Public expressions of grief and the role of social media in grieving and effecting change

Abstract

<p>We have written previously about public expressions of grief and the role they play in public mourning (Jackson & Usher 2015). We have seen this enacted on a global scale recently with the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen was a Monarch, but also a mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, and friend. The world watched as her family and friends dealt with her death and in many ways, the grief of those closest to her was grief on display. For the family and friends of the late Queen, there were very blurred lines between public and private expressions of grief, with responses and behaviours scrutinized, played, and replayed and subject to multiple interpretations. All this took place over days and weeks, against a backdrop of intense national and international mourning. People lined for hours and hours to pay their respects as she lay in state ahead of the funeral and camped out in the street for days to line the funeral route. It was estimated that around 4 billion people watched the funeral on television (Quinn 2022). Of these mourners, there were many who would have had a personal relationship with the Queen. However, there were also many millions of mourners who would never have even met her and yet who still felt her loss and wanted to participate in the rites and mourning rituals which formed part of her farewell.</p>