# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/601 "2022-09-15T16:19:08Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > It’s the last gift she gives to the country. This comment brought a lump to my throat. What’s wrong with me! ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/602 "2022-09-15T16:19:59Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m not sure how useful it would be in my life. It’s very useful in rural areas where there isn’t an address to go to. People have been rescued off mountains with that app. Sending a string of GPS coordinates is too complicated and it’s hard to see if you’ve made a mistake. Back to the stream: you wouldn’t recognise them if you don’t closely follow UK politics but every now and then I spot a UK politician or some other dignitary. Theresa May was in the queue earlier - though no doubt these people are put into the queue in Westminster Hall rather being being expected to join the snake. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/603 "2022-09-15T16:22:05Z")
I for one could not wait in line for 9 hours without going to the bathroom. Do they have portapotties set up for those in line? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/604 "2022-09-15T16:23:55Z")
500 portable loos have been installed, worry not ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/605 "2022-09-15T16:27:53Z")
You get a wristband when you join the queue so you can leave it and rejoin - but presumably you can’t just disappear for a long time as you’ll never find your place again. Some venues on the route, such as the National Theatre, have stopped performances (or whatever they normally do) but have stayed open to offer refreshments and bathrooms. I hope the NT’s bar is still open - they do great beer in there, if a little pricey. ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/606 "2022-09-15T16:35:33Z")
Watching the livestream now at 1730 local time, they’ve cut away from the livestream to an outside view. Anyone know why? ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/607 "2022-09-15T16:51:10Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > It’s very useful in rural areas where there isn’t an address to go to. People have been rescued off mountains with that app. Sending a string of GPS coordinates is too complicated and it’s hard to see if you’ve made a mistake. That is really granular. There are like twenty of them just in my house. I wish that they would have at least made some fun ones. Like practice.practice.practice should have been in the middle of Carnegie Hall instead of in a city in India. My front door has pizza in it so there’s that. I can’t imagine anything where I would queue up for nine hours but if she could serve for 70 years, the relative inconvenience isn’t so bad. I suppose that they want to be a part of history and the more people, the more respect. In hindsight, it would have made more sense to have tickets online or at a kiosk which gives you a time to show up and a 30 minute window either way and then an overflow first come first served to fill in any gaps. ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/608 "2022-09-15T16:53:44Z")
I can’t find it now but I saw an article yesterday that the what3words app is giving wildly incorrect results for the end of the queue. Like if the correct code should be car.door.house, but you enter cars.door.house, you’ll be directed someplace entirely wrong. ---
**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 15, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/609 "2022-09-15T16:57:56Z")
But the entirely wrong place will be in Peru or something so it will be clear that you made an error. Play around with it. Adjacent squares are totally different words and there won’t be anything remotely close by getting something slightly wrong. graphics.brings.sediment is the garden of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. graphics.bring.sediment is in China ---
**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 15, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/610 "2022-09-15T17:01:45Z")
The King, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are going to stand vigil around the coffin on Friday evening. I’m not sure if a time has been published but I’m betting there will be lots of people trying to estimate what time to join the queue to see that. EDIT - 19:30 BST This is known as The Vigil of the Princes ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/611 "2022-09-15T18:04:44Z")
I’ve observed at least three Asian people make three deep bows in a row. Research found this: > **[The Three Bows — kindredpacket](https://www.kindredpacket.com/submissions/the-three-bows)** > > The first memory of taking three bows was at my grandfather’s funeral. A modern Chinese historian, he passed away the day after he wrote the last sentence of... > The first memory of taking three bows was at my grandfather’s funeral. A modern Chinese historian, he passed away the day after he wrote the last sentence of his final book. I was three years old at the time, and remember feeling scared by the sombre atmosphere and my father’s sadness. Shaping my hands together, I did as my father asked and folded my torso slowly forward in unison with my family. Most other details of that day have faded from my memory, but I clearly remember that with my third bow, fear left my body and mind. As my father lifted me up to my yeye’s thin, colourless face, I summoned the courage to kiss my grandfather goodbye. > > Bowing three times in Chinese culture is way of showing respect to Heaven, Earth and all life. It is a gesture that humbles us to the mystery and power of what is vast and unspeakable. For me, it has become a sacred, living tradition, where my ego momentarily gives way to a liminal space that lies beyond words. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/612 "2022-09-15T18:19:11Z")
