{"id":369748,"date":"2025-08-24T12:51:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T12:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/369748\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:51:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T12:51:17","slug":"undertaker-who-was-blasted-for-making-a-funeral-all-about-himself-with-a-creepy-march-in-front-of-grieving-family-defends-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/369748\/","title":{"rendered":"Undertaker who was blasted for making a funeral &#8216;all about himself&#8217; with a &#8216;creepy&#8217; march in front of grieving family defends actions"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Do YOU have a story? Email: Robert.Folker@mailonline.co.uk\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-2321\/index.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  06:23 EDT, 24 August 2025   |  Updated:  06:28 EDT, 24 August 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">An undertaker has been blasted for\u00a0making a funeral &#8216;all about himself&#8217; with a &#8216;creepy&#8217; march in front of the hearse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The funeral director company posted to <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/tiktok\/index.html\" id=\"mol-a4dab270-7ee2-11f0-b7ca-d9193947fb90\" rel=\"noopener\">TikTok<\/a> showing an undertaker\u00a0leading the hearse in what they call a &#8216;centuries-old tradition&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The video posted by Matthew Uden-Funeral Director, was captioned saying the\u00a0tradition is\u00a0&#8216;full of respect, and it shows that every farewell is accompanied by love, guidance and care&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The undertaker, Mr Uden, said the tradition was &#8216;originally to alert people to a passing funeral so they could pause and pay their respects&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However, some believed that the undertaker was instead making the funeral &#8216;about himself&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">One TikTok user wrote: &#8216;So sad to see you try and advertise on social media in this occupation.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s not about you,&#8217; another wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">A third added: &#8216;Sorry is it just me, very nice looking professional man, but this just gives me the creeps, don&#8217;t want any of this when I pop my clogs.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-8fa6c809565cdee4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101449897-15021055-image-a-16_1755822370113.jpg\" height=\"1127\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The funeral directors posted to TikTok showing an undertaker leading the hearse in what they call a 'centuries-old tradition'\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The funeral directors posted to TikTok showing an undertaker leading the hearse in what they call a &#8216;centuries-old tradition&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-ff8cc9d227efb031\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101449895-15021055-image-a-17_1755822372932.jpg\" height=\"1127\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The video posted by Matthew Uden-Funeral Director, was captioned saying the tradition is 'full of respect, and it shows that every farewell is accompanied by love, guidance and care'\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The video posted by Matthew Uden-Funeral Director, was captioned saying the tradition is &#8216;full of respect, and it shows that every farewell is accompanied by love, guidance and care&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Direct cremation for me anything else is a waste of money.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While someone else said: &#8216;Feels like he&#8217;s making about himself. Sorry.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Others disagreed, saying that it was a traditional part of the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">One person said: &#8216;Now that&#8217;s professionalism, and utmost respect.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Another added: &#8216;This is part of the funeral. They will walk to the end of the street.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">A third wrote: &#8216;To create occasion he does it with grandeur to follow the someone you loved beyond words on their last journey in your world&#8230; let it be special.&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However head-undertaker Matthew Uden defended the tradition to the Daily Mail.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">He said: &#8216;The act of a conductor walking ahead of the hearse and striking the ground with a cane is not a performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s a centuries-old tradition, originally to alert people to a passing funeral so they could pause and pay their respects.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-422e81661719ff5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447865-15021055-image-a-7_1755816898403.jpg\" height=\"298\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-3222eba08609e6c7\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447863-15021055-image-a-5_1755816890686.jpg\" height=\"117\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-bc90ef7ba0ce79e7\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447839-15021055-image-a-3_1755816865272.jpg\" height=\"62\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-e0beea7bf3a2a350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447843-15021055-image-a-4_1755816871240.jpg\" height=\"115\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-9190eccd45602a2f\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447835-15021055-image-a-1_1755816860714.jpg\" height=\"73\" width=\"634\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-8b21a6cdb7bf4b27\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101447847-15021055-image-a-8_1755816919587.jpg\" height=\"206\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The practice received mixed reviews when it was shared to TikTok\" class=\"img-no-border img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The practice received mixed reviews when it was shared to TikTok<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Today, we continue it as a mark of dignity and to honour the life of the person who has passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It is never about the conductor, but about showing respect to the deceased and comfort to the family following behind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We share funeral videos on social media, with a family&#8217;s permission, and most comments are kind and supportive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;When negative remarks appear, I ask people to remember that inside every coffin is a person that has lived a life, and a grieving family for whom this moment is deeply significant.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Undertaker who was blasted for making a funeral &#8216;all about himself&#8217; with a &#8216;creepy&#8217; march in front of grieving family defends actions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do YOU have a story? Email: Robert.Folker@mailonline.co.uk\u00a0 By ROBERT FOLKER, NEWS REPORTER Published: 06:23 EDT, 24 August 2025&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,105,12,449,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-369748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-tiktok","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115083837018864603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}