The Queen's funeral is not unanimous in Camden

• The official tributes to Elizabeth II will close on Monday, with a ceremony at Westminster Abbey and a burial at St. George's Chapel.

• King Charles III declared this Monday a public holiday and many English people will follow the funeral from their television set or on site near the Abbey.

• In the district of Camden, many traders, anti-monarchists or even punks intend to shun this ceremony by conviction or by force of circumstance.

From our special correspondent in London,

God save the queen,

yes but not for everyone.

After ten days of national mourning across the Channel, Queen Elizabeth II will be buried this Monday at the Saint-Georges chapel.

Yet some Britons seem little, if at all, affected by this national event.

If around Westminster Abbey and, in general, in many areas of central London, the English are mourning loud and clear, here in Camden, the story is quite different.

A mecca of alternative culture, Camden (or

here named) is famous for its tattoo parlors, its cheerfully scruffy English youth and of course its punks, tartans in the wind and the raised fist.

It is to them but also to the merchants of the district that we asked if they intended to follow the funeral of the queen.

Report in land of anarchy (but not only).

The monarchy, no thanks!

“Of course I will!

», Surprises us from the outset Anderson, a real punk.

Black Crete, piercings all over the place and tattoos right to the bottom of the pupil, here we don't pretend.

"I'll go with a big 'Fuck Off' sign."

Outrage to the Queen?

Not quite if we listen to this colorful character, whose anger is aimed more at Liz than at Elizabeth: “My problem is this government, I want to tell them to go fuck themselves ".

Because in reality the queen, Anderson, he has nothing against her.

"I'm not going to start crying either, but I respect the old lady," says this punk made in Camden.

What Anderson rejects, on the other hand, is rather the monarchy, the establishment itself.

"To see an entire nation on hiatus for a woman who has hardly ever lifted a finger, while thousands of women around the world are working hard all day, it disgusts me."

At Hell To Pay, a tattoo parlor that has a storefront in the neighborhood, it is also against this regime that we are facing up.

And besides, if you feel like getting a queen tattoo on your biceps, go your way.

“We have no reason to do it in this living room, here we are clearly against the monarchy!

“says Nova, tattoo artist at the salon.

In the neighborhood of #camden we are more #antimonarchy than #QueenElizabethII.

We came to make friends with these English who do not intend - at all - to follow the funeral.

➡️ Report to discover very soon on @20Minutes pic.twitter.com/k6T5wIVkI5

— Camille Poher (@PoherCamille) September 18, 2022

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A not-so-holiday

But when you walk through the alleys of Camden and get closer to the traders, you understand that the reality may be a little elsewhere.

Not necessarily in anti-monarchical, anarchist or even punk beliefs.

But rather in the reality of the workers, of the English of the middle class, of those who, finally, will have to work tomorrow.

Because yes, if King Charles III decreed that this Monday, September 19 would be a public holiday in honor of the funeral of his late mother, it is not quite the holiday that we believe.

Are indeed concerned offices and banks, but not all the rest, in any case no obligation.

“It's not a holiday for everyone, I work tomorrow!

Says Sameena.

This student who runs a shirt stand in Camden's covered market doesn't seem to have much choice about going to work.

"Maybe if I had a day off I would have left my TV on on the BBC during the day, but that's not the case."

Reality beyond protocol

Same story with Lisa, of Italian origin who has been working for a few months in this piercing parlor in the main artery of

.

“Oh no, I have other plans.

To work for example”, ironically the young woman.

In a country with double-digit inflation that could continue to climb, it's true that this royal funeral didn't quite come at the right time.

England needs to turn and the tourist districts are ultimately a big part of the cog.

“The truth is that the queen's death brought in a lot of tourists,” explains Assan, who runs a

shop in the neighborhood.

“It may not be pretty to say, but here we have to work because there is money to be made”.

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• Queen Elizabeth II

• England

• UK

• Punk

• Monarchy