Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s monarch for the past 70 years, has died aged 96 https://t.co/nuFdc3PV49
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) September 8, 2022
There is a specific plan in place should the Queen die in Scotland, code-named Operation Unicornhttps://t.co/RDkFWNxE6N
— The National (@ScotNational) September 8, 2022
I have no real thoughts, but I did love how she trolled Trump with her choice of jewelry:
That time when Queen Elizabeth wore the brooch that Obama gave her when she met with Trump👑 pic.twitter.com/tZcdLMeJ7m
— STRIKE PAC 🗽 (@StrikePac) September 8, 2022
The Queen’s brooches
First day of Trump’s UK visit: Brooch gifted by the Obamas
Last day: Snowflake brooch gifted by CanadaShade so subtle only the Queen can throw it. pic.twitter.com/7EriOizelA
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 18, 2018
Someone on MSNBC said this morning her death would create chaos in an already shaky Great Britain. I don’t see how…but maybe Tony Jay will enlighten us.
Open thread
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Dump looking like the monster in “Young Frankenstein”
Baud
The new king will only be able to move one square at a time.
Almost Retired
Wasn’t it only two days ago that the Queen was photographed with Liz Truss? Maybe the photo was taken at Madame Tussauds.
HeleninEire
For those of you asking in the last thread; Camilla will be called the Queen Consort because it means “The person married to the King” who has zero power. As opposed to Elizabeth who was simply Queen and yielded all the power. Similar to Philip being called Prince. Also in that instance King is higher than Queen so there’s no way he could have been called that.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
Hahahahahaha
Also, the DC press corps is absolute trash.
DougJ is in fine fettle.
Jerzy Russian
I also don’t see how chaos can come about, since she has been somewhat old for the last few years. Even healthy people at that age can die.
loved the trolling of TFG. She looked like she hated every minute of that meeting. She obviously loved every minute of her meeting with the Obamas.
Steve in the ATL
Hope the interregnum isn’t too bloody
eachother
Sad to know how much sadness this will cause a lot of people.
My condolences my cousins.
Splitting Image
This is the U.S. media acting up to its usual standards. Support for the monarchy has probably been declining consistently throughout Lizzie’s entire reign, but so has its relevance. The London newspapers will fill their pages with commemorative articles for weeks, but that’s about all.
Great Britain is shaky because of the Republicanization of the U.K Conservative Party and its voters, not the decline in relevance of the monarchy.
trollhattan
@Baud: Heh.
“I’m sorry your majesty, no diagonals: mother’s orders.”
“Aww, man!”
andy
What will become of the corgis?
dmsilev
Sad. She was only a year and a half away from taking the top spot on the “longest reigning monarchs” list away from Louis XIV. Guess Britain will have to settle for second place.
Calouste
@Almost Retired: I’d lean to the theory that coming into contact with the levels of stupidity exhibited by a Liz Truss is not good for one’s health. Especially not after a few years of regular contact with Boris Johnson, although the Queen managed to survive that.
JPL
@Baud: omg 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jim, Foolish Literalist
okay, I like her a bit more now. And you know President Page Six knew that.
I have read that both Betty and Phil were personally very fond of both Obamas
HumboldtBlue
@andy:
They will be slain and buried with Liz. They cannot be allowed to live, they have seen and know too much.
Geo Wilcox
@Jerzy Russian: You can tell that by her body language. With the Obamas she is standing tall and more openly. With that shit head she is hunched over and closed. Her facial expressions are just too easy to read as well.
Craig
I was born in Edinburgh. Don’t really care about the rest of the Windsors, but I always had a soft spot for Liz. She was a cool weird old lady, and hella hat game.
M31
time for some Pretenders to step up, COME ON SCOTLAND
Origuy
Since I do Scottish country dancing, I follow the Facebook feed of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, of which the Queen had been the royal patron since she was Prince Elizabeth. They posted the letter from 1946 accepting the request to be their patron, signed by one of her Ladies-in-Waiting. Turns out that is still a job.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
What interregnum? Charles became king the second Her Late Majesty drew her final breath.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
So is it just me, or did anyone else note the BBC News website going offline as soon as the news broke?
Somehow it feels appropriate.
PaulWartenberg
The situation with the transition between Boris Johnson to Liz Truss is one thing, but the transition between Elizabeth to Charles (possibly George) will cause some disruption there. Although the Crown has little political power it has some political INFLUENCE, and Charles’ world-view may be different from his mother’s, meaning some of the “advice and encouragement” to the PM will change in tone and message, and hence some back-room conflict.
The real problem is the push for republicanism. There’s been a belief the monarchy is outdated and should be replaced by an elected Executive (ala a President), and there’s been a strong movement for that even among Tory circles. But most talk about doing it was shushed during Elizabeth’s reign because how beloved she is, as long as she was Queen the monarchy survived (her popularity helped keep the Commonwealth together as well). There is not as much sentiment for Charles (or for William who is relatively popular), and there is a likelihood that a number of Commonwealth nations (Jamaica especially) who are going to take the opportunity of Elizabeth’s passing to quit their allegiance to the Crown.
This is something that will cause political chaos at home, especially regarding Brexit and the failing opportunities the Tories have missed in trying to rebuild an effective trade market for themselves: losing members of the Commonwealth will cut into that. We could even see a stronger independence effort in Scotland now that the sole uniting figure of the Queen is gone that can shatter the whole of the UK altogether.
That’s my take on it.
Cacti
As Bill Brosius said in Tombstone…
Well…bye.
Amir Khalid
@HeleninEire:
Wasn’t Philip, as the reigning Queen’s husband, a prince consort himself even if he wasn’t titled as such? (As I recall, he was often formally referred to as HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. )
JPL
@HeleninEire: Thank you.
Scout211
The royal family has never been on my radar. But I do love that tweet with Obama and Trump side by side standing next to the Queen. I read somewhere early in Trump’s presidency that he always picks the pictures of himself with the stone faced scowl because it makes him look so tough and manly. Next to the Queen it makes him look like a petulant child. Which of course, he is.
