Does the royal family do anything non-ceremonial? Do the royals have real power?
Regular meetings with the prime minister must count as having some power.
Queen Elizabeth II has died
361–370 of 1001 posts
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#362God save the Queen
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#363I realise she has just died and it's unbecoming to do anything but laud the person, but this is just moral obsequiousness. She claims fealty by right of blood, reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire, and frequently interceded in the democratic government of Britain to protect her private interests.
> reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire
What are the empires you're comparing it against? To call it "extraordinary" makes the claim that its level of cruelty is substantially greater than the "ordinary" cruelty of other examples. Were the Russian, Japanese, Ottoman, and other 19th and early 20th century empires substantially less cruel than the British empire?
Not to mention, as other commenters point out Elizabeth was coronated during a period of decolonization, with India departing the empire less than a decade earlier and most of its colonies in Africa and Asia following suit over the next couple decades.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#364It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…
I'm surprised to say I feel the same. I'm Scottish and never really had much affection for the royal family, but I also feel quite sad and that it's the end of an era.
She was the last of the best, we'll see what comes next.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#365If I remember correctly, the plan is that UK TV channels cancel all entertainment programs for the next ten days, so I look forward to more people going outside for the end of summer.
To be glib about it, probably Netflix can tell us in the future how much viewership in the UK went up.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#366I realise she has just died and it's unbecoming to do anything but laud the person, but this is just moral obsequiousness. She claims fealty by right of blood, reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire, and frequently interceded in the democratic government of Britain to protect her private interests.
> reigned as the crown of an extraordinarily cruel empire Queen Elizabeth presided over its dismantlement. No famines occurred during her reign and no rebellions violently suppressed. The Empire was cruel, but it's unfair to wash her with the cloth of empire.
Have you heard of The Troubles?
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#367I was born in the UK, in 1963. Because of my step-father's love of first-wave UK punk, the first thing I did on hearing this news was to play the Sex Pistol's "God Save the Queen". It is remarkable how much the Queen's standing has improved during the time since that song (1977). My (UK) family are (as far as I know) staunch republicans, but the last couple of decades have seen all of us soften our disgust with the m…
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They are in an odd spot of having extreme de jure power (Charles could disband parliament tomorrow) while having a completely unknown de facto power (would they listen? It didn't work out too well for another Charles).
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#368God save the King.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#369It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…
I feel the same. I think it’s because it really represents the end of an era. The 20th and early 21st century ushered in unprecedented improvements to quality of life in Britain but it has felt of late that that has peaked and the country is facing a serious decline: Brexit, the increasingly visible effects of climate change, the aftermath of covid, the possible break up of the union, rising costs of living, recessio…
You really hit the nail on the head. Watching footage of her inauguration drives home how the world changed during her reign. She lived through the entire crazy exponential increase in, well, everything.
May she rest in peace.
Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died
#370It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all…
The words 'God save the King' in the national anthem are going to feel very alien for a while I think, I feel a genuine sense of loss with the Queen's death. I think it comes from a place of national identity in general rather than royalism specifically, royalist or republican it can't be denied that Queen Elizabeth played a significant role in how the UK sees itself and to an extent how the rest of the world sees us…
Honestly even the phrase from the article "In a statement, His Majesty the King said" struck me as unfamiliar.