What Crowds Are Doing For The Queen That Has Twitter Users Scratching Their Heads

On September 13, Queen Elizabeth's coffin arrived in London. Before journeying to Westminster Hall, the coffin spent the night at Buckingham Palace, per the Telegraph. As the hearse carrying the late monarch's coffin entered the gates, the crowd broke out in a noisy burst of clapping and cheering, leaving some people puzzled.

"Am I the only one that thinks the clapping is inappropriate? Just seems a really odd thing to do," one royal fan tweeted. Writer and firefighter Paul Embery took to Twitter multiple times to question this behavior. "People in the crowd are actually whooping and cheering – as though they are paying tribute to the cast at the end of a West End show," Embery tweeted. "I genuinely don't get how anyone could think this is an appropriate reaction to death."

Another offered a possible explanation, saying, "At football matches there is now 1 minutes applause after someone has passed to celebrate their lives. Becoming quite common these days. It's certainly not a sign of disrespect."

In contrast, 70 years ago, the appearance of King George VI's coffin drew a more expected reaction. The Guardian noted how members of the public removed their hats and remained in complete silence. 

While some people supported silence in Queen Elizabeth's case, not everyone agreed. Crowds along the Royal Mile also reacted boisterously as the coffin traveled through Edinburgh. "I loved all the clapping as well, it was beautiful," a royal fan told The Telegraph, speaking out in favor of the gesture.