Juice Box
@dmsilev:
Yes, but Louis XIV got the job ar the age of 4, so he had an unfair headstart
@dmsilev:
Origuy
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: BBC’s site is back up, with a black background for the menu. I’m sure they’ve had a stylesheet ready to drop in when the word came.
PaulWartenberg
@M31:
The Stewarts are all in Italy, exiled forever.
trollhattan
Have a soft spot for the old gal, because of stories like this.
Anonymous At Work
Interesting Note: Prince Charles, semi-officially King Charles* (Charles III, Arthur, George V, or Phillip, his choice) is a massive environmentalist, tempered only by Stiff-Upper-Lip-Tradition that Royals with causes champion them quietly.
Trying to find (little help?) an article about how he raised William and Harry to go on “trash-picking holidays”, aka going on hikes with a trash bag to pick up litter. Apparently, his sons didn’t realize that wasn’t normal until they joined the British military.
So, it will be interesting to see to what extent, sadly if any, that infuses his new role.
Amir Khalid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Do you remember the ginned-up scandal of Michelle Obama putting her arm around the Queen’s waist?
HumboldtBlue
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, he was the royal consort, and you’re correct he was regularly referred to as either Prince Philip or Duke of Edinburgh.
TaMara
@PaulWartenberg: This is much better than my take: WTF MSNBC are you talkin’ about? :-)
PaulWartenberg
@Scout211:
and how the hell did he agree to wear that size tuxedo? it’s like two sizes too small. he looks like a ill-fitted orangutan in that getup.
HeleninEire
@Amir Khalid: I just wiki’ed that. He was known as Prince Consort not King Consort “because of historical and patriarchal traditions…. The Prince Consort is the husband of a Queen who is not himself King in his own right.”
schrodingers_cat
OT: SIL update.
She is still in surgery and it has been over 16 hours. Keep her in your thoughts.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
I wonder which golf course she picked for her burial 🤔
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: I suspect Steve was making a joke.
Cacti
@Juice Box: I’d say that’s balanced out by him living in the era before modern medicine, where even a simple infection could be lethal.
Sasha
Sad, but grateful her passing didn’t coincide with TFG term of office. You know he would absolutely be making it all about himself.
Suzanne
RIP to the Queen, who was apparently quite the old battle-axe. And I mean that in the best way.
If the monarchy lasts another five years, I’d be shocked. Charles sucks, as does William. Kate is a bore. Queen Meghan?
TaMara
I like this cover:
Origuy
@PaulWartenberg:
Franz is a Roman Catholic, and that is still a disqualification. Don’t know about Arthur.
JPL
I hope the reign of Charles III is less dramatic than the other two.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
bwa-ha-ha! spinning through my mental files trying to think of a fitting Elton lyric. Afraid I’m coming up short.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Wow. That’s long. Hoping for the best.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obamas represent the US at the funeral.
Anonymous At Work
@PaulWartenberg: I was just commenting separately on Charles’s environmentalism cred, which, for a Royal being British, is substantial, if, well, very British (quiet, stiff-upper-lip, etc.).
The Crown has tremendous political power if only *because* it is unused. But Royal Assent is a thing. And Liz Truss came out in favor of FRAKING recently. So we’ll see what happen.
Elizabelle
I think she was incredible. Meeting with Liz Truss yesterday (wasn’t it?), as a formality in transitioning to PM. Carrying her black purse. Gone a day later.
@Anonymous At Work: Yes. Charles is an environmentalist. No doubt another reason a lot of the (right wing owned) tabloids ridicule him.
Sorry to see QE2 pass. Await with pleasure the day Chairman Rupert does.
Soprano2
My mother would have been really saddened by this news. She was a tad obsessed with the United Kingdom; her bookcases are filled with historical books about England, Scotland, Ireland and the like, as well as historical romances set there. She subscribed to 2 different British magazines! She went there twice, both times with my sister. Once was just England, the other time they also went to Scotland and Ireland. I’ve got photo albums full of pics from their trips. My sister drove, it gives me the chills to think of her driving on the other side of those narrow roads! Her philosophy was summed up when she told me in California “Just start changing lanes, they’ll get out of your way!” For myself, I don’t have much of an opinion about the royal family either way except that it seems like a huge waste of money.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
I’m sure there is a range of feelings in the UK, but all of my friends there are very saddened and upset. If nothing else, it’s just a massive tectonic shift in the country.
And Charles, that poor schmuck. I’ve had the news on for about 20 minutes and heard about his lack of popularity at least 5 times already.
Feathers
As always The Onion wins:
[NOTE: Do Not Run Until Fucking Queen Is Dead Or People Will Lose Their Shit] Queen Elizabeth Dead At 96
Link
Brachiator
Just sounds like click bait nonsense. However, BREXIT stupidity, and Tory stubbornness with respect to issues related to Scotland and Northern Ireland, might result in all kinds of unforeseen outcomes.
Weird. I thought that the Queen looked very fragile in photos with Liz Truss. And this morning, a Los Angeles talk radio host was remarking on stories about other members of the royal family flying to see her.
Things certainly happened quickly.
twbrandt (formerly tom)
That bit about the brooches she wore during Trump’s visit raised her several notches in my estimation.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Good thoughts.
Citizen Alan
@PaulWartenberg: I defy you to name anything he could have worn that would not make him look like an ill-fitted orangutan.
Gin & Tonic
@schrodingers_cat: Hoping for the best.
Martin
@andy: Last I heard she didn’t have any. She didn’t want her pets to outlive her so she hasn’t taken any Corgis for quite a while.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic:
Unpossible. I have it on good authority he has no sense of humour.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
BTW if one of the things you like about the Queen was her colorful wardrobe, this book is an absolute delight.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@schrodingers_cat: We are with you. Slow is terrible to wait through, but I hope it means they feel they’re looking at something they can make better.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
She, and you, are in my thoughts.
Elizabelle
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Thank you! Looked through that on Amazon yesterday, and it was fun.
Particularly the reason for her couture. Be seen, even if you’re 5’3″. Careful with the hats; no wide brims so your subjects, who have waited a long time, can see you well.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: I thought we had better show runners than that!
