William IV himself said this at his last birthday dinner. He stated that he wanted to live another nine months, until his niece came of age, so that her mother could never become Regent. He went on, “I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the royal authority to the personal exercise of that Young Lady", pointing to Victoria. He died weeks after Victoria’s 18th birthday.
Apparently Prince Harry didn’t get there in time, which is very sad.
Regarding cause of death:
This article has a quote from a doctor:
“Based on what we know about COVID’s activity with regard to the heart and the vasculature, that means clotting, and I don’t know what variant of COVID she might have had, whether it was the Omicron or the Delta — and the Delta is still going around. That could have been the source of her demise,” said Lahita.
And its bottom line:
“While a cause of death has not yet been released, experts say her previous infection with the coronavirus may have contributed to her death.”
Also, while the photos with Liz Truss show the Queen alert and upright, her hands are purple, maybe from IVs or blood draws (click to open the photo in a new window, then click again to enlarge)
That may be what she’s thinking, but when she chose to take on the role of head of government of a world power, this is exactly what she signed up for.
Accident of history. Edward I’s eldest son was a John (died age ~5), second was a Henry (died ~5 1/2), third was Alphono (!!! - died age 11, he almost made it and that would have been an interesting addition to the dynastic stable of names). Edward II was just the eldest survivor.
For that matter Edward II’s second son was also a John (died on military campaign at age 20).
The name didn’t become associated with English royal villainy until rather later.
Every corgi in the world felt a little sad today and they didn’t know why.
I am presuming the Queen Mother not Princess Alice
Number 10 said the PM was told of the death at 4:30, so neither did Prince William or his uncles, who arrived at 5:00.
Things were worse for most people in 1952, but there was no great fuss about the state funeral. There was a certain amount of grumbling about the overblown faux-mediaevalism of the coronation*, but distinctly a minority view. Some at least of that would go this time, I hope.
*If you ever get to see the official film made at the time with Laurence Olivier narrating, it’s almost unwatchable (or least unlistenable) nowadays.
While I think I remember hearing the official announcement on the radio (and rushing upstairs to tell my mother, who was cleaning the bathroom), I don’t recall anything royal-related after that until the excitement about the coronation (I’d just started school and we were all given souvenirs - I still have the teaspoon, but lost the propelling pencil on the way home), and being taken to see her visiting the local town hall on her tour around the country.
I believe quite a few ordinary people, not just officials, wore black armbands and the like, but that was what people did in those days.
Do tell.
In case it wasn’t already mentioned, Prime Minister Trudeau gave a very emotional tribute to the Queen. Not surprising, as the family’s relationship with the Queen goes all the way back to his father, who incidentally hosted the Queen when she came to Canada in 1982 to sign the official patriation of our new Constitution. As the Prime Minister said today, the Queen’s reign spanned nearly half the history of our country.
It’s been reported that the Queen often remarked that Canada was her favourite among the Commonwealth countries, and the feeling often seemed to be mutual. In her later years, when she travelled much less, it was said that when William and Kate visited Canada the Queen was particularly pleased and keen to hear about their experiences.
She was a gracious and exemplary lady with a special place in the hearts of Canadians. King Charles will of course be accorded all due respect, but there will never be another monarch like Queen Elizabeth II. She will be missed.
I forgot to add a link to the CBC article:
I’ve been following a thread on the death of the Queen on an American right-wing board that I occasionally look at. Surprisingly, reaction there has been mostly sympathetic, with many posters expressing regret and sadness over losing a world head of state who served so well for so long. Not all, however; there were some inappropriate (IMHO) remarks, but at that board, they are to be expected.
The conversation turned to how the US Government, especially President Biden, would respond, and there were a number of responses, none of which were terribly complimentary towards Mr. Biden. They were as you might expect, but one made me laugh out loud:
“Biden sent his condolences via twitter and said Bohemian Rhapsody was his favorite song by the Queen.”
She was dead several hours before it was announced. Liz Truss was told at 16:30 GMT. First announcement was on Twitter a 18:30 GMT. It was as expected.
I look forward to one day reading what went on behind the scenes. Hopefully she went painlessly.
(Has anyone ever ascertained George VI time of death?)
George V died in his sleep by all accounts.
George V was euthanised by his doctor by giving him an injection of cocaine without consulting anybody and who later claimed he did it in the evening so it could feature in the early edition of the next morning’s Times newspaper.
His diary suggested it was to reduce suffering TBF.
At about 11 o’clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the Patient but little comporting with that dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers & keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr.3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr.1 into the distended jugular vein…In about 1/4 an hour - breathing quieter - appearance more placid - physical struggle gone
Ironically, I always thought of him as a younger man,he was in actuality a year older than GVR.
Dawson also wrote in his notes (released in the 1980’s):
The determination of the time of death of the King’s body had another object in view, viz the importance of the death receiving its first announcement in the morning papers rather than the less appropriate field of the evening journals.
Cite: https://review.gale.com/2017/10/04/the-death-of-george-v-as-reported-first-in-the-times/
As said by Northern Piper KC (formerly QC).
Ambergris (along with urine and faeces) is explicitly not covered by CITES which is the pertinent international agreement. Some countries do ban it (Australia, the USA and India are the big ones cited in that Wiki article Broomstick linked to)