Sir Peter Blake

He died.

Of course, that is a terrible thing, especially for his family and friends.

There's no reason for the entire country to fixate on it for weeks, though. No reason for it to dominate the news headlines for days. Death comes to us all. The current outpouring of crocodile grief from people who never knew Blake, and are not even especially "into" sailing, is phoney, maudlin, and an insult to his memory.