Craig
Elizabelle
@twbrandt (formerly tom): Deploy the brooch! Ready, aim …
She was the Queen of Shade.
Do wish she’d lived to see Trump’s perp waddle. Ah well.
No lingering too long at the party. New PM in and — out.
Comrade Colette
She spent her life doggedly, honorably, and sometimes brilliantly doing a job that doesn’t need to be done.
It is kind of ironic to see The Guardian going full royal coverage when they’ve been waving the banner of republicanism for a century.
Geoduck
@HumboldtBlue: There’s a joke-tweet floating around about how the Corgis will be fitted with little blindfolds and shot.
dmsilev
@Citizen Alan: Gorilla suit?
Ill-fitting, of course.
Elizabelle
@TaMara: Beautiful. Although I get a tad of a vampire/Twilight shiver from it.
Barbara
@schrodingers_cat: My God — That’s a long time to be in surgery. Very best of luck to all of you but SIL most of all.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
I hope for the best.
Take care.
lowtechcyclist
@schrodingers_cat:
I will do that. I’d been wondering how that was progressing.
TaMara
@schrodingers_cat: Keeping you and your SIL in my thoughts.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@Elizabelle: It was also amazing how she looked good in every single color. Most people have a few that just do not work on them, but she could wear anything.
Brachiator
@Geoduck:
From a cannon. At sea.
Tradition.
I am sure that the dogs and horses and any other animals will be well provided for.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@schrodingers_cat: Sending love and support <3
PaulWartenberg
@Origuy:
Huh. Bavaria let a Stuart take over?! the fools…
HumboldtBlue
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good point, I can definitely see that happening.
@Geoduck:
They deserve it, they know what they did.
CNN asking a Windsor resident about the news of Queen Elizabeth II and gets the most perfect answer
R-Jud
BBC reporting that the new king is to be Charles III. What an unlucky choice.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@R-Jud: I wonder if there was a thought that people have known him as Charles for so long, it would be weird to change it? Or maybe he just likes his name.
Another Scott
I was in the car when I saw the news. The local classic rock station was playing Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On”. Kinda fitting.
NPR was rebroadcasting the BBC. Nope.
RIP, and condolences to all who knew and loved her. I hope her successor(s) learn the correct lessons for the times.
Tony Jay
I’ve said all I want or need to say about the overpriced attractions of Windsor World in previous threads, but on the topic of a new monarch bringing chaos…
A) Clickbait hyperbole.
B) Maybe, not directly, but the removal of seemingly permanent fixtures can have unexpected effects on the stability of already unstable edifices.
C) The rehabilitation of the monarchy’s shitty image since its low point in the late 1990s was mainly built around the idea that the Queen was a cuddly, loving grandmother selflessly providing the nation with stability and calm even as our politics descended into post-911 crapulousness. It was bullshit, but the PR worked, and now the star of the show is gone.
D) Change breeds change. Let’s see what happens.
trollhattan
@schrodingers_cat:
16 hours? Good lord, that’s an eternity for all involved, but especially the poor patient. Best wishes!
Betty Cracker
Somebody on Twitter linked this YouTube video that shows the late Queen boarding and disembarking from jets at Heathrow with her pack of corgis, which at one time was quite sizeable! That’s my retirement dream: to be an old lady who is always going somewhere with a pack of small dogs (though not on planes; I hate flying).
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Corgis and dorgi. (Dachshund in the family mix)
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@schrodingers_cat: Keeping her and you in my thoughts. I am hoping for good news for you.
Barbara
@PaulWartenberg: It likely goes back to the Queen of Hearts or the Winter Queen, as she was sometimes called, the daughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland, who married Frederick V of Palatine — and one of whose grandsons became George I of England.
stinger
I remember one of the US Ambassadors (or some ritzy position like that), a woman, telling of meeting the Queen on some very formal and public occasion. As they shook hands, the American curtsied slightly, placing one foot behind the other and bending at the knees. But something went wrong. One of her heels got stuck, or she somehow found herself unable to rise. She said that the Queen immediately recognized the problem, and, without a word or breaking her smile, tightened her grip and raised the American to her feet. No one besides the two persons involved would ever have known it happened, had the Ambassadrix not told the story on herself.
Gracious, considerate, and strong! RIP Elizabeth Regina
apocalipstick
@Almost Retired: Look at that photo and especially the back of Elizabeth’s hand. That blue-black color is often present after an IV is removed. I wonder if they unhooked her and she got up just for those few minutes.
zhena gogolia
So it’s King Charles III. Somebody on BJ was wrong.
TaMara
@Betty Cracker: I wish I could find it (was it on BJ I saw it), a meme about if you cross Corgi with other dogs, you basically get that dog’s head stuck on a corgi body. Great photos. And I can confirm, as I’ve seen a Corgi/Dane cross. Weird. LOL
MazeDancer
“The Queen is dead, long live the King.”
The fact that Charles instantly became King at his mother’s last breath feels like the essence of stability.
Everyone knows what is expected of them. And what to do.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: We certainly will.
Villago Delenda Est
@M31: Apparently the Stuart pretender is living in Bavaria now.
Tony Jay
@Geoduck:
That’s not really a joke. Corgi’s are famously high strung and incredibly devoted to their pack alpha. When that focus goes away they have a sad tendency to undergo severe personality derangement, becoming mindlessly violent and so depressed they just stop eating. There’s been a standing order that the military detachment on Royal duty when a monarch dies takes steps to, uh, ‘prevent that from happening’ since Victoria’s day.
Oh, hang on, no, that’s not corgis, that’s minor royals in general. My mistake. 8-)
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@zhena gogolia: There’s a first time for everything.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Nominated.
JPL
@Tony Jay: Charles does have a reputation as an environmentalist, so I hope that’s true. I also hope that the family firm changes.
Martin
@Tony Jay: Yeah. Change from good is more likely to get worse, and change from bad is more likely to get better. Odds are worse here.
