HRH Queen Elizabeth has passed.

[JohnMcGreal]

Queen Elizabeth II was the last states person who was from a time when Britain was still a global power, a major player on the world stage.

I think a lot of people will mourn her passing, firstly because they genuinely had a lot of affection for her, but also because she helped to stave off some of the harsher realities of the modern world. She gave people who wanted it the comfort in the illusion that Britain is still the country it was 80 years ago. She allowed them to fantasize about times gone by with great effect, because she was still here, and she was the embodiment of the old Britain. A direct link to the past, living here in the present.

With her passing that illusion is now finally shattered, and people will have to (belatedly) look at what Britain now is. No longer a world power, an increasing global irrelevance and a country not only in steep decline, but on the verge of breaking apart. It's not an exaggeration to say there's a decent chance the United Kingdom won't even exist at the end of this decade.

Elizabeth seemed like a really good person and nearly always conducted herself brilliantly. She handled her role better than anybody could have expected. This will be a sad time for many, and that's understandable. I hope that in time it leads to some real introspection here. Future monarchs won't have anything like the same affection that Elizabeth received from the public, and that might finally provide the country with enough breathing space for a grown up discussion about what we want to be, as a modern, mid-sized country on the edge of the European continent, two decades in to the 21st century.

RIP Elizabeth II. Truly, the last of her kind.

[CombatClaret]

I tended to think of Para-social relationships as a relatively modern phenomenon with the rise of social media: YouTube, Twitch, TikTok etc.
It's been quite staggering to see it existed on a nearly nationwide scale.

Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other's existence.