Even a couple of voters who claimed not to be royalists expressed their awe for what she did and achieved over the 70 years of her reign.
“I was never a big fan of the Royals but find myself watching all the coverage,” said one.
Others said the coverage was very educational.
“It's nice to know a bit about her life behind the scenes,” said one voter.
“Profound admiration of how the British can follow tradition and give everyone an opportunity to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II,” said another.
One “no” voter” said, “The sentiment is ridiculous and deeply offensive to the memory of millions of victims of the British Empire and its monarchs including the Queen. As Maya Jasanoff, a professor of history at Harvard wrote in the New York Times last week, ‘We should not romanticise her era. The queen helped obscure a bloody history of decolonisation whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged'.”
Another “no” voter said, “While her death is sad for her family as is the death of any mother or family member, her life has been covered extensively. I am not a monarchist but am looking forward to the time when Aotearoa will stand in its own mana.”
Other voters felt the coverage was “too extensive and repetitive.”
“A couple of days was fine but do we really need it dominating every minute of media time?” asked one.