Despite the UK history of colonialization under the monarchy, I’m of the view that this queen saw a brighter future for the UK than any of their elected leaders of the last decade or two. I fear they will just do even dumber shit now.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: That has been announced but Sky News said it wasn’t settled.
HumboldtBlue
Just learned that LBJ, the one president who never met Liz, did not do so for two reasons. One, he vowed not to leave the country for a year after taking over for JFK and also the Prime Minister at the time, was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War and warned Johnson that if he came to Britain there would be anti-war protests every place he went.
Also, college student Liz Truss has some thoughts about the monarchy.
Feathers
@Martin: I remember there was a Vanity Fair with pictures of her and her “last” corgis. A part of the issue was that no one else in the family liked corgis, so there was no one else to take over her dogs. Apparently she got a puppy during lockdown, so presumably that dog has a known home it is going to.
trollhattan
I could see Charles scrambling for a stack of yellowed 3×5 cards with his “notes on ascension: to-dos” that have been in some drawer since the 1970s. “Bloody hell, what was that first thing, again?”
Brachiator
@HeleninEire:
William and Mary were the last co-rulers because William insisted on, well, going Dutch.
The Prince Consort role was formalized when some bruisers took Albert aside and said, “Listen, Ducky, we don’t care how much our Vicky loves you. Don’t go putting on No airs or acting all high and mighty, or even acting like you are a chief minister or advisor. You be prince, and you be quiet. Got that? Or else you will be Prince Albert in a can!”
Queen Victoria still depended on him, but he was quiet and discreet about is role.
Delk
Listen to some Johnny Marr solo stuff instead.
Wanderer
@Scout211: tfg looked a proper mess – his formal attire was too small for his stomach, the cut of the clothing was very unattractive and everything just looked rumpled. BHO, now fpotus, looked sharp, stylish, well tailored (and happy). The brooch shade was something I did not know until today. Well played Majesty, well played.
trollhattan
“Nickelodeon inexplicably adds ‘Charles in Charge’ to programming 3X/day”
SiubhanDuinne
@TaMara:
I have always adored that portrait of her. Will have to try to get my paws on a copy of TIME.
Geoduck
@trollhattan: Nah, Charles has been carrying around his pile of index cards in his jacket pocket for the last forty years. He’s always wanted to be king.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia:
No!!
Tony Jay
@JPL:
He does, but he’s also a man in his 70s well aware of how eager the Press would be to demonise him for clicks and giggles, with an adult heir waiting in the wings who the Press would much prefer to be covering.
Also, he’s taking over a massive, deeply-traditional family firm/criminal enterprise that will do anything – anything – to prevent any ‘unconventional’ change in the way it operates.
I wouldn’t expect too much.
HeleninEire
@Brachiator: Thanks.
Ken
“Drown my brother in a vat of malmsey wine”… “Kill both nephews”… Hang on, these aren’t my cards!
Subcommandante Yakbreath
@schrodingers_cat: Sending good thoughts.
Tony Jay
@Martin:
‘Dumber shit’ is like our national motto now.
Brachiator
@R-Jud:
BBC has been furiously updating its web site. At first, they said that he had not chosen a name.
It’s been a long time since the last Charles. And he is used to the name.
Wanderer
@schrodingers_cat: sending you and your family healing thoughts
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He could put solar panels on the palaces, I guess, but he could also have done that already.
one of the reasons I don’t understand why they’re all so mad at Harry and Meghan (I mean, apart from the painfully obvious) is that rumors have been for a while that Chuck wanted to streamline the royal operation and cut costs. Isn’t that what Harry did for him?
Martin
@Brachiator: And good think he did go Dutch because apart from that England would have been stuck with a <lowers voice>Catholic</lowers voice> as king.
The monarchy is sacred, until the betters decide that it isn’t.
SiubhanDuinne
It is true, Charles has been King-in-waiting longer than any other heir, and is the oldest at the time of accession — but I question the conventional wisdom that he’s been waiting impatiently for his mother to die. He has had the freedom to express a great many out-of-the-mainstream views during his long time as Prince of Wales. His ability to speak out on issues will be very much circumscribed as the sovereign.
NutmegAgain
At least Diana’s dead, so she doesn’t have to see “QueenConsort,whyyes,I amfuckingyourhusband”, and the slimeball cheater husband himself ascend the mighty throne of what? racism, colonialism, class prejudice? whatever.
HumboldtBlue
Black Twitter and Irish Twitter are not playing nice, much to the chagrin of sundry pearl clutchers.
misterpuff
@HumboldtBlue: While the No. 10 cat lives on.
Long Live 10Cat!
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Forward thinking on the environment and less so on architecture IIRC.
raven
@HumboldtBlue: Fuck LBJ.
Dangerman
I realize the Queen passed today …
… and Trump could be indicted at any moment …
….and there might be a Meteor headed towards Earth that will wipe us all out …
… but, dammit, what is the news on the new Cole Cat?
Betty Cracker
@TaMara: I have a vague recollection of seeing that meme too. For a moment I tried to imagine how a Corgi/Dane cross could happen but quickly thought better of it.
Calouste
@Brachiator: Also, his parents (with I assume input from the rest of the family), picked the name for him knowing he would become king some day.
raven
@Betty Cracker: My neighbor had a “baskot” basset and Scottie mix!!!
Wanderer
@zhena gogolia: it’s good to know that’s settled. Perhaps at this point it would just be too difficult to make the transition to a new name.
raven
@Soprano2:
Happy Anniversary!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Betty Cracker
@raven: Aw, I bet that was a cute dog! Did it get basset or Scottie ears? (TBH, I don’t know if people do cosmetic surgery on Scottie ears or if they’re naturally perky little triangles — hopefully the latter!)
MomSense
@schrodingers_cat:
Sending my best to her and your family.
Anyway
I thought she might outlive Charles …
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was talking to a Jackal on the phone earlier today (before the Queen had passed, or at least before the announcement) and we were saying that very thing. By all accounts it was a very warm relationship between the Obamas and the royals. It would be most fitting if they represented the US at the funeral.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: not true. At parties, I often put a lampshade on my head.
raven
@Betty Cracker: Scottie head all the way!!
