Whatever else you might say about the institution, Elizabeth absolutely was the right one for the job with the ideal temperament and everything.
She’s been surrounded by royal doofuses since she was born; they lucked out in getting the only good one in the bunch to last for 70 years.
Thanks for the answer. And yes, I will have to update my precedents.
What does “update my precedents” mean? Is that a term related to law?
Well, sure - it’s basically a form of whale shit, and we still have whales and they still shit. You don’t have to kill a whale to get it, or even be anywhere near the whale, it can wash up on a beach and such.
It’s always been rare and expensive, though, and these days there are artificial substitutes that are much cheaper. But for a royal coronation sure, they can get the real thing.
The state I live in, the Federal Republic of Germany, had only existed for three years when she became Queen.
Setters of cryptic crosswords (the kind where the clues are not direct definitions but odd little phrases that point to the answer in tricky ways) now have to adjust. For the longest time, if a clue had the word “Queen” in it, odds are the answer contained the letter pair ER (for Elizabeth Regina).
That’s over now - look for clues with “King” (=CR, Charles Rex, not a bad one as letter pairs go; imagine if the new king were named Larry, not many words with LR in them - “mallrat” being one).
Is there any problem with Charles being the head of the CoE as a divorcee married to a divorcee?
I was under the impression that ambergris was included in international agreements which banned trading in whale products, even though it can be collected without harming the whale.
Why does that have to change?
The coronation of George VI had been, on might say, already scheduled. His brother Edward abdicated, but the coronation was already in the plans, so he was crowned instead.
Technically Charles was a widower under canon law when he married Camilla. In any event the Church of England has blessed his marriage so there won’t be an issue with Camilla being crowned queen
Princes of Wales are traditionally supported by rent from tenants in the Duchy of Cornwall. When there is no Prince, the rent goes to the monarch.
Rothesay, Carrick, Renfrew, and the Isles automatically attach to the Scottish heir apparent, the same way that Cornwall attaches to the English heir apparent. The earldom of Chester is conferred at the same time as the princedom of Wales, and merged with the Crown when Charles became king.
According to Wikipedia, Charles inherited Philip’s titles, and they are now merged with the Crown.
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Why does that have to change?
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It may not in the short term; but there have been lots of Queens and you do have to stay up-to-date.
As is sometimes the case, The Economist put it well. (See Economist.com)….
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“Small wonder then that Elizabeth’s values—of stoicism and duty, of keeping calm and carrying on, and above all of shutting up—were those of another era. Under the dazzle of the modern media gaze such old-fashioned values looked dun-coloured. While her children, grandchildren and in-laws emoted in interviews and misbehaved, she buttoned her lip and stepped on planes and trains and boats. She criss-crossed the country and the Commonwealth, listening, waving, weaving her lands together and asking: “Have you come far?” Few had come further than she. When, at the a summit last year, she tutted at those who “talk, but don’t do” it seemed a heartfelt comment from a woman who, for a lifetime, had done but not talked.”
“As the media age became the social-media age, empathy mellowed harsh judgment. The mood towards her shifted. Her silence, which had seemed an unfashionable anachronism, started to seem prescient, even refreshing. As the currency that bore her profile declined, and as Britain became diminished, her stock stayed high. Donald Trump longed for a state visit; Michelle Obama put her arm around her.
And now she has gone.”
A “precedent,” as Northern Piper and I were using it is kind of like a form. I might have a precedent for, say, a motion that I want to make in court. There would be places to put the parties’ names and the details of the matter; and at the top, among other things, it would say, “In the Court of Queen’s Bench of the Province of Alberta.” That would have to be changed to “the Court of King’s Bench.”
Having precedents generally saves a lot of time, as neither my assistant nor I want to have to retype the same boilerplate over and over and over.
Anyone else think she deliberately stayed alive long enough that Boris Johnson was no longer prime minister when she died?
As long as he doesn’t lose his head about it, he should be fine.
That or his replacement disgusted her so much that it killed her. (I’ve seen both jokes online.)
As for the funeral… I wonder how much pomp and expenditure the average Brit will tolerate with inflation and energy prices expected to go up so much…
Honestly, neither Boris Johnson nor Liz Truss seem to be the statesmen one would want at a critical time like this.
She’ll get a full state funeral with all the pomp and ceremony that it entails. There won’t be much debate about that. The coronation may be a different story.