The Queen Mother inherited a huge haul of jewelry from a friend in 1942 and it’s still not known with certainty what all she got, or if she kept it all, or if the Queen inherited it all, etc. Princess Eugenie showed up to her wedding in 2018 with a tiara that was from that bequest, but it had never been seen or confirmed to be in royal ownership in the intervening three quarters of a century.
NOTE: Sad musings follow. Skip if you’re not in the mood.
Looking at the video of the hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin is making me very sad this morning. The idea of anyone’s beloved Granny lying in a box and being taken to her final resting place makes me sad. The Queen’s longevity and her central place in the UK’s history (indeed, in world history) kind of made her everyone’s Granny. Like all Grannies, she is a link with the past, the important events that happened before we were born, which shaped our current world though we did not experience them personally. As those aging witnesses leave us one by one, our human link with that past breaks off bit by bit. My generation, the generation of Charles, is in the front row now. I find that daunting. And sad. And I wish it weren’t so.
The pictures of piles of flowers, and people lining the road put me in mind of Princess Diana’s similar journey. And my husband’s flag-draped coffin. It also reminded me of the last time I saw my own 93-year old mother at the funeral home. I have lost a lot of people, which is what happens when you get old.
Even though I never met the Queen, she was an enduring presence and anticipating her permanent absence feels solemn and sad to me. You look to that spot, however far away, where they always were and where you always found them, and they’re not there anymore. And never will be again.
The princess royal is with the procession in the Bentley following her mother.
The answer to the “ what about the corgies” question, is that they will be with the duke and duchess of york who gifted them to the queen. Sarah picked out the puppies and Andrew gave them to her.
Watching the arrival at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on CNN. Annoyed that CNN was sweeping the horizontal bar describing what we’re seeing right over the lower twenty percent of the screen, covering the stuff we want to see.
I noticed even her hearse had extra windows so the public could bettet see her coffin. They really have thought of everything. Also Edinburgh looks really beautiful. I love the architectural contrast between Holyrood and the modern buildings around it.
Maybe that’s why I’m finding it difficult to gin up any sorrow for the queen. I met my maternal grandmother maybe three times in my life (and the first time I was 9 mos old). We had a very distant relationship. When I did see her she was definitely not warm and cuddly. My paternal grandmother apparently had issues when my dad married my mother and converted to Catholicism. His siblings blamed her stroke shortly after on that. Plus, once my aunt had my cousins, it was like my siblings and I didn’t exist anymore. The whole thing has soured me on grannies.
I think that’s just the standard style of hearse there. This page has all kinds of British hearses, many of them quite different from what you’d expect to see the Queen’s coffin in, but they’re almost all very transparent.
Of all the things about related to the passing of QEII, the fate of her dogs is last on the list of things I care about. CNN might as well ask “what do they do with her old socks after she’s gone?” I didn’t think they’d kill the dogs, and short of that, who cares?
I’ve read several articles in the past few days, indicating that Elizabeth had expressly felt that she didn’t want her dogs to outlive her – which is why she had stopped breeding corgis some years back, and wasn’t getting new dogs, other than the ones which had been gifted to her.
Realistically, I agree, there’s no way that the family would have the dogs euthanized (it would generate a justifiable uproar), but it did still beg the question of “so where will the dogs end up?” And, IME, there are a fair number of animal lovers who couldn’t care less about any of the other aspects of the entire passing-of-the-queen story, but really, really care about what will happen to her dogs.
Are you new to humanity? People love dogs to the point of irrationality. Lots of people are clearly concerned. They know how much she adored her dogs and that she would want them to be well cared for after her passing.
A very good friend of mine passed a couple of years ago. He was a very popular person and he and his little dog were inseparable. He brought that pup everywhere. When we had the very large Zoom memorial for him, one of the first questions someone asked was who was going to take care of his dog because it would have been my friend’s biggest concern.
I’ve always assumed that the whole extended royal family were dog and horse people, so I see no problems finding some of them to take care of Liz’ corgis.
I guess it never occurred to me that the dogs wouldn’t be well cared for. Who specifically was caring for them didn’t seem important (since it will be servants doing 99% of the caring wherever they end up).
Someone just a few posts up revealed which family the dogs will be going to, I have already forgotten which one it is
I really don’t know, but I guess that wasn’t true. Elizabeth took her corgis seriously, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she fed and walked them herself whenever it was possible.
ETA: sorry, I just saw that you were not referring to the late Queen, but to whoever takes the dogs. I’m still not sure if they wouldn’t be cared for personally by some royals.
Enough about the corgies. What about the poor outcast cocker spaniel, and how the hell did he ever crash that circle, anyway?
I doubt that she picked up their shit though.
I’m not even sure about that, she was a country lady and used to handling animal shit.
Sure, people love dogs to the point of irrationality - but I’m guessing your friend probably lived alone and had no children who lived nearby because the only times I’ve heard people concerned about or interested in who will take a deceased’s persons pet is when there is no obvious candidate. No spouse, no live-in significant other , no children living nearby. People don’t even ask when there are multiple obvious candidates -because what they are concerned with is that someone is taking care of the pet and not so much specifically who.
She did! Mostly at balmoral, but there were people remembering that during “what memories can you share about the queen” interviews.
It is reported that the queen and Sarah duchess of york would walk the dogs together. They did see each other and kept up a relationship after the divorce.
He did live alone and didn’t have kids but there was a very obvious candidate, the couple who took care of the dog for a month when he was in the hospital a few months prior. When I informed everyone that that same couple agreed to care for the dog, they were happy about that.
Anyway, It never would have occurred to me to think about her dogs or horses but I don’t see why it’s mysterious that a significant number of people would.
Yep. There is zero reason to believe that the dogs won’t be perfectly well cared for. Any “concern” on the part of anyone who has never been within ten feet of them is perfectly silly. The dogs will be fine.