What or how has the Queen affected your life?

[ivykaty44]

Just wondering what or how the Queen has affected your life? Just curious

queen hasn’t affected my life either negatively or positively, so was wondering if this was generally the case or not?

im not against the monarchy and struggling to get excited about the jubilee, so was looking for other view points and experiences

She hasn't really affected my life in any way.

But she's always been there. And, like a PP, I love all the pomp and ceremony. And it's kind of exciting seeing the jubilee, she's the longest reigning UK monarch. I think thats kind of cool.

The whole concept of a royal family is archaic. She has done nothing for me. Nor her kids.

Not especially had an impact on my life, but I was long haul cabin crew and saw how excited a lot of incoming tourists were about the royal family. Ditto for when I lived abroad for a few years.

I am a child of the Commonwealth - so my parents each grew up in countries that had been raped and pillaged by representatives of the British Empire who then withdrew, ostensibly, leaving those countries denuded of much of their intellectual and material resources but with a memory and ongoing experience of immense suffering. All of this was done in the name of the sovereign. Having destroyed other people’s countries this one then called on those same people to rescue the UK in the post war period. Only, they forgot remorse, respect, gratitude - instead subjecting ‘Commonwealth citizens’ to more ill treatment when they arrived here. Imbuing them with a lifelong perception of being subhuman second class citizens. Again, all done in the name of the sovereign.

When, exactly, has the current monarch ever done a single thing to reverse this? When has she said a single word, or taken a single action to counter the narrative constructed in her name? Every single second of her reign has been a confirmation that my life does not matter. That is how she has affected me.

Nice handbags though.

Huge numbers of tourists visit the Louvre in Paris (ex Royal Palace) and I'm sure would likewise flock to see the Queen's collection of masterpieces if Buckingham Palace was publicly owned.

Not affected my life at all. Quite like her though!

She's and her family take my money to enable them to live their very very privileged lives.

I don't want to fund them and I want my money to go to my family's needs not hers

None really. I respect her work ethic and I think she gets unfairly slated. She didn't choose her life any more than I did.

I was once held up for 45 minutes trying to leave a car park so that the road was clear of traffic between Braemar and Balmoral for her to get home after the games.
What adds insult to injury is when she finally did go past it was in a fleet of vehicles that I bloody paid for

Yes this.
My dad was in the forces so grew with a lot of "for queen and country" stuff

Turned me into a republican.
Not just her. The lot of them. Monarchy needs to go imo.

Directly, in no way whatsoever. Indirectly, she and her over privileged family cost the country money and, globally, perpetuate racism, colonialism, jingoism and an archaic system of class and privilege that contributes to things like the Bullingdon Club and our jumped-up little Tory overlords, that needs to be overhauled and dragged screaming into the 21st century. Viva la revolution!

I used to be puzzled by the 'to serve the Queen', line at Brownies.
We had to sing the national anthem at school once or twice but I didn't know why we sang, "God save our Queen". I always wondered what she needed saving from.
I see her on money and stamps.

She hasn't impacted my life personally, but she has been a constant, reassuring presence in this country since long before I was born. I've never met her, never felt the need to, but I feel like she is sort of the grandmother of the country. I'm not a royalist, but I think I'll be sad when she dies. I like her stoic, stiff upper lip way of dealing with things. It's very British and I'm not one for emoting myself. I find all the emoting that goes on now with the younger royals and new interviews, etc, utter cringe-worthy.

She opened a building that my parents worked on.
The media coverage etc helped their business grow significantly.

*news interviews

for those saying you pay tax to keep her, its equivalent to £1.29 per year for each person, and of course the queen herself pays tax and council tax on her properties

She's irritated me for my entire adult life but only if I spend anytime thinking about her ridiculous over privilege and obscene wealth.
I don't give her any thought, works for me!

Yes but not everybody pays tax do they so the cost to the taxpayer is much more than that.

The Queen has been in mu life forever.

Who would you have instead and would it cost a lot less?

For better or for worse, I like the consistency of the Royal Family. Fashions / celebrities come and go, shiny politcians come in full off promises and quickly tarnish, the media is full of "Crisis" and catastrophe, but the Royal Family is there even with their own dramas which tend not to affect us that heavily.

I think their continued existance adds value to their tourist assets. The Crown Jewels are real, used ceremonial items, not just preserved, historic, museum pieces. It is a bit of a USP compared to other countries that are republics or heavily toned down monarchies.

Personally the Duke of Edinburgh's award has had a long term enrichment on my life. Other charitable foundations like The Prince's Trust also benefit society, or royal patronage does boost support/ publicity for charaties/ good causes/ issues particularly if they're not particularly trendy at that moment (e.g. Prince Charles having an early interest in environmental issues)

The Queen Mother said hello to me at a public event where the royals are regulars. Princess Anne opened a refurbished public services building in my home town as a child which was a bit of glamour.

We've got expensive assets to maintain anyway, and an additional President would have multi-million pound costs anyway.

I think the Royals add some USP to the UK and some feel good factor. At occasions like Jubilees/ major weddings, it does enourage community spirit.

The move to a smaller core of working royals is good and more likely to keep peripheral members of the family out of embarassing issues.

No difference to my life, and I think they should at least pay high taxes, given all the wealth we have helped them create over the generations.

She got her lady in waitng to write a thank you letter to 6 year old me after I drew her a picture when she visited Derby for the Silver Jubilee. Still have it!

As a UK civil servant I got an extra days holiday each year in honour of her birthday. I'm not British but happy to celebrate birthdays!

I feel rather the same about the Queen and the Royal Family as I do about religion. As a child I just assumed that was how it was - there was a monarchy and thee was a God. And then I got older and started thinking about both of those things and questioning them (in different ways of course). I think if you don't believe in God then the idea of an inherited monarchy or head of state can't possibly make sense. You really have to believe in some greater cosmic order to support such inherent unfairness.

The Queen has never had a direct effect on me but obviously in the background of my life she's affected lots of things - days off for weddings and jubilees, the national anthem that I learned and, as someone else mentioned, the Guide promise, endless headlines in tabloids ....I don't know how my life would have been different if I'd grown up in a modern democratic republic, like France or the US, because I can't separate the monarchy from all other noisome British exceptionalism that I've lived with, and all the cultural values of being British that have nothing to do with royalty.