# Breaking - The Queen is unwell (has died): 8 Sep 2022 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [September 8, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212 "2022-09-08T11:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/321 "2022-09-09T14:17:40Z")
She was already immensely wealthy. If he uncle had married someone acceptable and had kids, she would have had an insanely privileged life traveling the world and enjoying her horses and dogs without any stress or work. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/322 "2022-09-09T14:24:30Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > The Queen’s gentle humor will be missed by many. It could be quite sharp, even the bits that emerged from various documentaries. From the very first “behind the scenes” film (where she entertained the family by describing having a formal audience with an unnamed ambassador with the longest arms ever) to the one where in some reception, former PM Edward Heath was pompously bigging up the time he went to plead with Saddam Hussein for the release of British hostages before the first Gulf War: EH “No-one else would go!” HM (laughing merrily) “Oh, but you were dispensible!” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/323 "2022-09-09T14:33:10Z")
She would have been a Naval officers wife. Philip was considered by many to be a likely future Admiral. Who knows maybe it’s him rather than [Sir Henry Leach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Leach) who was the First Sea Lord come the Falklands (they were in the same class at the Naval College). She would have lived out her days as Princess Elizabeth. On the other hand, since Philip was fairly high up in the Greek line of succession she might have had a good life as a Greek Princess. Until 1967. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/324 "2022-09-09T14:33:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > she would have had an insanely privileged life traveling the world and enjoying her horses and dogs without any stress or work. Possibly, but she could quite likely have run a successful racing stables and stud farm ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/325 "2022-09-09T14:34:51Z")
Something I was wondering the other day, based on the current House of Dragons show on HBO; hypothetically, on her father’s death, if they had decided that the new monarch had to be a guy, who would have been the ruler instead of her? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/326 "2022-09-09T14:42:16Z")
The senior male in line was Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester, her uncle. But there was no possibility, by that time succession was determined by statute and had been for 251 years. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/327 "2022-09-09T14:44:09Z")
Googling, he died in 1974 and his surviving heir appears to be Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/328 "2022-09-09T14:49:21Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > She was already immensely wealthy. If he uncle had married someone acceptable and had kids, she would have had an insanely privileged life traveling the world and enjoying her horses and dogs without any stress or work. All that wealth is due to the existence of the monarchy for the past 1,000-plus years, and the fact that she is descended from it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/329 "2022-09-09T15:01:05Z")
Of course but whether she was Queen or “just” a princess, she would have for all intents and purposes been extraordinarily wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/330 "2022-09-09T15:02:34Z")
And it would have all come with strings of some kind. I don’t think the queen was living a life that was considerably worse than her sister’s or daughter’s lives, certainly not in a way that I would consider “thankless.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/331 "2022-09-09T15:02:56Z")
I’ve always loved this story. > **[What Queen Elizabeth said when asked 'have you ever met the queen?'](https://www.yahoo.com/news/queen-elizabeth-said-asked-ever-193842166.html)** > > The story of how Queen Elizabeth handled an encounter with an American hiker who did not recognise her, recounted by a former bodyguard who was with her that day, revealed the fun-loving side of her personality that the public rarely saw. The... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/332 "2022-09-09T15:06:48Z")
That’s a great story. And it shows her intrinsic kindness that she made sure the hiker got the photo he actually wanted, even though he didn’t ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/333 "2022-09-09T15:14:52Z")
Not necessarily. Most of the wealth in the family has always been held by the monarch, and junior branches aren’t exactly poor but don’t have fabulous wealth either. Her cousins the Kents, for example, are famous/notorious for selling off the family jewels and other inheritance to maintain some semblance of wealth; Prince Michael of Kent has accepted “gifts” from Russian oligarchs and rent money from the Queen to maintain some semblance of the lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/334 "2022-09-09T15:20:43Z")
i too would like to know what happened when someone told him the woman in the picture was the queen. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/335 "2022-09-09T15:44:38Z")
I wouldn’t mind but I posted the actual video of the guy telling this story upthread. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/336 "2022-09-09T15:48:46Z")
I almost never follow video links. 🤷 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/337 "2022-09-09T16:03:23Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Oh, no doubt. I’ve read records of Diana’s time as princess and it seemed like a gilded cage, but I suppose if you’re brought up in it you might not notice. Not a healthy environment for anyone and I’m glad Harry and Meghan got out while they could. True, but I think the experience would have been somewhat different for the Queen. Diana, Harry, Meghan, and all the others get massive amounts of attention and criticism, but don’t seem to have any authority to go with it. They’re told what to do by tradition and the monarch, and told they’re doing it wrong by the press. It’s probably different if you’re the one in charge and get to make choices and set your own agenda, and no one really wants to piss you off. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/338 "2022-09-09T16:24:55Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I wouldn’t mind but I posted the actual video of the guy telling this story upthread. It’s such a fast-moving thread, I didn’t see it. I just searched for ‘hiker’ and there were no results. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I almost never follow video links. 🤷 Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/339 "2022-09-09T16:27:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s such a fast-moving thread, I didn’t see it. I’m not angry, just hurt 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/340 "2022-09-09T16:40:30Z")
_Requiescat in pace_, Queen Elizabeth … Her passing has prompted a few thoughts: 1. Is there known to be a public figure – specifically not someone from the Royal Family or the royal household – that could be said to have been ‘close’ to Queen Elizabeth? 2. Would former national leaders (esp of close British allies) receive formal invitations to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral? Would we expect (names for the sake of framing the question), say, Angela Merkel, Brian Mulroney, Lech Walesa, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Nicolas Sarkozy, recent Irish Taoiseaches, etc. to be in attendance? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212.md?page=18)