OK, I’m going to regret this. But I’m going to throw this at you anyway.
I haven’t listened to the news for 24 hours. I haven’t watched live TV. I haven’t opened this morning’s papers.
(1/zillions) https://twitter.com/kathy__odonnell/status/1380811687419318272

The Duke of Edinburgh died yesterday. He was 99. Outlived by Captain Tom. I’m sure the Queen will find it odd not to have him around after three-quarters of a century. But most of us will manage.
(2/)

I’m an old white biddy, exactly the sort of person the Press and broadcasters assume will be most interested in this national tragedy.
But I’m not. And people even older than me aren’t distraught with grief either. It’s of passing interest. But it’s a fact of life.
(3/)

As we approach the end of ours, we have come to terms with mortality. We need to make the most of the time left to us and we can’t squander it on mawkish forelock-tugging sentimentality over the death of a very old man we didn’t know.
(4/)

I didn’t even know that he sounded like Prince Charles until I caught a snatch of him speaking last night (OK I lied, there was a moment of live TV before switching to Netflix and an old Black Books).
(5/)

He has been in the public eye all my life and I had never before heard his voice. That’s how much impact he had on me.
(6/)

If we oldies are matter-of-fact, what about youngsters? To them, he was the name behind the adventure scheme. Full stop.
That leaves the middle-aged. Half of whom perhaps care a bit.
(7/)

Of course this morning’s papers were devoted to one big picture. They were for Captain Tom a couple of weeks ago and we didn’t think that odd.
(8)

Of course we have to note the passing of the Queen’s consort (and hope that she doesn’t forsake the neon wardrobe in perpetual favour of Victoria black). Of course it’s right that the ubiquitous flags bought in a state-ordered job lot be flown at half mast.
(9)

But is it too much to ask for a little perspective? The Press is once again showing itself to be completely out of touch with the real world and millions of potential readers. Most of us don’t weep with the Sun or join the Express in mourning.
(10)

There can’t be more than a handful of people who really want 144 pages of this stuff – historic or not. Blimey there wasn’t even that much when Diana died – and that was a real story about a young woman’s sudden, violent death.
(11)

This is all part of the ongoing conditioning. We are constantly being told what to think. It is all of apiece with the Conservative agenda.
(12)

With weeks of vaccine crowing and tell-you-nothing drivel about wanting to go to the pub or book a holiday (yes, we all want to, but there is no new information here), real events are being suppressed.
(13)

Real events such as the violence in NI, the catastrophic decline of trade with every other country, the destruction of small businesses that people have spent their lives building up, yet more Johnson scandal and yet more Tory sleaze.
(14)

This death is going to be the mother of all smokescreens. It is going to give Johnson another month at least of distraction therapy.
(15)

We’ll all notice that he couldn’t be arsed to brush his hair before paying tribute. We’ll notice that he couldn’t be arsed to brush his hair for the funeral. How disrespectful is that?
(16)

Very. Because he *could* be arsed to muss it up so that we’d all focus on that and not on his more serious failings.
(17)

Meanwhile the BBC sinks further into its pit of cowardice, syncing BBC1 and 2, shutting down BBC4. Because an old man has died and you may not watch peopletelling you how to tend your garden or vie for the Masterchef crown. You must mourn an old man you didn’t know.
(18)

It’s the law.
Now I'll leave you in peace. But please do read @brokenbottleboy https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/not-waving-but-crowing-the-coverage?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozMzMyNjE4MSwicG9zdF9pZCI6MzQ5NjEyMzMsIl8iOiJFV3NhaCIsImlhdCI6MTYxODA0NDE0MiwiZXhwIjoxNjE4MDQ3NzQyLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMzE0NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.aA9VIyFpmxqb_1dRiJB4FIfJ6EttXJ86-3LmYjf5Bw0

Missed this from No7:
...youngsters? To them, he was the name behind the adventure scheme. Full stop. They are far more worried about their own grandparents. They may even be mourning them, thanks to the Government’s cavalier attitude to the approaching coronavirus last spring.

PS: I’m not a republican. I like a royal wedding and a bit of pageantry as much as anyone. Think the Queen does a good job.