Live data from Hacker News

Queen Elizabeth II has died

bbc.com

551–560 of 1001 posts

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#551

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…

We sometimes feel the weight of what we loved only when we lost them.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#552
The word "Majesty" holds meaning that few people today contemplate. Her life was lived in complete service to her people, and was inextricably linked to the nation she ruled. That's a relic of a bygone era, and I think we lost something on the way.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#553
With the transfer of the crown to King (Prince) Charles, is there an explainer article that provides a comprehensive information on who is deemed the next in line in multiple scenarios (i.e. assume next in line dies, the heir/heiress are incapable, challenging someone's ascension to the throne, etc).

This would make for a good read and understanding of how the royalty works.

On the topic, I think what Queen Elizabeth has done despite of the challenges within her sovereignty is being a living example on how to rule and govern, without negatively interfering with how the affairs and progress of the state needs to be carried out.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#554
post #502
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…

I do not approve of concepts like a ruling family, and favor mobility- but I have slowly come to appreciate the value of being groomed for a responsibility your entire life. I am not sure such dedicated & devout public servants come about naturally.

I think with that wording it's easy to slip into thinking that a person's lineage has anything to do with their suitability to be educated for a specific role or how well they may perform in that role.

Nothing arises "naturally"; It's the education and access to vast support resources that creates exceptional people, and if you want more of those, you should want to ensure that the greatest number of people have access to enough resources that anyone can have a chance to make the most of their inborn advantages (whatever they may be) regardless of the circumstances of their birth.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#555
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…

> 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 country, and she did so without complaint. Even in her 90s she took her duties extremely seriously, and I respect the hell out of her for that.

She wasn't doing it from the kindness of her heart. This was her job, she was obscenely rich off of taxpayer money and she could retire any second she wanted to. You make it sound like she was sentenced to sign paperwork for her entire life, when the reality is she consciously chose to do so every day and in exchange she and her family was granted an immense wealth. It's not even remotely something that would warrant complaint. I'm not saying this to be snarky, just pointing out that although maybe parts of her job was boring, stressful, and unfulfilling, this is what she signed up for. And her "compensation" was unimaginable amount of money and power in the form of interpersonal relations.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#556

Fun facts: - She ruled for 30% of the time since the American Revolution - She oversaw the largest reduction of landholdings of any empire in the history of the world. Notable because it was also one of the most peaceful transitions in history -- Australia, Canada, South Africa, Israel, Egypt, etc. - She oversaw the loss of Sterling the world reserve currency and the rise of another (the USD, EU).

> She oversaw the largest reduction of landholdings of any empire in the history of the world. Notably, without loosing their royal power over those landholdings.

Ironically that is one of the first times I've seen lose/loose stand true for either interpretation.

She didn't lose her royal power when handing over those landholdings, nor did she loose it (militarily) to prevent those reductions in the first place.

Seems like she handled it well.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#557
post #502
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…

I do not approve of concepts like a ruling family, and favor mobility- but I have slowly come to appreciate the value of being groomed for a responsibility your entire life. I am not sure such dedicated & devout public servants come about naturally.

Anyone who would seek out a monarchy would almost certainly be a sociopath. That's why it must be a birthright.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#558
post #460

Interestingly the details of the planned operation London Bridge https://www.politico.eu/article/queen-elizabeth-death-plan-b... were posted today on some British news site before her death, when all others confirmed her stable health. Some insiders obviously were in the know earlier today.

No post body was provided.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#559
post #179
post #118

Quoted post unavailable.

We've banned this account for repeatedly posting flamebait and unsubstantive comments. That's not allowed here. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html . (Edit: actually I took a second look and your account history doesn't seem to be as I describe…

This is pretty off brand for HN, really. Even if you don't agree, that doesn't make it "flamebait" , the queen also was fine with sending Alan Turing to jail for being gay, I can find many other things along those lines. I don't understand the need to protect the image in this forum of a person who has not done anything really for regular people. YC being an american company makes it even worst, we here in the US don't own any kind of respect or courtesy to any royal, is literally part of the Oath of Allegiance. If you personally loved the queen, maybe don't read the comments? Otherwise be consistent and also ban people commenting on how bad russians are.

Re: Queen Elizabeth II has died

#560

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…

meanwhile, Irish Twitter and TikTok have been absolutely ablaze with celebration...

[deleted]
Post reply on HN