The death of Queen Elizabeth II has caused immeasurable grief in the UK, accompanied by an impressive pageantry.

Carefully anticipated, the organization of the ten days of mourning as well as the funeral of the British monarch, who died at the age of 96 after 70 years of reign, required an extraordinary mobilization in the country.

Hundreds of police officers joined London police last week to line the hundreds of thousands of people expected to queue for the Queen's coffin on display in Westminster until Monday morning.

An unprecedented security measure has also been planned to accompany the approximately 500 leaders and crowned heads from around the world who are to attend the state funeral on Monday in London.

"There are lots of police, and I've never seen so many," says Pat, impressed.

The 70-year-old traveled to London on Wednesday to visit Buckingham Palace but found herself blocked by law enforcement and only able to get within a mile of the royal residence.

However, despite the crowds and the security measures, there is an atmosphere of calm and serenity in the British capital.

Air traffic was halted in the skies over London on Wednesday to ensure respectful silence as a procession carried the Queen's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

Televisions around the world have since broadcast live the uninterrupted ballet of people who came to meditate in the Ardent Chapel.

Monday noon, at the end of the funeral of the queen, the whole country will come to a standstill for two minutes of silence in tribute to the late monarch.  

"A day that people will never forget"

The date of the funeral has been declared an exceptional public holiday: most businesses, offices and all schools will be closed.

While no legal obligation to close has been decreed for private companies, many of them have announced a closed door day as a sign of respect.  

The main supermarket chains – whose hours are usually reduced on public holidays – will close their doors as well as most restaurants, coffee chains and even gyms.

Amazon deliveries will be halted for the morning, McDonald's will close until 5 p.m. and popular pub chain Wetherspoons will not open until after the funeral service is over.

Entertainment venues, museums, galleries and tourist sites will also be closed, with the exception of some 150 cinemas which will broadcast the funeral on their screens for free. 

The national postal service will be suspended for the day, along with most court hearings and all London Fashion Week shows.

Premier League football matches scheduled for Sunday evening have also been postponed. 

Flights to and from London will again be halted to avoid noise after the funeral, during the procession from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle, where the Queen will be buried.

"Even on public holidays or on major public occasions, we are used to a modicum of normal life continuing. But Monday will be different. It's a day people will never forget," said Luke Blaxill. , historian of modern Britain at the University of Oxford.

>> To read also: Death of Elizabeth II, inflation, Brexit ... the British plunged into spleen

Health services disrupted

Among this shower of tributes, some organizations have been accused of pushing marks of respect for the late monarch too far. 

The Center Parcs holiday center operator aroused the anger and incomprehension of its customers after announcing that holidaymakers would be obliged to leave their accommodation on the day of the funeral, having decided to close, for the occasion, all the activities offered.

The UK Cycling Federation, much mocked for advising people to refrain from using their bikes during the ceremony, has issued an apology.

Another controversial subject and not the least: the possibility left by the authorities to medical offices to close their doors to allow their staff to attend the funeral.

While emergency services are expected to remain open, the National Health Service (NHS) has already said thousands of appointments and operations will be disrupted.   

"For patients who have been waiting up to two years for surgery or an appointment, a last-minute cancellation would be incredibly painful," said Ellen Welch, co-chair of the UK Doctors' Association ( DAUK), interviewed by Reuters.

The scale of the closures has also spawned all sorts of unfounded rumours.

Messages have thus circulated on social networks suggesting that the families should cancel the funeral scheduled for the same day as that of the queen. 

As Britain faces an inflationary crisis, Monday's scheduled closure of food banks has also drawn widespread criticism. 

"Coming Together for a Final Farewell"

For most British residents, the funeral of Elizabeth II will be an unprecedented experience: never in their lifetime has an event interrupted the life of the country to such an extent, apart from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only the oldest still have childhood memories of such a spectacle, when the queen's father, King George VI, died in 1952.   

For Pat, in London, the almost complete interruption of the activity of the country reinforces the particular atmosphere which reigns since the announcement of the death of Elizabeth II.

"All of this contributes to an atmosphere of calm, stillness and tranquility," she says.

"Even the bad weather has come to a halt, in part, for the queen."

This national "shutdown" is above all an opportunity for the citizens of the country to share a common experience, whatever their opinions on the monarchy, analyzes for his part Luke Blaxill.

"It's a way of encouraging people to come together for a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth."

This event also symbolizes the final step in the accession to the throne of King Charles III, whose popularity rating has jumped from 32% last May to 63% since the death of his mother.

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Tributes to Elizabeth II in Edinburgh: "A flawless for the royal family: sober, close to the people" © France24

A transition that comes as many Britons are disenchanted with their political leaders.

Planned strikes by railway workers, postal workers, garbage collectors and dockworkers across the UK have also been called off following the Queen's death.

In the current context, some want to see in the arrival of the new monarch, the symbol of a radical change, underlines Luke Blaxill, even if they are well aware that the royal power is very limited.

"The expectations already hanging over the shoulders of the new king are quite considerable. And the more we suspend the country's activities to say goodbye and mark this transition, the more these unrealistic expectations grow." 

Article translated from English, click here for the original version.

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