Campaign group Republic said it had not organized any events around the day of the Queen’s funeral as it would not be appropriate, but promised a series of campaign events and protests at upcoming royal events, including the reception of the Prince of Wales and his coronation King Charles. “People who are very busy at the moment are in the minority,” said Graham Smith, from the campaign group. “The whole country is not grieving, and I think it’s worth reassuring Republicans about that. The number of republicans has risen in recent years, from one in five to one in four, while support for the monarchy has fallen from 75% to 60%. This week, a YouGov poll showed a surge in support for King Charles following the death of his mother, with 63% of people saying he would do a “good job”. However, the most recent survey by the National Center for Social Research (NCSR) – which began recording attitudes to the monarchy in 1994 – found that the core group who believed the monarchy was “very or fairly important” had fallen to 55%. Dissent among Republicans on social media was relatively sparse on the day of the funeral. But Charlotte Proudman, a lawyer specializing in violence against women and girls, said that while everyone had a right to grieve, she believed the overall coverage was out of balance. “The news is not impartial, it propagates a pro-monarchy agenda and narrative without giving voice or visibility to republicans and dissenting voices,” he said. “We should be using public money to fund an underfunded justice system, to support the homeless and those who can’t eat or heat their homes, not millions on a state funeral for an undemocratically elected monarch,” he said. But even some nominal republicans, such as author Laurie Penny, who wrote that she will be lining up to see the Queen in state at the weekend, decided they wanted to watch the proceedings. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Mourning rituals matter and this country has had a lot to mourn for a long time,” he said. “The Royal Family makes sense to me as a religion, and it’s not my religion, but I believe in religious tolerance – as long as participation is optional.”
