To think the monarchy will end with the death of Queen Elizabeth 2

[Gingertea2020]

As an Aussie am curious to know if British monarchy can really prevail beyond life of Queen.

Recently there has been the biography of Megxit and details, intricate, of the fall out between the two Princes and their wives.

Added to this there is the Prince Andrew saga.

With all that is happening in world, will it really continue ?

I can’t imagine a Prince Charles.

I genuinely wonder why the British bother with it all.

I agree, Johnson is dreadful but he can at least be voted out, unlike a King or Queen we were landed with but didn't like

You don’t like Queen Bet? Why?

[quote Snaleandthewhail]@Pelleas I know, I know, I know... I have argued against constitutional monarchy since my early twenties. But your phrase

It would be for the public to decide whether we wanted the PM to assume the role of Head of State.

Terrifies me at the moment...[/quote]
This. The thought of a party like labour in charge terrifies me. They have eaten themselves. Shit JC as HoS

I’ll stick with what we have at the moment 👍

@Snaleandthewhail One problem we have at the moment is very low turnout in elections. It's impossible to judge whether a higher turnout in elections would change the overall trend of results, but I have often wondered whether, if the stakes were higher (even if only nominally) and we were electing a 'president' we would achieve a higher turnout.

@Codexdivinchi

I agree, Johnson is dreadful but he can at least be voted out, unlike a King or Queen we were landed with but didn't like

You don’t like Queen Bet? Why?

Because she is a hypocrite. She's head of the CofE - a Christian church - yet she is sitting on piles of wealth, owning multiple properties, while many of her subjects are homeless or in extreme poverty. How dare she pop up at Christmas talking about following the example of Christ when she so spectacularly fails to do so herself? I say this as an agnostic, so I am not 'offended' by the religious aspect of what she's doing, just the sheer, blatant, unadulterated hypocrisy of the way she lives her life. I would actually mind it less if she was honest enough to say 'stuff the proles, I'm going to enjoy my dozens of houses while they wonder where their next meal is coming from'.

When the Queen dies it's not just the end of an era but the end of an age.

The monarchy would almost seem pointless after that.

@bridgetreilly

Most of us have never known anything but The Queen.

Yes. I will genuinely be devastated. I couldn't understand the public displays of grief for Diana at all, and I thought it was overplayed for the Queen Mother too. But I can't bear the thought of the Queen just not being there any more.

Diana's death was the first time I felt a stranger in my own country. Yes, it was sad, yes it was tragic, but it was as if the country had a mental breakdown and never really recovered from it. It's the kind of scenes you'd expect if the leader of North Korea died.

Queen Elizabeth is the personification of the British spirit, duty and do your grieving in private and was hammered at the time for not joining in the public wailing and mass outpouring of grief over her death. If ever the saying of 'one death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic' was true it was over that.

Diana's death was the first time I felt a stranger in my own country. Yes, it was sad, yes it was tragic, but it was as if the country had a mental breakdown and never really recovered from it. It's the kind of scenes you'd expect if the leader of North Korea died.
I think if you failed to show grief at the death of the leader of North Korea you might expect a wee knock on the door.
When Diana died news readers were crying. Nobody made them.

When Diana died news readers were crying. Nobody made them.

People being upset when they heard the news is natural. It went on for weeks.

When Diana died the hypocritical hand wringing got right up my nose
even satirical radio 4 shows went all mushy

I did not sign a condolence book for her because she was a manipulative clothes horse when alive
and stayed the same once she was dead

People being upset when they heard the news is natural. It went on for weeks. But I still cry when I see the footage of Diana's coffin being driven home and people throwing flowers at the hearse. I can't help it. No one makes me and DH says 'FFS not again!'

Totally agree with you about the scenes over Diana's death, annabel85
A certain sadness over the loss of a young woman's life is natural, but wailing in the streets over someone you don't even know? Hurling abuse at others deemed insufficiently upset? The widespread promotion of emotion over reason?

I don't think so

Agree with @Pelleas

We forget she is also the head of a church

That sit on untold wealth and chooses not to share it

You don’t like Queen Bet? Why?

Lilibet has played a blinder in putting up and shutting up but the mask's slipping lately. She can't contain her disdain for the opinion of the proles when it comes to silently championing His Royal Dryness Andrew.

We saw signs when awkward for the firm Diana died but now her favourite son's involved the contempt is blatant.

the contempt is blatant

Can’t be that blatant. I haven’t noticed it.

