Aw… she looks just like the little old ladies around here, two hands on the wheel and eyeballs barely clearing the dashboard!
Hey, she may be Queen but she’s also a little old lady and a grandma (actually, great-grandma now). In other words, human even if royal. Let her have her fun. And keep your hands off her nuts.
Yeah, that’s the sort of information I’m asking after. After Colibri quoted that line about her taking “joyrides”, I would have asked “Like, as in, does she actually drive a vehicle herself?” – This article answers that as clear as can be.
BTW, who noticed this little gem in that article?
We already knew, of course, that William takes the wheel himself, after that much-hyped viral photo of him bundling Kid George into the car-seat and driving off from the hospital with him and Kate. And he drives a mean helicopter too. But does he drive this himself?
Broomstick, here, gets what I’m really getting at:
Yeah, that’s really what I’m getting at. In her public persona as Queen, she never (seemingly) gets to play. Does she actually ever get to have any fun? I mean, beyond the very public ceremonial stuff like attending William’s wedding. That’s why I asked about her and her doggies and horses. That article emphasizes that she actually gets a kick out of tooling around in that Land Rover. Does she actually hunt grouse herself too? We know she owns horses, but does she actually ride them recreationally (other than in parades)? Does she (or did she ever, as Queen) care for them herself? Feed them? Shovel out the stalls? Does she walk or feed her doggies herself? Do the doggies see her as their mother? Does she ever cook anything herself, tarts or otherwise, just for fun? Does she keep her mind sharp by doing algebra problems (as a famous sex-queen movie star, I forget who, allegedly claimed to do)? See, we the public don’t get to see all that, especially us Merkins living on the far side of the Pond (let alone on the far side of the continent on the far side of the Pond). Her public persona is more like the pampered Queen Bee who gets everything done for her (does she feed herself? does she wipe her own butt?), with only the occasional smiley ceremonial outing, like that one-stop ride on the subway a few weeks ago.
Ignorance fought.
Reportedly she enjoys the fairly brainy daytime TV game show Countdown, which is popular among pensioners, geeks, and students. I think in general she’s supposed to be fairly down-to-earth, for a queen anyway. Could all be palace spin, who knows? But as an example, I think it was Tony Blair who reported that, during one weekend at Balmoral, while out on some kind of walk they had a picnic and he was surprised to find the Queen herself handing out the sandwiches, pouring the tea etc.
Sure, so when your door is unlocked it is also legal for a burglar to enter your house and take your stuff…
The Queen is very cognizant of her role as monarch, it’s her job to be Queen and we don’t generally get to see her during her private time.
I’m pretty sure the Queen does, in fact, participate in hunts. I doubt very much she would go along just to watch others shoot, if it’s reported she’s on a hunt of some sort I expect she’s a full participant.
The royal family is reputed to be “horsey people”, and given her ease in the saddle during ceremonial rides I’m assuming she rides at other times, too. You don’t get proficient at riding if the only time you’re on one is during a formal parade. The dogs she certainly does walk herself when she has time, but of course it’s trivial for someone else to do that if she’s too busy or away.
I have no idea… if it was something she wanted to do, though, because she enjoyed it I expect she would. Just because she has servants and doesn’t need to do many routine things doesn’t mean she’s incapable, or doesn’t do those things she wants to do. We’re talking about someone who was a teen girl during WWII working as a truck mechanic. There’s something quite hands-on and tomboyish about her at times.
One of the interesting things I’ve read is that she needs to get used to the weight of the official crown she wears to open Parliment or perform other duties, so when prepping for such appearances she wears the crown while eating breakfast. I can just imagine this looks-like-everyone’s-grandma lady in a bathrobe and slippers at the breakfast table, reading a newspaper (these days, she might be using a Kindle or pad) and wearing this massive crown.
She’s also supposedly a Doctor Who fan, so apparently she has a TV and makes time to watch it occasionally.
I’ve always gathered that she enjoys opportunities now and again, to just be “ordinary” or something approaching that – a break from all the pomp and ceremony.
My brother used to teach at a very upper-crust girls’ school in England. Some of his pupils there, and their families, were acquainted first-hand with the Royal Family. In conversation, and I gather in first-hand dealings with the Queen, the girls called her “Auntie Liz” – which I find rather sweet.
Queen with grandkids on ponies. She rides. Helmets on the kids, but not on Grandma. I’d guess she doesn’t want helmet-hair.
StG
She definitely rides horses for pleasure, or did in the past. There was a story about someone who crashed their car into a tree on one of her estates and the Queen, riding a horse, was first on the scene, asking if they were all right.
There were quite a few articles about the Queen and royal family last year. 2012 year was The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. There was a lot of information about how the Queen and Duke met and the early years of their marriage. They’ve had an incredible life together. I get the impression they live more informally at their summer estate. She’s still the Queen but she can be a bit more normal.
I know that if I were in her place, I would actually have a small one bedroom/den/‘country kitchen’/opulent bathroom in Buckingham Palace, with instructions to keep the kitchen filled with certain supplies so I could putter around making weekend brunch or midnight snacks without disturbing the servants and having some private time. I love cooking, and find it relaxing and would enjoy making a nice romantic brunch for the princeconsortAru.
With as much time soaked up by public needs, grabbed private time where you can relax is very important.
That’s pretty impressive for any 85-year-old.
Another solution could be for the cops to stop stealing them; or, perhaps, buy their own.
There’s a few references online stating that the Queen doesn’t take active part in shoots. Here’s one, with bonus pic of Her Maj bashing an injured pheasant (double checks spelling) on the head with a stick.
She’s not averse to firing a gun though, there’s great photo in this link:
If I were King and someone was stealing my cashews I wouldn’t be marking the level of the bowl. I’d be marking the level of the thief’s neck for the headsman’s axe.
These are cashews we’re talking about here!
Not sentient enough to search for it now (being sick and all), but I seem to recall some article in the last couple of years talking about family game nights or some such - like Monopoly or something like that.
There was a story that when one of her grandsons received a Nintendo Wii, she played Wii Tennis. I would love to have seen a picture of that.
And given the length and breadth of her experience, it would be interesting to read her diaries, if she kept them and was frank in them. Perhaps this is something that could be held back for a hundred years.
I would like to think they include checkers so she can get to say “King me!”
I don’t want to threadshit but my first thought is what a cheap, petty, nasty old bat. Why can’t she just keep a supply in that handbag of hers? My grandmother Shirley used to leave candy around her apartment and then whine to my parents when we naturally grabbed a few candies here and there. I sort of got in trouble one day when I told grandma what my mom used to tell us exactly what she really thought about her whines once we got in the car home.
Why do people always say “I don’t want to whatever” and then go and do it?
It wasn’t set out for security, and who know how many hands got dipped in there?
[shrug] And I’m sure the cops earn enough to buy all the nuts they want.
