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Queen Elizabeth II has died

bbc.com

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Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#811

Post by vasco »

sdfjkl wrote: post #697

Imagine being groomed to do this job from birth, with no real way to opt out[1]. You wanted to breed horses, become a blacksmith or start a business? Get that nonsense out of your head, you're a princess! Then, when you're 25, your daddy dies aged only 56 and after a rather brief period of mourning you get pushed into taking his job in a pompous ceremony. Now you're going to be doing this until you die. No retirement…

Abdication and eradication of the monarchy is the only thing compatible with human rights and equality she could've done. If she wanted to get a job that's all there was to do.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#812

Post by rTX5CMRXIfFG »

VictorPath wrote: post #803
zoom6628 wrote: post #797

World has lost a person of great decency and stability in a time of increasing nationalism and unhinged politicians. Regardless views on monarchy and “the firm’s “ happenings the Queen was a standout beacon of loyalty and commitment that we all could learn from and whom commanded utmost respect from everyone. I was born in UK but grew up in NZ and now I live in HK and wherever I have been over the decades the Queen i…

> World has lost a person of great decency and stability in a time of increasing nationalism Yaa it was real decent of her to pin medals on the parachute regiment who shot down unarmed men in Derry protesting about the internment of political prisoners in concentration camps without trial. But they were "increasing nationalism" (against the nationalism of the foreign English occupiers) so it's ok.

Yea we plebs like to think we’d do better than heads of state when they do terrible things because the pressure of political situations and survival are sooo beneath us.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#813

Post by VerminOctopus1 »

Lots of effusive praise in this thread. When I heard the news, I cheered, and felt giddy for a little bit, then the feeling subsided. I’m Canadian and have been forced to observe this bizarre institution my whole life. Seeing any bit of the monarchy and the British empire chip away feels good.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#814

Post by NomDePlum »

Whilst I sympathise with people's personal feelings relating to this death it makes me really sad that one privileged and utterly protected and cocooned life has this impact whilst daily we walk by malnourished people on the streets without a second thought.

And that is in the first world countries, god help those in the 3rd world countries.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#815

Post by moomoo11 »

As someone whose people and grandparents suffered under British rule, really don’t care.

British imperialism is a bloodstain that I’m not gonna just forget about because the smile behind the menace has passed.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#816

Post by btilly »

sofixa wrote: post #418
UncleOxidant wrote: post #384

Not to mention that she was the last monarch to have any memory of WWII and served as an ambulance mechanic. Now that generation that remembered the horrors of fascism has mostly passed and we find ourselves in a period that seems to have many echos of the 1930s with a new rise of authoritarianism and fascism around the world.

> Not to mention that she was the last monarch to have any memory of WWII That's probably not true. There's the Dalai Lama and Simeon II of Bulgaria, who were minors but at least Simeon surely remembers (his father died in suspicious circumstances, he had an unconstitutional regency, and then he was dethroned, expelled and spent his life in exile). > Now that generation that remembered the horrors of fascism has most…

Perhaps we should define what a "monarch" is.

The Dalai Lama and Simeon II of Bulgaria were both heads of state during WW II. But China invaded Tibet in 1950, and by 1960 the Dalai Lama ruled nothing. And Simeon lost his throne in 1946 (though he did get elected prime minister many years later).

I wouldn't count them as monarchs any more.

That said, looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_monarchs_of_so... I find the following currently reigning monarchs who were born before WW II and probably remember something from it:

- Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait

- King Harald V of Norway

- King Salman of Saudi Arabia

- Pope Francis of Vatican State

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#818

Post by dvzk »

crazygringo wrote: post #709
badcppdev wrote: post #647

I am sad for her passing. Was tuned into the news all afternoon waiting for the announcement even thought the writing was clearly on the wall and the announcement still made me tear up. But for all the talk of duty, morals, and leadership I saw none of that in the Queen. I saw a figurehead. Shaking hands and listening but what did she contribute? Definitely not morals or direction. People talk of her speech in 2020 d…

> I saw a figurehead. Shaking hands and listening but what did she contribute? Definitely not morals or direction. But that's her role -- as figurehead. The job is to be a symbol, not a leader. Leading is left to the democratically elected politicians, and for good reason. And it's not the new king's job to sway the PM. It's literally the opposite of his job. And if you don't think she contributed morals? Her behavio…

Is the monarch just a figurehead, or a failsafe? I know nothing about UK politics, but sometimes I wonder if sovereign influence would re-emerge if democracy or society were to fail.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#819

Post by ijidak »

ddlatham wrote: post #110
simonswords82 wrote: post #48

Winston Churchill (1951–55) Anthony Eden (1955–57) Harold Macmillan (1957–63) Alec Douglas-Home (1963–64) Harold Wilson (1964–70) Edward Heath (1970–74) Harold Wilson (1974–76) James Callaghan (1976–79) Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) John Major (1990–97) Tony Blair (1997–07) Gordon Brown (2007–10) David Cameron (2010–16) Theresa May (2016–19) Boris Johnson (2019–22) Liz Truss (2022 (two days ago) - current) Quite the re…

Indeed she reigned for about 30% of U.S. history. (credit for observation goes to Matt Glassman)

Wow. That puts in perspective how long she lived and reigned... And how young the U.S. is.
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