HumboldtBlue
@misterpuff:
His name is Larry.
@raven:
Indeed.
And for those interested, here’s what the next 10 days of mourning will entail.
SiubhanDuinne
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:
I’ve had that book since the day it was published. It is a delight!
JMG
Elizabeth loved dogs. She loved going to the track. She enjoyed a martini at lunch. That makes her an OK sovereign in my book.
Matt McIrvin
@Omnes Omnibus: and he’s an alt-medicine crank.
raven
Royals – (“Sad Clown With The Golden Voice”) – Postmodern Jukebox Lorde Cover ft. Puddles Pity Party
HumboldtBlue
Steve Bannon’s perp walk.
rikyrah
RIP, QE II
96 years is a good run.
Baud
@HumboldtBlue:
Wrong Link.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: That’s the Black Twitter link.
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat:
Prayers for her and your family.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I guess we know what we click on!
kalakal
I find myself strangely saddened by the news. Not just for the woman who died today and her family. I think she herself exemplified duty in an old fashioned way.
In a odd way it’s almost sorrow for my past & present self. She was part of the furniture of my life for over 60 years, not that I particularly cared about the monarchy except in a vaguely negative way. More as a solid fixture in the background of my world and that gap brings a upon me a feeling of sic transit gloria mundi.
Personally I would hate to be a Royal, most people who achieve fame actively seek it out. These poor sods are born in a goldfish bowl and love under a microscope. No privacy, having to guard every thought and deed, unable to trust and confide in anyone, dreading the next “The Prince/Princess I knew” cash in tome of bilge. I’d rapidly crack up.
No I admired her for doing her duty as the world saw fit to assign it to her and may she rest in peace.
It’s probably a kindness she died now, the next few years will be brutal for the UK ( and will very likely involve the end of the U) . I’m ok with a toothless constitutional monarchy as long as it really easy is toothless, no influence behind the curtains, as Chazza seems to have.
I will miss her, she brought a certain style to international diplomacy, the mistress of nuanced
disapproval/approval
So RIP Elizabeth II.
Betty Cracker
@raven: Did he or she have stout basset legs?
You never know what how a cross-breed will turn out. Our Pete is half Boston and half Frenchy. Some people take him for a full Boston because of the markings, but his coat is gray with white trim, and he’s much broader across the shoulders and generally more stout than svelte little Badger, the full Boston. Pete is 10 months old now, and I can already tell we’re going to have to be careful of his weight. He’s a lazy pig! So relatable! :-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud:
isn’t that teh sort of thing prosecutors bring up at sentencing?
Feathers
@schrodingers_cat: Hoping the long means they are getting it all. Best to all.
Paul in KY
@Sasha: Heck yeah! He would have been so gauche.
Poe Larity
Civil War talk is for wimps, we need a Royalists-Revolution and return to the Commonwealth. I think they’d take us back as long as the Crown skips to one of the kids. Mad King George had nothing on TFG.
Betty Cracker
@kalakal: Well said.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes. But he really can’t opine on either topic, at least publicly, in case he runs afoul of the Government line. He can, and I’m sure will, make his views known to the PM du jour at their weekly audiences, but I think his days of making after-dinner speeches on climate change and organic gardening are pretty well over. Hope I’m wrong, at least on that issue.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: His terms are acceptable.
glc
A Guardian opinion piece. Not necessarily representative – outside of some core issues, their opinions tend to vary a good deal.
“Steady centre”
Brachiator
@TaMara:
The Time Magazine cover is very striking.
I wonder if they had a number at the ready to pick from.
I am reminded of how many obituaries for notable figures are already written, and regularly updated.
Antonius
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Putting on the Ritz!
trollhattan
Has Barkley trademarked “Sir Charles”? Just curious.
Martin
@Tony Jay: You guys realize that after doing some catastrophically dumb shit, you’re supposed to back someone who will try to right the ship which you can then blame all of the failures of that dumb shit on, and then when all of the blame is suitably assigned, you then revert to the dumb shit people again.
raven
@Betty Cracker: This doggie was all black and had huge head that bobbed madly when he ran. I don’t recall the legs.
trollhattan
@Brachiator: They’ve had several ownership changes since they first mocked some up. Can you imagine how many times the obit writer had to “refresh” hers?
zhena gogolia
@kalakal: Nicely put.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: I think that would be fitting. Plus maybe the VP and the Second Gentleman (love that they call him that!).
Paul in KY
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Was at Voodoo Fest once (it occurs at Halloween) and went down to French Quarter to party a bit. Many, many people in costume. One of the best was a man, age approx 55, in full Queen walking about clothes (pink dress) with the sturdy heels and large handbag. I think if the queen had seen it, she would have burst out laughing.
HumboldtBlue
@zhena gogolia: @Baud:
Sorry about that
Elizabelle
Today, we woke up with a Queen of England. Likely, the last time that will happen in our lives.
And this afternoon, we have a King of England. A first for my life.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The Beast put out a mostly appropriate tweet-like-product. As observed, no way did he write it. I would’ve bet money on “She was a very good friend of mine, she like me very much”. Which I’m sure is coming.
karensky
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: 🤣
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
RIP. CNN was worth watching once upon a time, and Shaw was one of the reasons why.
Feathers
@SiubhanDuinne: This is a real issue, as Charles is known for writing handwritten letters to government officials letting them know his displeasure with various things they’ve done. He has also said he doesn’t intend to stop. Interesting times ahead.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes. RIP, Bernard Shaw.
I liked the early CNN. And really liked the early Headline News. Before it became filler.
Villago Delenda Est
@Betty Cracker: I concur. The sooner, the better, I might add.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: Still wrong! But somebody else linked it above. Jim at #155
HumboldtBlue
Charles has released a statement.
Baud
@HumboldtBlue: C’mon man. Check your links!
raven
New booster update. I got it at 9:30am and started to feel a little woozy @ 11. I hit the rack, fell out and woke up every twenty minutes or so with crazy ass dreams. Now my arm aches a little but I seem ok.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: You keep posting the same link.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I can never forgive Shaw for his “gotcha” question to Mike Dukakis in the ’88 debates.
zhena gogolia
@raven: Pfizer or Moderna?
