That particular guideline seems to have informally expired. Normal news gets to the front page all the time. See, for example, the thread on the death of the queen. Hardly related to tech, startups, or even intellectual gratification.
I feel like it just gets waived every once in a while when the news is appropriately "important". The death of a monarch in a western nation essentially hits all the criteria of becoming massive media fodder.
I'm pretty sure the only thing that's interesting to talk about when the Queen dies is if this is a perfect time to get rid of the monarchy, and dang said that's too 17th century to talk about. Without that conversation, IMO what's happening in the lives of kings, queens, princes, and princesses is also too 17th century to talk about.
While I'm all for a Cromwell II to this Charles III, I don't think it's fair to say that there are no other interesting things to talk when such a long-lived world leader (even though she was mostly a figurehead) dies. It's natural to want to look back and contemplate, and even just reminisce, about how the world has changed under her. A discussion can be interesting without being a debate.
