# The Queen was in Hospital: 2021-10-21 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951 "2021-10-21T22:40:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/21 "2021-10-22T16:19:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Her first hospital stay was her own birth… Although she was delivered by caesarean section, she wasn’t born in a hospital but at her grandparents’ London house, [17 Bruton Street](https://www.rct.uk/collection/2002127/no-17-bruton-street-london-w1-the-birthplace-of-hm-queen-elizabeth-ii). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/22 "2021-10-22T17:15:11Z")
Isn’t ceasarean major surgery? What kind of facilities did grandpa have, any way? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/23 "2021-10-22T17:47:28Z")
A pocket knife and a bottle of brandy can be quite useful. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/24 "2021-10-22T18:04:24Z")
She wears a less formal Coronet on other occasions, iirc. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/25 "2021-10-23T05:24:25Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Isn’t ceasarean major surgery? What kind of facilities did grandpa have, any way? Hospitals weren’t very advanced in 1926. Packing some supplies into a van to perform surgery in a discreet private location wouldn’t have been as hard as it would be now. Even 25 years later, in 1951, King George VI had a _lung removed_ at Buckingham Palace. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/26 "2021-10-23T05:50:07Z")
Just a guess, but I would imagine that all royal residences have some sort of modern medical facilities available, even if nothing more than a small infirmary that will do until help arrives that can transport to a better-equipped hospital. We hear about the art galleries and the private apartments and the dining rooms and the grand reception salons, but we never hear about the other mundane facilities that the royal residences must necessarily contain, such as garages, kitchens, staff quarters; and undoubtedly, infirmaries. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/27 "2021-10-23T06:07:14Z")
There are a lot of live-in staff who may also need medical care at various levels. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/28 "2021-10-23T11:09:51Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Even 25 years later, in 1951, King George VI had a _lung removed_ at Buckingham Palace. Werewolves of London again. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/29 "2021-10-23T22:38:46Z")
I did not know that! I just assumed that the very pregnant Queen Mother was loaded into an ambulance, and taken to the nearest hospital. It sounds like they at least had the basic tools needed to perform the procedure, and of course they would have had anesthesia available, since chloroform and ether were still commonly used for obstetric analgesia even for vaginal deliveries. Plus, in the pre-antibiotic era, post-operative infections were a huge problem, especially in hospitals, and little could be done beyond symptomatic treatment. (I don’t know the details, but my oldest uncle was born at home in 1930, and his birth was extremely difficult and had Grandma been in a hospital - the nearest one was about 15 miles away, over icy roads - she would have had a c-section. My other uncle and mother were born in that hospital, as it turned out without complications.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/30 "2021-10-26T18:35:01Z")
I’m glad they convinced the Queen to cancel the trip to Glasgow. She has to slow down before it’s too late. > **[Queen Elizabeth 'Regretfully' Cancels Plans to Attend COP26 Climate...](https://news.yahoo.com/queen-elizabeth-regretfully-cancels-plans-173940011.html)** > > Queen Elizabeth will not attend the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference after receiving guidance to rest; it was recently revealed the 95-year-old monarch spent a night in the hospital for 'preliminary investigations' into undisclosed... ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/31 "2021-10-31T16:59:56Z")
There’s more … > **[Queen advised to rest for two more weeks](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59097106)** > > The Queen will not undertake official visits until mid-November on doctors' advice, the palace says. Looks like an energy conservation measure for the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday (14th Nov), even if she has already passed on the active roles to others ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/32 "2021-11-02T23:52:49Z")
My Mother used to quote something that Edith Bunker once said on **All in the Family** (paraphrasing) I can imagine the Queen of England brushing her teeth, but I can’t imagine her spiiting it out. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/33 "2021-11-14T16:40:58Z")
She did miss the Cenotaph ceremony. A statement says she has strained her back. [-=Linky=-](https://www.al.com/news/2021/11/queen-sprains-back-misses-war-memorial-service.html) ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/34 "2021-11-14T18:48:08Z")
It’s sad when someone as old as the Queen starts failing. She was always a class act and I wish her well. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/35 "2021-11-15T07:01:04Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > She did miss the Cenotaph ceremony. A statement says she has strained her back She was rearranging the palace furniture? 😉 I hope extended rest will allow her to make some public appearances. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/36 "2021-11-15T07:38:12Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > It’s sad when someone as old as the Queen starts failing. She was always a class act and I wish her well. She is indeed a class act. She is also supposedly a bright and funny lady who is reported to enjoy some of the same British sitcoms that I do. I may have told this story before, but years ago when she visited Canada and was doing a meet-and-greet, she was introduced to a young lady and extended her hand. Protocol is that you’re not supposed to touch the Queen on your own accord, but when she extends her hand, you take it. So the young woman shook her hand, chatted briefly with the Queen, and the Queen moved on. But there’s more. What the crowd and photographers did not see, as the young lady revealed later, is that when she stepped forward and took the Queen’s hand, she (the young lady) tripped over her long ball gown and was about to fall headlong. As she described it, with incredible presence of mind the Queen grasped her hand “in an iron grip” and held her upright, preventing a terrible embarrassment for the young lady and maintaining the utmost decorum, with the incident invisible to all. The Queen was also once pranked by a Quebec radio DJ who impersonated then-PM Jean Chretien, who along the way asked if they could converse in French, to which the Queen obliged, and demonstrated excellent fluency in French. The real Prime Minister was incensed and afterwards apologized profusely to the Queen, who waved it away and took it all in good humour. And at no point was she goaded into saying anything stupid or embarrassing. The Queen represents the kind of class that we can only dream of in our politicians. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/37 "2021-11-15T10:33:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The Queen represents the kind of class that we can only dream of in our politicians. Of course, you have to keep in mind that she has the advantage that she’s _not_ a politician. Our (in the UK) politicians could use some of that class, too! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/38 "2021-11-15T13:55:16Z")
I didn’t realize that I had something in common with both Bill Clinton _and_ the Queen. I was also born breech (and, as my late father used to say, I’ve been showing my ass ever since). ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/39 "2021-11-15T16:20:22Z")
> Of course, you have to keep in mind that she has the advantage that she’s _not_ a politician. Which is not to say that she isn’t politically astute (or at least her advisers are on her behalf,). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951/40 "2021-11-15T19:49:24Z")
I don’t know if he was breech, just that he was delivered by c-section. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-queen-was-in-hospital-2021-10-21/952951.md?page=3)