Baud
@raven:
It’s not a dream. The Queen is really gone.
Baud
DOJ has appealed the special master order.
jonas
Yes, it’s your “bold speech” that the state is trying to squelch. As opposed to, you know, your stupid fraud of a fundraising scheme.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Villago Delenda Est: a weird low point on an otherwise respectable career, as I remember him
very weird
Layer8Problem
@JMG: “She enjoyed a martini at lunch. That makes her an OK sovereign in my book.”
Certainly upped her in my estimation.
Calouste
@Soprano2:
I’m not sure whether the British Royal family is that much more expensive than the US Presidency, if at all. The presidential inauguration alone costs around $100 million for example, and that happens every 4 years. Coronations only happen every 30-40 years on average.
jonas
@Baud: I guess this goes to the 11th circuit then which I’ve been reading is a pretty right-wing court. What do you think its chances are there?
Spanky
@zhena gogolia:
WIll he have spaniels?
Baud
@jonas:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ETA: Better than the 5th Circuit.
Layer8Problem
@Baud: “The Queen is really gone.”
The Smiths had an album for just this situation.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: I was convalescing during Iraq War I, and Bernard Shaw and Peter Arnett were my semi-constant companions.
Layer8Problem
@schrodingers_cat: Thinking of her and of you right now.
NutmegAgain
@TaMara: I knew folks who bred both Bassetts and Goldens. Nature is a strong force! and I guess the fence had a hole… any event, they ended up with a cross. Pup turned out like a Golden with very long ears and very short legs. It was a sweet dog, but bizarre.
Mike in NC
Many years ago I watched a TV interview with the Prince of Wales, where he stressed how much of a traditionalist he was. He absolutely loathed modern architecture, and that was before they put up several odd-looking buildings within a stone’s throw of the Tower of London (e.g. “The Gherkin”).
HumboldtBlue
@zhena gogolia: @Baud: It appears my copy feature is broken.
Calouste
The Guardian has an article up with all the expected changes to coins, stamps, post boxes etc., for those interested:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/08/queen-death-cash-stamps-flags
raven
@zhena gogolia: Pfizer, I thought this version was the same?
Baud
VOR
TFG is going to have an enormous hissy fit when he is not invited to the funeral. Alexa, order all the popcorn.
I bet Biden attends and doesn’t just send the VP. Possible some of the other living ex-Presidents could attend. IIRC, the Queen was fond of the Obamas.
SiubhanDuinne
@Feathers:
Yup, the so-called “black spider” memos. He will probably have a hard time refraining from sending those off, now he’s King. Wonder whether his private secretaries have the spine to persuade him not to dispatch them.
geg6
@Jerzy Russian:
If she had any guts at all, she could have decided not to meet with him. Trolling him had no effect on him since he’s an idiot. I’d have gained an ounce of respect for her had she chosen to completely freeze him out. But she didn’t, so no kudos from me.
Betty Cracker
Biden ordered flags lowered to half staff to honor the late Queen.
trollhattan
@VOR: IIUC Biden’s Irishness complicates things. But, what of the Irish O’Bamas?
re. The Royal Corgis, they all (~30) spring from Susan, her first. I shall set aside any royal inbreeding jokes.
raven
@geg6: I’m shocked, shocked to hear this.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic:
I worked at CNN Center at the time (in the building, not for CNN) and walked past the studios several times a day. Once they returned from Iraq I would often see them on-air, very close but behind plate glass. They were also part of the CNN tour. I guess they got used to being gaped at like zoo animals.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: So this is addressed to Judge Cannon? How’s that likely to work out?
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yes, DOJ has to ask Canon first before they can ask trh 11th Circuit. I don’t know what Canon will do. The stay request is pretty limited.
geg6
@JPL:
Oh, I don’t know. It might be fun to see some shitty royals lose their heads.
RandomMonster
I’m waiting for Trump to offer to bury her on the first hole green of his Scottish resort.
Barbara
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s pro forma to request reconsideration.
Omnes Omnibus
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Probably won’t have any effect, but it is one of the procedural steps when filing an appeal.
Barbara
@Baud: Hmm. I didn’t think it was required, but it might be for certain types of orders.
Baud
@Barbara:
I could be wrong. I didn’t look it up. It’s usually done.
geg6
@schrodingers_cat:
That’s very long, but it could be a good thing. Maybe they have found something that’s complicated to fix and that’s what is taking so long. Sending good thoughts.
zhena gogolia
@raven: Oh, I have no idea. When I went on a website it was distinguishing between the two. They still don’t have it here.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: I see. The message is they intend to appeal, which means the 11th Circuit.
geg6
@Tony Jay:
Glad to see you have the same attitude toward this as my own British relatives. Who aren’t mourning her at all.
HumboldtBlue
@trollhattan:
The Corrigan Brothers know some O’Bama
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor: They have appealed. Yes, the 11th Circuit
ETA: If Canon denies the stay request, DOJ will ask the 11th Circuit for a stay. If the 11th Circuit also says no, then DOJ will need to go to the Supreme Court.
JMG
Charles is 73 (my age, by coincidence). His parents each lived past 95. He could be King for several decades. The assumption he’ll serve a short time then pass the old crown to William seems more like tabloid wishful thinking than anything else.
raven
@zhena gogolia:
a new updated Omicron-specific COVID booster has arrived. It’s finally here. It’s bivalent, and it’s been tweaked to better match Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains, which are currently circulating. FDA authorized it.
I dunno too.
Matt McIrvin
@JMG: I was recently thinking about how long ex-Presidents all seem to live these days–having access to the best medical care in the world probably counts for a lot regardless of your genetics.
trollhattan
@HumboldtBlue:
Love how they pronounce “Barrick.”
raven
@geg6: “attitude” indeed
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@geg6: Go look up King George IV, speaking of loathsome, sexually depraved, assholes with weird hair. You know “the stupid Prince” from Black Adder. The Windsors are hardly ones to point fingers at jag off heads of state.
brendancalling
I’m not British, so I don’t really have any feelings about the passing of a very old, wealthy person. I bear her no ill will. My Irish and Irish-American friends certainly have different feelings.
