Russians living in London are tired of saying goodbye to the Queen

“People are more concerned about the increase in food prices and how to pay for a communal apartment”

For almost a week now, Britain has been saying goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II. We talked to Russians who live in London about the situation in the city at this solemn and sad moment.

Alisa Zotimova, the owner of a real estate agency: “On the second day after the death of the queen, all the newspapers came out with materials about her. The rest of the news faded into the background. A colleague tried to find a horoscope in the newspaper, but it was nowhere to be found. I can’t say that all the British are emotionally experiencing the departure of Elizabeth. Elderly people who have spent their whole lives with her grieve more. But tourists and people who live here recently are not particularly immersed in the topic. The mourning atmosphere was preserved only in the first days after the death of the Queen. There were many people in black clothes on the streets. My daughter even went to school in all black. But life in the country did not stop, this event did not cause a large-scale tragedy. No one was going to wear mourning for ten days.”

Elizabeth: “Honestly, I’ve been getting tired of the queen theme. If you think that all of England is still mourning, you are wrong. People plunged into their affairs, problems. Many have already got tired of these sighs about the fact that the era has gone, and with it the good old England. I am surprised by people who have never been to Britain, but mourn the queen, not realizing that in this country everything is not as perfect and romantic as it seems from the outside.

It is strange that in Russia a lot of attention has been paid to this topic, while the British never talk about your country. It would not occur to them to mourn one of your politicians. By the way, most of the local Russians do not care about these large-scale funerals. Believe me, ordinary people are more concerned about the increase in food prices and how to pay for a communal apartment, the cost of which has skyrocketed at times, than farewell to the queen. There is no such thing as someone killing and crying here.

Maria: “In the first days after the death of the queen, people bought up all the newspapers, on the covers of which there were portraits of Elizabeth. But in the following days, no one was interested in newspapers with similar covers. Fashion boutiques were closed only for one day, now everything is working, people continue their normal life: they celebrate holidays, drink in pubs, not everyone follows the farewell. At first, portraits of the queen hung everywhere on city banners, now billboards have returned. But people still bring flowers to Buckingham Palace and parks.

From September 14, Londoners will be able to say goodbye to the Queen. I heard that the farewell line is already gathering. They warned on TV that they would have to stand in line from 10 to 30 hours, they would not be given the opportunity to sit down. People are asked to bring flowers without wrapping in advance. It is forbidden to take photos and videos at the coffin. Security checks are organized in full.

The Queen’s funeral will take place on September 19. On this day, a public holiday has been declared in the country. Restaurants, pubs and even grocery stores will close. I suspect shipping won’t work either. So I’ll have to stock up on groceries to watch the funeral on TV.”