On 23 March 2021 the United Kingdom marked its first 'National Day of Reflection' on the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally petitioned for by the Marie Curie charity, the event was ultimately endorsed by government amidst a wider backdrop of plans for other memorialisation sites and activities gaining momentum across the country. This paper considers how the 'National Day of Reflection' navigated a number of tensions: first, whether the day would focus on loss and grief, or instead follow a more familiar pattern of celebrating the achievements of health and care workers; second, whether the day would include only secular rituals of remembrance or instead incorporate overtly religious language and performance; and thirdly how this state-endorsed act of remembrance would sit alongside the fluctuating public views of government behaviour during the pandemic. Based on an Arts and Humanities Research Council project run in collaboration with the Marie Curie charity, this paper will consider these emerging tensions with an eye to both longer-term trends in the pandemic's societal impact but also pre-existing patterns of public remembrance culture in the United Kingdom.
