Paul Weller calls the outpouring of grief for Queen Elizabeth II “bizarre”
Paul Weller has described the outpouring of grief following the death of Queen Elizabeth II as “bizarre”. The late monarch passed away on September 8th, 2022, at the age of 96. Ten days of national mourning followed.
Speaking to Record Collector Magazine, Weller said: “It’s fucking bizarre [the national mourning] Minty-Six is old enough. Jesus Christ. People are like, ‘Isn’t it sad?’ What, do you want her to come into work at a hundred and fucking fifty or something? It’s mental.”
Weller was equally dismissive of King Charles. The former Jam frontman expressed his confusion regarding the public’s affection for the new monarch. “People have said they’ve seen people kissing Prince Charles’ hand and all that,” he began. “What’s that all about? It’s 2022. It’s the 21st century and people are doing all the Cinderella bollocks.”
Weller also criticised the amount of money spent on the Queen’s state funeral – around £8 million, according to some sources. The musician called the whole thing “a fucking joke” before adding that “it’s obscene, it really is”.
That same interview saw Weller lash out at Robert Smiths, frontman of The Cure. “I can’t fucking stand them,” he said of the band. “Fucking fat cunt, with his lipstick and all that bollocks. He is my age as well, isn’t he? He’s a fucking knob end. I don’t like him. There you go. There’s someone I would work with. I’d fucking slap him or something.”
It’s unclear why Paul Weller is so opposed to The Cure, but the two artists share a long history, having been discovered by the same A&R man, Chris Parry. Smith would later reveal that The Cure used The Jam’s equipment for their Three Imaginary Boys album: “The Jam were recording their album during the day, and we used to sneak in at night and use their equipment – we knew the bloke who was looking after it – to record our album. We just borrowed tape and stuff”.
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