How fitting that the British people are honouring their late sovereign with a gigantic orderly queue. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/613 "2022-09-15T19:29:37Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Weirdly, I think it lends proceedings a community feel which you just don’t get with all the marching soldiers. I like the intimacy of it, a shared grief, if you like. Feels refreshing at a time when the country has felt so divided in recent times (Brexit, lookin’ at you). It’s bringing us back together. Her late Majesty’s Covid speech was prophetic. “We will meet again.” You sure are. 😢 **alphaboi** : 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/614 "2022-09-15T20:07:37Z")
Seeing so many of the senior Royal Family in uniform reminded me… I remember the Queen wore Army uniform for the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony for most of her reign. Her father, a Navy officer before taking the throne, favored Royal Navy uniform on many occasions, especially during WWII, but I remember at least a few pictures of him in Army or Royal Air Force uniforms. I believe the new King was in RAF uniform for the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, as was the Prince of Wales. But did the Queen ever wear RN or RAF uniform? If not, why not? ---
**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 15, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/615 "2022-09-15T20:14:58Z")
My guess is because she served in the army, not the navy or air force. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/616 "2022-09-15T20:17:13Z")
George VI only ever held honorary rank in the Air Force and Army, I think, but he wore both their uniforms on occasion. He’d served in the Navy during WWI. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/617 "2022-09-15T20:39:48Z")
> [@APB](#): > > > [@gkster](#): > > > > There are only 32 Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) so they must be quite busy, whatever shift rotation they’re doing. [https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/yeoman-warders-at-the-tower-of-london/](https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/yeoman-warders-at-the-tower-of-london/) > > Maybe they’ve brought in some of their retirees to supplement their numbers. > > Not quite. They are the Yeomen of the Guard, who are different from the Yeoman Warders, and there are 76 of them. > > [Yeomen of the Guard | The Royal Family](https://www.royal.uk/yeomen-guard) Ah, thanks, that explains it. I couldn’t see how the Yeoman Warders would manage. And @Fiendish_Astronaut interesting to hear about the Vigil of the Princes. Anyone timing their queue entry for it has a big likelihood of missing the narrow window. I was surprised to learn that it’s relatively modern. The word “prince” used to be a generic term for ruler; Queen Elizabeth I famously told her subjects “I am your Prince.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/618 "2022-09-15T20:42:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ice cream is the saddest dessert. _Call the roller of big cigars,_ _The muscular one, and bid him whip_ _In kitchen cups concupiscent curds._ _Let the wenches dawdle in such dress_ _As they are used to wear, and let the boys_ _Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers._ _Let be be finale of seem._ _The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream._ ---
**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 15, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/619 "2022-09-15T20:46:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Maybe I’m giving these kids too much credit, but formal gestures and procedures aren’t something young people are too familiar with these days. If their parents are GenXers, they may not have known to teach them. So when they get to The Spot, they’re too self-conscious to bow (maybe for the first time ever) or curtsy (something modern girls don’t do). It might feel kind of _phony_ to just imitate the older people around you. Obviously they stood in line for hours for _some_ reason, but are at a loss for a gesture that feels comfortable and authentic to them when it’s their turn. This. I don’t know what _I_ would do as a “gesture of respect”, at least as a physical gesture, but showing up at all strikes me as morally or emotionally a gesture of respect. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > How fitting that the British people are honouring their late sovereign with a gigantic orderly queue. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212/620 "2022-09-15T20:53:46Z")
Nice. Had to look that one up. * * * * * * > **[The Yeomen of the Guard](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yeomen_of_the_Guard)** > > The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 and ran for 423 performances. This was the eleventh collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan. > The opera is set in the Tower of London during the 16th century, and is the darkest, and perhaps most emotionally engaging, of the Savoy Operas, ending with a broken-hearted main character and two very ... Immortalized by G & S. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-queen-is-unwell-has-died-8-sep-2022/971212.md?page=32)