@Alsohuman

the contempt is blatant

Can’t be that blatant. I haven’t noticed it.

What do you make of giving him the full run of a selection of opulent palaces to hunker down in?

Horse riding in full view of the paps a few days after 'that' interview?

Having him riding shotgun on a church visit?

He’s living exactly where he always has. He went riding with his mum and went to church with her. None of that says blatant contempt to me.

The reason people went mad at the death of Diana is that Diana represented hope that at least someone in the establishment (or who was seen to be the establishment) CARED about them. Saw them as people rather than workhorses and peasants.

True or not, that's what people thought. She was the establishment. But she cared.

When she died, that idea died with her. Without realising, those people were grieving their own damnation inside the class system. That's where the madness came from. Not love, but oppression and the death of hope.

Could you be any more dramatic?

The death of hope 😂

I have recently been watching "Real Royalty" on Youtube -some very informative reports and the history, major events (I am not talking about the "yellow press" reports, but the serious ones i.e. Edward VIII, has anyone heard about Archbishop Lang?, the Plantagenets?, The Duke of Edinburgh' mother? . Before anyone here starts shouting for a republic, please inform yourselves at least a little over 1000 years history.
P.S. Oliver Cromwell gave it a go and look what happened to him!

@DesdemonaDryEyes

Could you be any more dramatic?

The death of hope 😂

Mate, I'm not saying that's how I felt, but then I wasn't one of the millions of Brits weeping in the streets over a person I'd never met. 🤷‍♀️

The whole thing was lunacy, mass madness, but understandably so. The reason was that people felt she cared, now she was gone, none of the rest cared or would ever care. It's why people now put so much misplaced hope on William's shoulders - people need to believe some one "up there" gives a shit they don't.

Without realising, those people were grieving their own damnation inside the class system. That's where the madness came from. Not love, but oppression and the death of hope.

That's got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on mn.

It was Britain in the 1990s not the age of some horrifically brutal dictatorship.

It was Britain in the 1990s not the age of some horrifically brutal dictatorship.

And yet your people were weeping in the streets, gathering around an enormous mountain of flowers and candles and teddies. It was considered normal that children should come out to comfort the mob after their Mum had just died and then walk publicly behind her coffin in their own grief. The entire thing was a total loss of control and mass madness and it was thought at one point that the monarchy could fall, thought from within the corridors of power.

This all actually looked pretty exactly like the stereotypical mad grieving seen in dictatorships and I'm not sure those who were inside the madness at the time realise how insane it appeared from outside the UK.

PicsInRed

The madness came from the media, not because she was "hope", For long enough if anyone said anything about diana they were vilified for not loving the saint that she was made by the (hypocritical) media.

As previous people have pointed out, I don’t think there is an appetite for a president. The US one isn’t selling it to us and Boris is not a candidate most of us would like to see as head of state! I’m not a royal fan but content to let the line of succession do its thing.

@PicsInRed

It was Britain in the 1990s not the age of some horrifically brutal dictatorship.

And yet your people were weeping in the streets, gathering around an enormous mountain of flowers and candles and teddies. It was considered normal that children should come out to comfort the mob after their Mum had just died and then walk publicly behind her coffin in their own grief. The entire thing was a total loss of control and mass madness and it was thought at one point that the monarchy could fall, thought from within the corridors of power.

This all actually looked pretty exactly like the stereotypical mad grieving seen in dictatorships and I'm not sure those who were inside the madness at the time realise how insane it appeared from outside the UK.

Yes, SOME of the people were weeping in the streets, I most certainly wasn't one of them. Not all of us took leave of our senses. It was bloody mad.

The whole thing was bizarre and to many of us inside the UK it appeared just as insane and embarrassing as it did to anyone outside the UK, I can assure you.

Certainly nobody I knew at the time took part in the ridiculous display of competitive grieving and that's exactly what I think it was, competitive grieving.

And yes, I agree, it was exactly like the stereotypical mad grieving seen in dictatorships, which is usually required by the state on pain of possible death.

Tbh, I think it was driven by a similar mind set. They wanted to appear to be grieving more than anyone else, not because they might be shot if they didn't, obviously, but because they wanted other people to think that they had a deeper, closer connection and feeling for this woman that the media had made into some sort of extraordinary, special human being.

Mass hysteria at its extreme.