Do you think the queen is really poorly?

[Meltinthemiddle]

As in dying 😔. I know she is very old and fragile at 95 but I do wonder if she is trying to keep going until the Royal jubilee.

I’m not so sure. Isn’t what keeps the threads alive (pardon the pun!) the speculation ? Once she dies, there’s no mawkish speculation to be had 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Testina

Oh it will be a whole new level. I envisage competitive not caring as well as competitive caring too much.

The pandemic, the stress caused by Johnson and the proroguing of Parliament, her husband dying and catching covid all in a short time frame, have taken their toll on her.

She's 96, a good quarter century older than previous generations generally lived. It's been a long, active life and she is naturally winding down now.

It would be a very good time for Prince Charles to take on more of her duties. That way it will seem like a seamless transition when the time comes 😔

That’s a fair prediction 🤣
But I just don’t see that it will drag on as long.
I hope I’m right 😳

Can we make a sanctuary thread in advance so we can have at least one space where people just behave normally 😄

I hope the jubilee will be enjoyed by the Queen no matter how limited her involvement

Along with a good dollop of competitive "I knew this would happen" by the sounds of it.

Yep. I dont think it will be long now.
God help us with the national hysterical outpouring we are about to have on repeat

I think the average age of death for women in the UK is 85.

She's done exceedingly well getting to 96 and being in good health for the most part.

It is a life-long job annd she awore that she would see it through, unlike her wimp of an uncle who just let his trousers lead his brain with no regard for the institute

The Queen will never 'resign' and has always said that. or abdicate.
She will just do fewer of the demanding public engagements. Clearly she has a problem with standing or sitting for long.

In the times before so much media coverage, it would not have been so noticeable that a sovereign didn't appear in public (with certain exceptions for major events.)

We don't know what is wrong with her. The stooping looks like osteoporosis, but given the monitoring she will have had over her lifetime, (Camilla being the patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society for years - and whose own mother died from it) and treatment to prevent it, it seems unlikely.

It may be arthritic.

I know I shouldn't, Her Madge has done a good job for decades, but the rest of them..

There are all kinds of protocols when a monarch dies but as it hasn’t happened for 70 years, I think lots of it is going to seem incredibly old-fashioned and out of step with modern life.

Clearing the TV schedules for tributes, for example. People got annoyed with that after a couple of hours with Prince Philip, they wanted to watch Eastenders!

I'm confused OP - what on earth makes you think a bereaved 95 year old, with some stressfully problematic relatives & an important & highly visible job might be a little under the weather?

There's not a jot wrong with her. She's just decided, after decades of dedicated service, that she wants a few months off, & is rollerskating round the palace in Di's old boots, racing Anne over 6 foot fences on a pair of matched thoroughbreds, & staying up all night supervising the latest Corgi whelping.
Sure, she's a little unsteady on her feet, but that's only because she's finally thrown caution to the winds & adopted her late mother's gin-n-dubonnet habit.

There is literally no other reason she could be cutting down on the public service, is there?

@Sharrowgirl I reckon there must be a well thought out Plan B in place for if she doesn’t live to the Jubilee. I’m sure with a few tweaks it can be turned into a celebration / commemoration of her reign.

Oh god - tbat relentless wall to wall coverage of Prince Phillip’s death.

I don't know a single person who has lived up to that age. It must be such a drag. I think she is right to want to gradually withdraw from public life. However, installing Charles as king is a really bad move for the monarchy. He has made too many errors of judgment. Recently, their PR have gone into overdrive in order to promote Charles and Camilla as worthy successors. The monarchy would not survive long enough for him to keep the seat warm for Kate and William. It is a shame because they are slightly too young to want to become King and Queen (although I think they basically just should if they wish to save the institution).

I am actually really supportive of Harry (and only Harry) if he takes a stand against this whitewashing of ill reputation (whatever ultimately motivates it).

That was Charles not HM. They also arrived late.

Dh nan is the same age, she’s got the same, stooped appearance. She was also very active until the last couple of years, some people are amazing into very old age.

Only, dh nan gets to sit in a chair and eat fish and chips and doing the crosswords.

@Soffit but Charles becoming king regardless of whether people think he should or if he’s ‘worthy’ of the position is the whole point of an hereditary monarchy! Either we carry on with a hereditary monarchy or we don’t, but you can’t have a halfway house where the Royals who people like a bit more - Will & Kate - jump the queue.

I think it’s significant that the Queen is reportedly living at Wood Green on the Sandringham estate now. This is where Philip went when he gave up Royal duties at the same age. She seems to want to be close to where he was and live in a similar way. She’s had an awful time over the past few years. It would knock the stuffing out of anyone, let alone someone her age. I think it’s about a year since he died now too, so she is probably thinking about that.

Only, dh nan gets to sit in a chair and eat fish and chips and doing the crosswords.

Sounds lovely...good on her!

Although I now have an image of Her Maj doing exactly this, in a old-fashioned quilted dressing gown with a tiara on and a couple of corgis at her feet 😁.

They have always tweaked the rules a little along the way when absolutely necessary. I think that they underestimate that this is one such occasion where they need to do this. It is a very different proposition to removing the whole institution.

Ha yes! I’m sure she does.

But, she’s had a life of relentless intrusion thorough accident of birth.

I am not a Royalist. But to get to that age and have all the pressures that have come from a lifetime of being a monarch. Christ, it’s not the same as a ‘normal’ old lady like my grandmother in law just being able to sit and relax in her last year or two.