Tony Jay
@Martin:
Yes, of course. I believe that’s called Repetitive Entropy, Future Flushing or ‘Getting What You Vote For, Good And Hard”.
geg6
@HumboldtBlue:
Love it.
Matt McIrvin
@raven: There are Pfizer and Moderna versions. My understanding is that if you get a booster shot now, the new vaccine is what you will get, because it’s the only thing authorized for boosters now.
But if you’re getting your first or second doses it will be the original vaccine (I’d guess this will change soon).
raven
@Matt McIrvin: I gots the new one.
trollhattan
Just received the first of two shipments of Biden Tests, thanks Joe!
These are a different brand then the first two batches and have a much longer shelf life, good until next May. Four tests per shipment for a total of eight.
Jim Appleton
@Matt McIrvin: may have mentioned this before here — around 2000 while walking I happened upon GHWB getting into a limo at the Benson Hotel in Portland, stuck my finger down my throat and puked at his feet
He had a huge head.
HumboldtBlue
With Liz dead, Reggie Jackson is maintaining his innocence.
Now we all know I was innocent ! Amen! RIP Queen E !
@geg6: @trollhattan:
There are some great clips from his visit to Ireland.
Msb
@geg6
her view was she had to deal with the people her governments told her to deal with. Trump is a rude, crooked goon, but it’s hard to imagine that he was worse than the Ceaucescus … or the Shah of Iran, etc. There’s a good reason she wore gloves – to avoid getting the blood on her hands.
Matt McIrvin
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: One of the highlights of my recent trip to London was the Science Museum, and in the collection there they had this huge number of opulent scientific instruments belonging to George III and George IV. Apparently it was fashionable for the King (or Prince of Wales) to be seen as a science aficionado. There was this silver microscope with sculpted cherubs climbing all over it–it was kind of hilarious.
George III had a personal mural quadrant, an instrument not particularly interesting for dabblers, that you’d only really use if you were doing the tedious work of cataloguing the precise right ascension and declination of astronomical objects. It’s hard for me to imagine he actually spent a lot of time doing that, but who knows.
trollhattan
Consider the source (Ukraine Today) but if true and they’re not all disappeared by Friday, might it be the start of something?
https://ukrainetoday.org/2022/09/08/local-st-petersburg-deputies-urge-putin-be-removed/
Tony Jay
@geg6:
Damned straight. The shit that walking PR operation got away with behind the scenes to effectively put her above the law and enrich her useless spawn really grinds my gears.
Everyone’s Granny my arse. She was as ruthless and cynical as any other medieval magnate, just with better lawyers.
persistentillusion
@Betty Cracker: I was wondering when someone would make the obvious response. Well done, BettyC
geg6
Here’s my tribute:
https://youtu.be/LrjHz5hrupA
https://youtu.be/pi_YQul7XXk
NutmegAgain
@Jim Appleton: Clearly, puke recognizes puke!!
geg6
@VOR:
He’s an Irishman and proud of it. My mother will roll over in her grave if he does. It’s one of the reasons he was always her political crush.
Baud
@geg6:
Eh, the office comes first. I think he attends.
Citizen Alan
@Elizabelle: I never forgave Bernard Shaw for that asinine question he asked Michael dukakus about whether he might change his mind about the death penalty if his wife had been raped to death
Jay
@trollhattan:
how many 10th floor windows in the city of Smolninskoye?
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia: I’m wrong! Just got an appointment for Saturday.
geg6
@raven:
I still have no idea why all you people are so gutted by this. She was a more-useless-than-usual rich person. No ties to America that she cared about (just ask Harry and Megan). If my British relatives are not mourning and my Irish relatives are sharing their joy with me, I don’t see why I should have any respect or reverence for her.
geg6
@Msb:
But she could have chosen differently and didn’t. No respect for that or much else about her.
geg6
@Baud:
Then it will be the first time of his presidency that he disappoints me. And all my Irish relatives.
Soprano2
@raven: Thanks, hard to believe it’s been 32 years! We’re going out to dinner on Saturday night.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim Appleton: …just looked it up and I am kind of stunned that (1) George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump were all born within a few months of each other during the same summer (when Joe Biden was already 3 years old), and (2) FDR was only 63 when he died, after being the seemingly eternal President.
NoraLenderbee
@geg6:
Has anyone said they were gutted? I see people observing that this is a historic event, expressing some respect (and some disdain) for QE II, and generally discussing breaking news as one would expect.
Baud
@geg6:
I bet the Irish PM goes too.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
@geg6: No one is forcing you to be sad, but you don’t have to be such a massive dick to people who are. It’s not like we’re sobbing and rending our garments or something. You seem to be getting a real kick out of shitting on anyone who cares, which is kind of a weird hobby, but okay.
Mike in NC
Being functionally illiterate, when Trump was in London he tweeted “Having lunch with the Prince of Whales”.
Ken
@Mike in NC: Maybe he accidentally stumbled into London Below from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere? “Prince of Whales” sounds very much like a title that would be used there.
Ken
@Ken: Missed the edit window, but “Prince of Wails” would be an even more appropriate title in London Below.
Calouste
@Baud: I wouldn’t be too sure about the Irish PM going. It would be the Irish President that goes as head of state to another head of state’s funeral.
Litlebritdifrnt
I watched the coverage all day expecting the worst and yet when the announcement came I cried. I have continue to cry quietly all evening, why? Because she has been a constant in my life, she was the one that I swore allegiance to when I joined the WRNS, I didn’t swear allegiance to whatever shit government was in office at the time I swore allegiance to her, I continued my allegiance to her throughout my life and now I am bereft. It seems that life has now somehow been belittled, without her as our rock we have somehow lost our anchor. I hope that Charles will lead us to better days, he is a great environmentalist and he sees the need to protect our planet. I will of course give him my allegiance as I gave her, and I hope that he will take us to the green future that we must have to survive on this planet. I am going to go and have another cry. I hope that Charles will go out into the Balmoral garden tonight and talk to the plants, he is going to need it. I know I need it.
