Queens speech

[Imfinallyhappy1]

Am I the only one who actually couldn’t give a shiny shit what she has to say at this time.

People are dying , everyone is affected so the last thing we need is a rich old woman sitting in her ivory castle asking us to stay calm.

It’s really wound me up, it’s constantly being mentioned on the news!

Yes I said it doesn’t have to be abolish.

HM has a lot of good will and can still pull off a speech but who knows what the feeling will be when she’s gone.

Then there’s the population aging. Polls might start to look different. Will be interesting to see what happens.

Just want to make it clear, when i mentioned revolution i wasn't advocating for one, but I've just always been curious as to how the abolishment of the monarchy would happen without one, i certainly wouldn't want a revolution!

The democratic way - have a political party win a General Election with a manifesto commitment to abolish the monarchy.

So how does that square with the requirement for MPs to swear allegiance to the monarch and their lawful heirs ? Crossed fingers ?

Say what you will about Sinn Fein, but as republicans, they aren't hypocrites ...

Serendipity - so you can’t see a way it could change?

We are a democracy, if polls show overwhelming support to not have a monarchy are we still stuck then

It is my (completely unfounded) belief that Queen Mum only hated the nazis because Wallace Simpson so loved them

Given that the family home of Glamis was turned into a recuperation place for the wounded in WW1 and that the Queen Mum have seen exactly what the Germans had done to the patients, it's not much of a stretch to believe she'd loathe them, Wallis Simpson or not

Then there was the banning of Philip's sisters from the wedding, because they'd married Germans ... hard not to think she'd have had a hand in that

you do know there's a difference between Germans (those of the time of the Kaiser) and Nazis, right?

I don't think the Queen Mum had any particular loathing of anything, and since they're constitutional who cares what her and her husband thought if the PM of the day had wanted to allign with Hitler they'd have had to lump it. And given her loathing for Simpson I still maintain (with absolutely no evidence whatsoever apart from what i have read seen of the Queen Mum) that if Wallis had said the sky was blue she would have said it was pink. Just because.

HM has a lot of good will and can still pull off a speech
but with those bloody impossible to fathom strangulated vowels. Awful.

curious as to how the abolishment of the monarchy would happen without one, i certainly wouldn't want a revolution!
I suspect not enough people are bothered enough about them over and above general grumbling to stage a revolution. I do think that after HM dies and we have the prospect of Charles ( who I actually dont mind but many do followed by dullsville William they will die out through just becoming irrelevant. There will he fewer and fewer of them needed until they will just become some old bloke and his wife doing ceremonial duties now and again. I suspect Australia and Canada will become Republics in my lifetime.

Serendipity - so you can’t see a way it could change?

Not if a political parties MPs have to swear an oath to keep the Monarch. You'd either have to accept the oath is meaningless, or be prepared to break it. Neither of which is a great way to run a country.

Now if the Monarch were to suggest an end to the Monarchy - well that's a different avenue altogether. But since you'd need to be stark staring mad to give up such a life of privilege and wealth it's unlikely to happen "just like that". And even if the Monarch were to resign or abdicate, "the system" will just pop another onto the throne. Not for nothing is there a popular childrens game called Whack-a-Monarch.

We are a democracy, if polls show overwhelming support to not have a monarchy are we still stuck then

We never chose as a democracy to have a monarch. We are a constitutional monarchy with some nods towards democracy.

I suspect not enough people are bothered enough about them over and above general grumbling to stage a *revolution
*
I agree, I'm not a monarchist, but I certainly don't wish them harm

Serendipity I agree with you on them never choosing to give up all that privilege. But am surprised that there’s no way out another way. Stuck with them!

I thought HM did a good job, vowels I didn’t really think about but did appreciate her pauses, whereas Charles’ voice the other day jarred. Charles and William are quite awkward and Harry has buggered orf so it’s lucky Kate is pleasant, and people will like her clothes.

I agree that once the Queen goes it’ll start to look very different.

Lots of people seem to confuse love of the institution with personal like for her as an individual.

Serendipity I agree with you on them never choosing to give up all that privilege. But am surprised that there’s no way out another way.

The French found a way.

I agree, I'm not a monarchist, but I certainly don't wish them harm

It's nothing personal (unless they chose to make it personal, which the Queen has done). It's the institution of Monarchy that is the grit in the lens. The whole idea that there is a bunch of folks that are in every way better than you and I and our children based on an accident of birth.

Say Liz 2 potters on til 2025. That puts Charles at 76/77 similar life expectancy to his parents we will be looking at 2045-ish when he pegs out

I'm not so sure, TBH. Granted he's just survived the virus and I don't have a crystal ball, but looking at his purple complexion and hideously bloated hands I'll be amazed if he makes it past eighty

Among the "blood Windsors" it's true the women enjoy long lives, but not so true of the men. Of these, there's only the first made it even to his late 70s, and doubtless the RF wish he hadn't:

Edward VIII Age 78 Throat cancer
George VI Age 56 Coronary thrombosis
Prince William of Gloucester Age 30 Air crash
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Age 73 "Natural causes" said to be a stroke
Prince John Age 14 Epilepsy
George V Age 71 Euthanased
Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence Age 32 Influenza
Edward VII Age 69 Heart attack

‘The French way’

As much as I think it a shame we cannot vote these people out of their position I doubt there’s enough energy in the British for this

On Charles I reckon he’ll hang around but who knows

Yeah I don’t think Charles will live as long as Liz.

I imagine Wills on the throne by 2035.

Which will be a shock to him, because he’s quite lazy. Kate is popular though.

Among the "blood Windsors"

Now that is a very tangled family tree to start unpicking. Prince Philip (that you left off your list) is a "blood Windsor" by descent from Queen Victoria and kicking along aged 98 ...

Of course when the UK becomes a US state, they'll have to go anyway.

you do know there's a difference between Germans (those of the time of the Kaiser) and Nazis, right?

I do indeed know that, but given the Queen Mum was of the generation who saw not one but two land wars started by the same country within a generation I'm not convinced she'd have made much of a distinction - and among those of her age she wouldn't have been alone

Totally with you on the Queen's strangulated vowels though, and in her youth they were even worse (21st birthday broadcast, etc.) I've always believed she had voice coaching at some point to smooth them out, but as with so much else who knows?

My late DM always felt that Edward VIII was a little too friendly with the Nazis, and was one reason why Hitler felt there was a good chance the British Empire would side with Germany. The Nazis were absolutely obsessed with the British upper classes* (just look at pictures of Goering out in the forests ...) and felt that when it came to stamping down hard on the menace of bolsheviks, the British upper class would have been right behind them.

There's a reason Hess was headed for the Duke of Hamiltons estate, and it was because he thought the upper classes could be talked round to negotiating a peace.

*Somewhere, there is a period drama to be made about Ribbentrop blundering around the UK as ambassador - comedy gold.

You're absolutely right, SerendipityJane - I was forgetting that Philip's also blood family, but he was different in coming via the female line through Victoria's second daughter, which might have diluted things a bit

I forgot another one too in Prince George Duke of Kent. He was only 36 and also died in an air crash, though I believe that's been questioned in light of his deeply dubious lifetsyle

My late DM always felt that Edward VIII was a little too friendly with the Nazis

Again, she certainly wasn't alone
I recommend Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury for an excellent read on exactly this subject

My late DM always felt that Edward VIII was a little too friendly with the Nazis

He didn't just flirt with Nazism as give it a right good seeing to round the back of the pub at closing time.

He didn't just flirt with Nazism as give it a right good seeing to round the back of the pub at closing time.

You, dear poster, may have just won the internet today !