In honor of the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday, I was wondering, just who the hell is she anyway? What’s her history and how does she fit in the royal family tree?
The Queen Mother is Queen Elizabeth II’s mother. She’s the widow of the previous king (George?). I don’t know where she came from, or what her name was before she married the king, but there are plenty of anglophiles around here who would know that kind of thing.
I know it’s non-intuitive but she’s the queen’s mother. She used to be the queen when she was married to king George but preferred this to the usual dowager queen title when he died.
Pardon my lack of manners IVAR, welcome to the board. A hint for future reference is to do a seach on the archives for basic questions that may have already been covered.
Her Maj’ness The Queen Mum is a parasite born into extreme privilege who believes in her inalienable right as a royal, albeit only by marriage, to retain her level of privilege regardless of the cost (her overdraft runs into several million quid). For some reason I do not understand many of my countrymen feel this makes her ‘one of us’ and ‘oh but she is sooooooo nice!’ ‘aint she marvellous??!’ ‘makes you feel proud to be British’ ‘best loved granny in the world!’
100 years too long.
thanks for the info.
i don’t think i really need to know much more.
she’s the dowager, now I get it.
thanks for the welcome, Padeye.
i did search within the SD archives, didn’t come up with it.
I also enjoyed the rant by ticker, sounds typically british, at least from those I’ve met who dislike the royals.
No no no, she wasn’t born into extreme privilege, she was merely born into privilege. She married into extreme privilege.
And, I believe, one of the reason folks consider her “one of us” was due to the story of her determination to stick out WWII right there with all the rest rather than going into hiding in the country for protection. I’m not sure what other morale-boosting things she did, but I have heard that Hitler called her “the most dangerous woman in the world.” That alone gave her better status in the eyes of many Britons.
And besides, what’s five million quid between friends, ey?
Her maiden name is Bowles-Lyon.
It was well known that Hitler wanted to put the Duke of Windsor back onto the throne…
Her life is so differant and distant from most folk that she is not really relevant.
Most folk neither love nor hate her, she just exists as far as they are concerned.
I personally believe that the media have been ramming her 100th down our throats and that much of the reaction is rather forced.
It is almost like a personality cult where no-one in the public domain dare say anything, however mild, that is contrary to the official lovefest.
A woman reached 100 today and seems to have most of her faculties - hardly the stuff of legend is it?
NPR repored that one of the media events was the postman delivering her birthday card that the queen traditionally gives all subjects who reach 100 above ground. They can’t get Willard Scott?
As long as we are on the subject of the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday…
Has any former British King or Queen (including consorts) ever reached 100 years of age? Or is the Queen Mum the first?
Zev Steinhardt
And her given name is Elizabeth. Encyclopedia Britannica
According to the news report I saw on TV last night, the Queen Mother is the oldest member of the royal household ever.
Perhaps people are thinking of Queen Victoria, who was the LONGEST REIGNING monarch in England’s history.