One would have to substantially torture the meaning of those words to come to such a conclusion.
Ascension to the throne will likely put a further spotlight on Charles’ business dealings and influence on legislation.
Another King Charles would’ve been far more preferable.
Years from now, will people be referring to the second Elizabethan era?
And the “New Elizabethan Age” idea didn’t last much beyond Suez. I suppose they could call it Caroline. Or maybe not.
BTW, I don’t think that C&C had to stop the car outside the Palace and talk to the people outside. I doubt if anyone would have held it against them if they hadn’t, and rather think that was deliberate “Start as you mean to go on” PR. Quite delicately done.
I was reading a New York Times article (gift link) about the whole process, and it’s really convoluted and traditional. Like this bit
At 11 a.m. on the day after the queen’s death, a proclamation will be read that officially declares the reign of the new king, which is then passed across the country, first by heralds who will arrive on horseback wearing official uniforms that have roots in the clothing from the Middle Ages to read the news in Trafalgar Square and then the Royal Exchange in London.
Will there be a coronation as grand as that of his mother?
I don’t think it can be completely as grand. The huge procession from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace would require some massive percentage (over 50%, I think) of the modern armed forces.
A lot of those were from the Commonwealth historically.
Ask several Commonwealth nations to send a company or a battalion for the parade and you are golden.
2022 and a lot of people still support hereditary monarchies. Long live the inbreds! Mind-boggling and gross.
These are the times for which tradition was intended. As others have said, there’s a thousand years of history behind all this, we’re just watching it.
knowing the plan and having the reality of the plan is a bit different. he does have a lot of distractions to keep the loss at bay, thankfully his mother lived a long and incredible life, there is comfort in the memories of that.
having to go into your mother’s office and pick up her papers, which are now your papers, sit in her chair, etc., having everyone you meet give you condolences, knowing every move you make is going out world wide…that is daunting. you have the logistics planned, you don’t have the emotional planned.
But I think he does have the emotional planned.
He’s been able to visualise going into the office and picking up her papers, sitting in her chair. He’s planned his walkabout with the public. He’s had plenty of time to think about the emotions as well as the logistics.
Of course he’s upset and grieving right now. But he’s not being blindsided by finding himself in the office while grieving, because he’s exactly where he expected to be.
If I can make an analogy… My dad was getting older and his health was bad. I knew that the day was coming sooner rather than later and it was no surprise when it happened. The next Passover, I sat in his chair and led the service. I knew it would happen but actually doing it was surreal and hit me in an unexpected way.
George IV was married-but-not-married - he and Maria Fitzherbert had the ceremony but since Dad didn’t consent (and because she was Catholic) it didn’t officially count.
Yes, and I think some of that’s going on, but not the “daunted by the crowds” bit or even being “on edge” in the sense of being close to losing it if people offer too much sympathy.
Charles grew up and lived half a century as an adult at the centre of an institution designed to do one thing and one thing only, which is to put him smoothly in his mother’s place as soon as she dies. He even had the opportunity to directly talk with the Queen about what it is like to take over from your parent! Everything that is happening now has been mapped out and rehearsed at length. The amount of preparation he’s had for this moment is enormous and doesn’t in any way match the experiences normal people like you and I might have had. Of course he is upset in ways he didn’t expect but he is not “on the edge”.
Is hereditary monarchy a fundamentally weird institution that creates some very strange influences on normal family relationships? Does it create a sui generis emotional landscape? Yes, it really is and really does. What it is like for Charles is not what it is like for us.
Ugh, no. Hereditary monarchy is an abomination, symbolic or not. The UK version under Elizabeth was, cost aside, a very minor, substantially harmless abomination as abominations go. But it is at this point an immensely wealthy and privileged hereditary caste of ribbon-cutters and hand-wavers. Any nationalistic pride and unity derived from its existence (and I’m really not a huge fan of flag-waving nationalism in the first place), is more than cancelled out by the philosophical ugliness it represents.
And then there is the parasitic cost. It’s not backbreaking, but it is a waste.
The queen leaves behind at least four dogs - two corgis, a dachshund-corgi mix and a (blurgh) cocker spaniel.
They should lead the funeral cortege.
Hear, Hear!
Imagine how things might be different in the USA today if we had a beloved figure who represents the continuity of the government and of the country itself who is outside and above any political party and yet to whom each political party owes and pledges its allegiance.
Of course, it would be impossible here…
As I understand it, the Monarchy’s properties’ income goes into general revenue and the cost of keeping up those properties (and the official functions of the Royals) is pulled from that and leaves a surplus to be spent on other things.
HRM’s personal properties are hers just like any other private citizen - and they are substantial. But if the UK abolished the monarchy, they wouldn’t get to seize those.
Plus I thought it was shown that the profits from royal-related tourism was far more than the cost of maintaining the royals.
Well, the Queen needed to live very long for that to happen. In the fifties and early sixties that was certainly not the case. Her father and grandfather had World Wars to deal with soon after they ascended, which tended to make them beloved figures, forever linked with triumph. Her claim to the peoples love was far more tenuous and she knew it.
