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Queen Elizabeth II has died

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Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#441
post #169

It'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…

Apparently, when I was little, I got excited one Christmas when the Queen’s speech was on tv, because I thought it was my Grandmother… I used to take comfort in the idea that all things pass in time, now not so much. Probably because I realised that includes everyone I love, and myself! I’ve no great love for the monarchy, but this is certainly the end of an era in British public life and likely in UK international r…

What is the sentiment like in the UK about Charles vs William? Heard lots of people calling for him to just hand it over to William straight away.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#443

I 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…

Not to dive into politics particularly; but there are advantages and disadvantages to every form of government. What are the particular disadvantages your family dislikes? Is it the principal of it or something in particular? One clear advantage of monarchs that I can see, are that they have an incentive to grow and expand their tax base. That typically means long-term planning (but doesn't ensure it, which is a disa…

Cherry picking one dimension and making a supposition, isnt a clear advantage.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#444

FYI: When people are this age, they can die suddenly without much warning. I saw a headline a few hours ago about her family coming to visit, and I thought we'd have a few days. Both of my grandmothers died at 91 without much warning. Cherish your time with your elders, and don't procrastinate a visit.

Do we understand what makes it sudden yet? The point has been made many times about Biden, Bernie and Trumps age, but I guess that suddenness doesn’t quite kick in until 85+?

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#445
All my rich feelings about this as a millennial woman are from watching Netflix's The Crown.

I think that fact is absolutely incredible, and I'm just noticing how it works, the glimpses of feeling I get as I scroll news feed... images from real photos of the queen seamlessly woven in with flashes of scenes and emotions evoked from watching... Even emotional bits that I KNOW are not legit accurate/real.... My mind treats it all as one category anyway.

The show is an elegant testament to what fiction does, to portray a woman's epic coming of age and into the power and duty of something much bigger than her, across a century.

Our literature just doesn't have that grandness anymore, there are no literary novels by writers today about today that do this. Aesthetics there have changed in their scope somehow.

It's all on our film and tv technology to refresh these themes of responsibility, inner steeliness, honor, sacrifice, respectability etc... to make what's old new again.

I'm certain before the show I cared nothing, and after it, I care a lot.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#448

Does the royal family do anything non-ceremonial? Do the royals have real power?

The non-ceremonial stuff is PR and goodwill for the UK. She's essentially fostered economic cooperation between the Commonwealth for decades. That has been quite important and should not be understated. The American view that her duties are fluff is a lazy take.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#449
post #333

As a Brit I'm not a huge fan of the royal family on principle, but Queen Elizabeth has been such an excellent head of state for us you really can't fault her. People like to make out her life was easy and that it's not fair that she inherited such a privileged position, but I think the exact opposite. Her life seemed like living hell to me. Every day for the last 70 years she's had to serve this largely ungrateful co…

She was remarkable in so many ways and I in no way envy the life she had to live. The sense of duty she had, the poise and character she had - it's just so much it's hard to believe she did it all as well as she did with nary a crack when there was certainly unlimited opportunities for them.

If there is a Kingdom of God, I'm guessing God himself may be asking her for a tip or 2 right about now.

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