So, what do we actually know about collective grief, and what’s the best way to cope with it? What is collective grief? Call 116 123 free, 24/7.Īnd with viewing figures for the Queen’s funeral expected to eclipse that of Princess Diana’s, which was watched by 2.5 billion people worldwide, the impact of the monarch’s death on our mental wellbeing is anticipated to be significant. If you need someone to talk to the Samaritans are always there to help and listen. One study printed in the British Journal of Psychiatry reported that the number of suicides in England and Wales increased 17.4% in the month following Princess Diana’s funeral, with women aged 25-44 years old disproportionately affected. Indeed, more than simply a moment in history, the death of the monarch could signal a significant shift in the national psyche – and its mental health. ‘We’ve experienced an enormous quantity of losses in recent years and, unfortunately, for many people, the death of the Queen will create further feelings of destabilisation.’ ‘As a society, I think we’re feeling quite atomised,’ says Dr Denise Turner, Senior Lecturer in loss and change at the University of Chichester. No wonder people had become accustomed to having her as a stable, consistent influence in their lives.īut her death marks a period of change for the nation, just one more destabilising factor in an already turbulent year filled with war, political upheaval, climate anxiety and economic crisis. After all, only months earlier we had celebrated her Platinum Jubilee – 70 years on the throne.

Many of the mourners explained that they ‘simply couldn’t believe she was gone’.

This news shouldn’t have come as a surprise – the Queen had been absent from several events in recent months owing to ill health – and yet the overriding sentiment was one of shock.

Public displays of affection are supposedly an incredibly ‘un-British’ phenomenon, and yet here were people weeping outside the Palace for the loss of their monarch. Within hours, the crowd had multiplied into the thousands as tearful mourners flocked to Buckingham Palace to collectively grieve the passing of the Queen. They were already there in their hundreds by the time the news was announced – the Union Jack lowering to half mast, causing an emotional rendition of God Save the Queen to begin.

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