But he won’t be king for nearly as long as his mother has been queen!
Considering she was out of the country when it happened, methinks she was establishing an alibi
On her trip, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration for use if the King died. What an eager beaver
It probably travelled with her everywhere, just in case. George VI had been in poor health for years and was sinking fast in his final six months or so.
And here I thought KneeSid was trying to pin it on the Canadians…
A workshy parasite and her family have managed to screw taxpayers out of literally millions of pounds for 60 years.
She’s not even good at her job. Literally all she has to do is go to places and occasionally make a speech, and she is rubbish at delivering speeches.
A total waste of space and a very, very dull person as well.
Nothing to celebrate.
Are you sure it’s a net loss though? I thought the receipts from royal-oriented tourism more than made up for the cost of the actual royals…
I’m no fan of the royal family in general but even I say these are week arguments. She is a net benefit and brilliant ambassador for the country. As for being a dull person…how would you know?
Does she have a credit card?
I like the Queen.
I like her more as I age. A few years back I watched part of a documentary with her at Sandringham House. She was driving the Range Rover and playing with her doggies and grand kids. Looked almost human at times.
There’s the Silver Jubilee and then there’s the Games of the XXX Olympiad. I’d imagine that the Queen is probably thinking about her father, especially today; however, the Queen knows how to put on a “public face” and celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.
Possibly after 60 years, she’s come to terms with it.
Actually the King’s mother did not by tradition attend her son’s coronation (at least if she’d been queen herself). Mary of Teck’s attendance at George VI’s coronation broke centuries of tradition. She only broke tradition to underscore support for her son after the Abdication Crisis. Monarchs do not normally attend coronations other than their own, and the same applies to their consorts. I’m pretty sure Queen Victoria’s mother attended her coronation, but she was only the Duchess of Kent, never queen-consort.
Why would you think that? There is no meaningful way to separate ‘royal-oriented’ tourism from the rest of tourism, or to calculate what percentage of tourism receipts may be ‘caused’ by the fact that we have a so-called royal family. People come to London because it’s a big city that’s been around a long time with lots to see and do. They go to lots of other cities too, including ones that don’t have a royal family.
Also, even if one suggests it’s desirable to have a royal family because it’s good for tourism, it would suffice to have one family living in one moderately nice palace on a modest salary. We don’t need the whole extended family, we don’t need to give them enormous tracts of land, they don’t need to eat up literally millions of pounds that could be spent on useful things and more deserving people, and we don’t need to give them umpteen different homes to swan around in.
They are parasites living very expensive lives paid for by hard-working people like nurses. They are an anachronism, and they aren’t even good at doing the job they are supposed to do. They also abuse their privileges on a regular basis, such as Prince Andrew using a military helicopter just to fly him up to Scotland to see his friends, all at great expense to the taxpayer.
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Watch her broadcasts and speeches. ‘Dull’ is actually a kind verdict. One could use harsher terms.
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She’s been doing her job (badly) for 60 years. Apart from just existing, her only function is to make speeches. Yet she has never said anything interesting or memorable. I think it’s therefore fair to describe her as ‘dull’. The only quote anyone can remember is when she used the phrase ‘annus horribilis’ in 1992, and even then it was only because it gave comedians something to make simple jokes about. Not a lot to show for 60 years, is it?
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I haven’t met the queen but I have met other members of the royal family. ‘Dull’ seems to me to be a fair verdict.
I kind of think that ol’ Pepi will remain in the dust regardless of how long Lizzy lives.
Well I have met the queen and found her delightful. Lovely and charming and just about exactly how you would want a queen to be.
YMM and obviously does V.
Maybe she will celebrate by listening to the music that Obama gave her on her iPod.
Yikes, that is a scary thought.
I like the Queen and hope she lives to 100 like her mother.
She didn’t try to remove your head?
Obama gave her an iPod?
I wonder whether there’s a museum of gifts given to the royal family, like the Kims have in North Korea…