Argyle et al, then feel free. Just don' t expect me to join in.
I do stand in a minutes silence on occasions such as Remembrance Sunday as the I believe that the deaths of over a million war dead is worth thinking about. I think being asked to stand for a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman is insulting by comparison.
The day Diana died I was in hospital, two days after major reconstructive surgery on my left knee following a sports injury. I was still on morphine- the pain wasn't too bad but it was good shit!
My wife had brought me in a portable TV that was at the end of my bed. I was awoken at 6am by four nurses sitting on my bed and another three standing around the bed (I should be so lucky) - with the TV on full volume. I said in my drug infused stuper "what the flip?" or words to that effect and was told very unceremoniously to shut up and that Princess Diana was dead.
I can assure you there was no great outpouring of grief for Diana from me at that particular moment in time.
Steve jobs was a monumental arsehole. Didn't shed a tear, his cancer was easily treatable through normal means but he decided to beat it by eating fruit and nuts.
Comments
I can't explain why, but both my husband and I felt the need to go to London on the Sunday after her funeral, to see the floral tributes at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Gardens. We signed the book of condolence and I will never forget the smell of all the flowers. Whenever I smell lillies now, it always reminds me of that day.
It's probably at best a token gesture from a royal but glad to the point that at least she did it.
I also said she was probably equally manipulated into the figure she was but that's public and celebrity life for ya!
Will there be one for those who have died in the Hurricane in the States .
Where does it stop and who decides when they should be held at a football match .
For a lot of people now life is a soap opera.
Mass hysteria was something which I thought wouldn't take hold in Britain but I was obviously very wrong. Grief seems to be increasingly trivialized and I do question long term how healthy it is for our society - we seem to have gone from one extreme to another. Some people seem more able to grieve for a person they haven't met and know nothing about than they do for their own family.
A bit of cynicism is a healthy thing.
Of course people die every day and will be shown respect by those who knew them. The great John Donne had it right:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
I have to confess tho, that when watching Diana's funeral, with the speeches by her brother and Tony Blair, and the song by Elton John I was taken by the large red carpeted space at the alter end and thought 'what we need now is a group of beautiful smiling Irish youngsters to come in and do a Riverdance number.
The Hitch did this....
....whilst Frankie did this....
Both superb.
We are all different and nothing more so than in expressing ones sorrow at someone's passing (who ever they are), it's a personal emotion.
You don't feel it, that's fine......but to criticise folk who are affected differently is pretty disrespectful if you ask me.
We aren't all cut from the same cloth.......fortunately!
I do stand in a minutes silence on occasions such as Remembrance Sunday as the I believe that the deaths of over a million war dead is worth thinking about. I think being asked to stand for a minutes silence for the Chelsea chairman is insulting by comparison.
My wife had brought me in a portable TV that was at the end of my bed. I was awoken at 6am by four nurses sitting on my bed and another three standing around the bed (I should be so lucky) - with the TV on full volume. I said in my drug infused stuper "what the flip?" or words to that effect and was told very unceremoniously to shut up and that Princess Diana was dead.
I can assure you there was no great outpouring of grief for Diana from me at that particular moment in time.