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Queen Elizabeth II has died

bbc.com

471–480 of 1001 posts

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#471
post #230

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…

Just reflect when we (as outsiders) were astonished by North Koreans mourning Kim Jong-Il.

There is just that thing with those prison camps littering North Korea, the recurring famines, the fact that the Kim dynasty claims god-like status and more... so no, this is not a good comparison even though we of course do not really know how much of all this is known to the North-Korean populace.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#472

I 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.

[deleted]

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#473

“I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service” Rest in peace.

Quoted post unavailable.

She was hardly partying in Ibiza every weekend. She spent her life serving her country.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#474
post #329

All: please don't post flamebait, including ranting against monarchy or railing against "the nobility" like it's 1770. Such reflexive comments are not on topic here. We want curious conversation. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html . This story is on topic because it's a major historical event and history has always been on topic here. If it doesn't produce an intellectually curious respons…

No post body was provided.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

during her lifetime the British Empire went from its zenith to its end leaving a trade bloc (Brexit) is hardly notable by comparison

The EU is not a 'trade bloc' (sic).

In the grand scheme of things, Brexit and its consequences were much alike to what I imagine would happen were $STATE to leave the USA.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#476

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…

No post body was provided.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#477

I really feel that Charles should at least consider passing on the Crown to his son William. William and Kate are immensely popular. It would be a good thing for Great Britain, British people as well as for the Royal Family. Charles and Camilla are the opposite in terms of respect and popularity to William and Kate, as far as I understand. If Charles does that, he would write himself into the annals of British histor…

It wouldn't leave any safety margin though. The line of succession after William is a disaster.

> The line of succession after William is a disaster.

Isn't it without a doubt that Prince George is next in line? It would take quite a lot to displace him.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#478
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…

Quoted post unavailable.

Regardless of whether or not that statement is true the head of state has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#480
I've always been an anti-monarchist/posh class in terms of the sense of entitlement and inherited perks while "in government", but I also feel as a leader QE2 was an unusually astute 'Monarch' (in quotes as she was a very different monarch, both in actual power and in tone from say a Sultan Bolkiah, the KSD, or Sultan bin Tarik) and that there is now a bit of an informal power vacuum in the UK, which will have network effects beyond their borders.
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