JaneE
As if crown succession hasn’t been done before. If her reign was 70 years, there has been a plan in place for 70 years. It gets modified each time a new royal is born or there is a change in the law. They did change it not so many decades ago to allow a first born female to succeed. In this case, it would not have mattered anyway.
The Queen is dead, long live the King.
raven
fuck it
stinger
@Litlebritdifrnt: Thank you, and condolences. We live in epochal times.
artem1s
@Sasha:
Gonna be interesting to see how many ex-POTUS get invited and/or show up. I have no doubt TFG won’t be on the invite list. He’s gonna throw a twit fit.
Baud
@Calouste:
Either way, the Irish will be there in an official capacity, I expect.
zhena gogolia
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’m sorry.
Kent
@Splitting Image: The term Republicanism has an entirely different meaning in the UK
zhena gogolia
@Kent: Yeah, always gives me a little pause when some lefty Brit says they’re a republican.
prostratedragon
@Betty Cracker: MmHmm. Gathered my cloak about me and hurried past on the other side of the road.
SiubhanDuinne
There sure are a lot of unforgiving commenters in this thread. I don’t come here for hate-fests (TFG and his toadies excepted). There is no reason to wish violence upon the British Royals, nor hatred upon a good tv anchor who badly misstepped that one time nearly 35 years ago.
Elizabelle
@Litlebritdifrnt: My condolences. She was a very good queen and public servant.
SiubhanDuinne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I’ve been crying too. You have my sincere condolences.
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
The Irish will send people, she visited Ireland for the first time a few years ago.
And Irish Twitter is reacting as well.
JBWoodford
@Antonius:
More like “Puttin’ on the Grift,” amirite?
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: I have a very short list of deaths to celebrate. Reagan and Thatcher have already gone. Cheney and Trump. And, of course, Baud and Steve in the WTF (they know what they did).
hedgehog mobile
@schrodingers_cat: Hoping for the best.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’ve got them on the list,
I’ve got them on the list,
And they’ll none of them be missed,
I’m sure they’ll not be missed!
ETA: P.S., no
lovehate for Kissinger?Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Et tu, Subaru?
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Moi aussi, Baud.
ETA: Talking about Cheney and TFG. Of course I wouldn’t rejoice at the premature departure of any Jackals, least of all you or Himself in the Wherever.
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Murdoch, for sure. He paved the way for Trump.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sacré bleu!
Kent
One could easily make the argument that he was worse than the Shah of Iran on many levels. Context is everything. If Trump had been swapped out for the Shah in 1950s Iran would he have been better or worse? Or conversely, if the Shah had been put in the position of president in 2016 would he have performed better or worse than Trump
In terms of meeting the Queen, the Shah was probably a lot more dignified and probably didn’t serve cold Burger King hamburgers at the state dinner and spill state secrets.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Also too, Zut alors!
JBWoodford
@TaMara: It’s the coloration, too–a Dalmatian/corgi cross, e.g., looks like a corgi cosplaying as a Dalmatian.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: I am a little too young for a visceral reaction to Kissinger.
@Elizabelle: Added.
Kent
The coronation is not the only cost of the monarchy. They cost hundreds of millions if not billions every year through all their subsidies, tax exemptions, land holdings, etc.
Uncle Cosmo
@trollhattan: That district contains the Smolny Institute, which Lenin used as his HQ in the runup to the October Revolution. You could look it up.
kalakal
@Litlebritdifrnt: Thank you. You said it well
kalakal
@schrodingers_cat: Hoping for the best. Thinking of her and the rest of you
HeleninEire
@Calouste: I agree Michael Higgens will be there if Ireland sends anyone.
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
🙏
kalakal
@Msb:
Not for nothing did she & Phillip call it ‘the Job’. The reason she loathed Edward VII as she saw him as selfishly abandoning his duty.
She obviously found meeting some world leaders an absolute pleasure
https://images.app.goo.gl/1VTPu4dWLCrPd3GG7
With others it was plain she’d rather be having root canal work
https://images.app.goo.gl/6wQnmuwyzNBmufGH8
Emma from Miami
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: And yet he has done more environmentalism (Highgrove was one of the earliest examples of organic gardening in the UK), young people (The Prince’s Trust;1.5 billion pounds since its founding; Idris Elba got his acting scholarship from them); in addition to all the royalty-thingies.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Uh-huh. Rub it in.
Emma from Miami
@Kent: tell you what: give them back all the property and art they traded for some of those perks. Buckigham Palace goes back (George III bought it); Balmoral is already theirs (Prince Albert). The Crown Jewels: well at least half should go back but they’ll probably let you keep them, but not the private collections.If I had been them I would have told Parliament to go pound sand, taken my goodies and gone home.
And bloody hell, she would have made a better PM than all the vicious shitheads you’ve had lately.
Another Scott
@Baud: +1
Obligatory…
Cheers,
Scott.
(“Who is probably very, very late to the party.”)
kalakal
The English have a long history of debating the role of the Monarchy
https://youtu.be/vezQkgzdpag
H-Bob
@dmsilev: Fun fact — the UK national anthem “God Save the Queen” was actually composed in France to celebrate Louis XIV’s successful surgery for an anal fissure”. The song (after some interesting transfers) was acquired by some musical theatre company, who used it for one of their productions. King George II attended a performance of the play during Bonnie Prince Charlie’s invasion of England, and the crowd gave it (and the King) a standing ovation. It then became the UK national anthem.
Reality is much stranger than we realize!
H-Bob
@geg6: Theresa May had already issued an invitation to Trump, so the Queen had no real choice. No point in having a British constitutional crisis over Trump!
davecb
I have two pictures in my mind of Queen Elizabeth. The first is her as Princess Flizabeth, driving a 3-ton in the blitz, the second is as an adult, reading the Declaration of Independence from the same balcony in Boston as it was first read to the Thirteen Colonies.
columbusqueen
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’m so sorry. I imagine it feels like losing the matriarch of your whole country.