Since the publication of the deconfinement calendar in February, the English are impatient to drink a pint in their neighborhood pub or have a coffee on the terrace, despite the freshness of spring.
The day has long been etched in almost everyone's mind, and as D-Day approaches, many restaurants, hairdressers and other non-essential businesses have done paint jobs to attract shoppers who have lost the habit of go out and spend elsewhere than on the internet.
But Prince Philip's death last Friday tarnishes the festive atmosphere that was to mark the second key stage in the return to normalcy in England and Wales.
National mourning
Instead of ushering in the start of a way out of the crisis, this week will be dominated by the preparations for the funeral of the Queen's husband at Windsor Castle.
The United Kingdom is officially in mourning until next Saturday included.
Concretely, the flags are at half mast above the official buildings until Sunday morning.
As for sporting events, their organizers are free to maintain them.
Athletes are however invited by the government to wear black armbands and observe a minute of silence before competitions.
Some matches scheduled for Saturday afternoon have already been postponed.
Let's be clear.
Not all Britons are overwhelmed with grief.
The specials broadcast on Friday by the BBC on several of its channels even irritated some viewers.
However, the sadness expressed by part of the population at the death of the Duke of Edinburgh - he had been hospitalized in mid-February and had retired from public life since 2017 - is of an unexpected magnitude.
Especially since, during his lifetime, his personality, deemed rough, and his caustic, even inappropriate remarks, were not unanimous.
The emotion aroused by the death of Prince Philip is proportional to the concern raised by the idea of seeing Elizabeth II emotionally weakened by her widowhood on the eve of her 95th birthday
Who would have thought that, two days after the death of Philip, 99, Buckingham Palace would be obliged to repel the anonymous people who had come to lay flowers in front of the gates of the royal residence, despite the restrictions linked to Covid-19?
Ditto at Windsor Castle, where the gates were closed on Sunday to prevent too many crowds.
One thing is certain, no one would have predicted that the Scottish political parties would suspend their electoral campaign during the weekend, out of respect for the late prince, three weeks before the renewal of the Parliament of Edinburgh.
To read also:
"Prince Philip, the English invariant"
The death of the Duke of Edinburgh created a shock in the Windsor clan, despite Philip's poor health for many weeks and on Sunday Prince Charles spoke out, like his brother Prince Andrew, who publicly echoed the “
great void
” felt by his mother.
"Poor queen"
In itself, this is not surprising.
The royal couple shared seventy-three years together at the top of the monarchy.
But, across the Channel, this statement is astonishing.
First, because it is fashionable to “celebrate” the life of the deceased rather than mourn him.
Secondly, because the Royal Family in general and the Queen in particular rarely express their emotions in such a personal way.
What will become of the queen, deprived of
“
(her)
support and
(her)
endurance”,
in her own words?
The emotion aroused by the death of Prince Philip is proportional to the concern raised by the idea of seeing Elizabeth II emotionally weakened by her widowhood on the eve of her 95th birthday.
In the
Sunday Times,
columnist India Knight admits that she
"can't stop thinking about the Queen"
and
"the incredible brutality of the sudden absence of a person who, for seventy-three years, was was almost literally your other half ”.
The readers nod.
One of them writes that Philip's death is
“more than a terrible blow (…), a serious injury”.
Another adds: “
Our poor queen.
"