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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think The Queen should retire?

411 replies

ThinWomansBrain · 14/11/2021 21:09

I am not a monarchist - but given that we have a Royal Family....
Given her age, understandably failing health, and the recent widowhood, is it be reasonable to think the Queen should step down and retire gracefully?
OK, maybe stay in post until the Jubillee next year, but then hand over.

OP posts:
TracyBeakerSoYeah · 14/11/2021 23:48

The Queen has actually missed 7 Remembrance Sundays due to either pregnancy or overseas state travel over the last 69 years.
That's pretty good going 62 out of 69

EdithWeston · 14/11/2021 23:48

She won't abdicate, but she could retire and install Prince Charles as Regent.

Whether she does will depend on how her health really is (there's a tendency to assume the worst after missing The Cenotaph, but that doesn't necessarily mean there is something serious in the background)

Crankley · 14/11/2021 23:48

Monarchs cannot 'retire'. They can only abdicate which she will never do. Charles will have taken on more of her duties and if it becomes necessary will be appointed her Regent.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 14/11/2021 23:51

They didn't tell us she'd been in hospital

So how did you know she had been? 🙈

EdithWeston · 14/11/2021 23:52

To abdicate is the same as retiring, so she can retire (abdicate)

It's not quite.

Abdication means ceasing to be monarch . Retiring does not have to mean that, as the installation of a Regent would achieve the same purpose. There is good precent for that - George III's reign was known as the Regency because it was happening then as he was unfit to carry out the role on medical grounds, but was still king.

KristinAmandaThomas · 14/11/2021 23:53

I’m not a royalist but I have so much respect for the Queen. Absolutely fascinating woman, and always doing her best for her country. I’m glad she’s been blessed with so many years of good health and hope she enjoys her last years in the way she chooses - if that’s public engagements or the odd zoom from home so be it. Speculation about when she might die is just so unpleasant and unnecessary.

Supersimkin2 · 14/11/2021 23:59

I hope she officially gives PC and co the big stuff to do. I slightly hope Prince Charles gets a go on the merry go round before he''s too old and ill to enjoy it.

If HM Lasts as long as the Queen Mother did, PC will be 80 when he does his first day at work.

It's unfair, and, whisper it, not much good for the country - hardly any point banging on about service and duty when you're too old to do anything properly or provide much service.

Twilight7777 · 14/11/2021 23:59

I believe she has died too, and they didn’t want to upstage the remembrance parade today.

Iflyaway · 15/11/2021 00:04

Yes, she is amazing but I think she should at this age be able to put her feet up and delegate to the next generation before they all become obsolete.

I live in a country where the present Royal Family is going ahead with modern times.

To speculate that she has died is just tacky I will shed a tear when it happens because she has been part of my life, if only for the length of time she has reigned and change can be scary

EmeraldShamrock · 15/11/2021 00:10

I thought her hospital stay was to avoid visiting NI for the Centenary, it was a good choice not visiting for it, I hoped she'd told a white one.

Gremlinsateit · 15/11/2021 00:11

Geez, some ghouls on this thread. The queen vowed to God that she would never abdicate. She is the head of the Church of England and believes she is fulfilling her duty. She takes the vow that she made at her coronation, and confirmed subsequently, seriously. Her uncle’s situation was completely different, both because he was never crowned and because he was a Nazi-sympathising shit.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 15/11/2021 00:12

@Twilight7777

I believe she has died too, and they didn’t want to upstage the remembrance parade today.
You really think Remembrance Sunday that occurs every year would take precedence over announcing the head of state has died?

Think it through.

Werehamster · 15/11/2021 00:13

People are always speculating that The Queen has died but they are withholding the news. it's been going on for years. Why they would withhold the news is beyond me. It makes no sense.

I thought The Queen seemed to be doing well after Prince Philip's funeral, so I suspect it is just a bout of bad health. Hopefully, she will be feeling better soon. It seems she likes to be active, so this must be hard for her.

TheGirlCat · 15/11/2021 00:19

Lolling hard at someone thinking they hid the news of the Monarch dying just for some remembrance service. ffs Confused

RobertaFirmino · 15/11/2021 00:20

Poor woman's just got a bit of a bad back, I've got one too and ER's got 50 years on me! I'm no monarchist but she's a human being and does not deserve to be speculated on like this.

Gingerkittykat · 15/11/2021 00:37

I can't imagine Charles really wants to start being king at the age of 73. He probably just wants to retire to potter round his gardens. The throne should pass directly to William if anyone has any sense

Yup, because we really need an adulterer with a geography degree as our head of state.

It's time to abolish the monarchy completely.

Babyroobs · 15/11/2021 00:45

@Twilight7777

I believe she has died too, and they didn’t want to upstage the remembrance parade today.
Or COP26 maybe.
Craftgirlx · 15/11/2021 00:48

As mentioned before, the monarch cannot simply retire. They follow the belief that God decides who is monarch and God alone, this is why it was such a scandal when the abdication happened. (Though thank goodness it did because the Duke of Windsor was a complete bellend). The Queen is head of the Church of England and is a deeply religious lady, there is no way she would ever break her vow to God. Charles will follow the same beliefs as his mother and therefore will not pass the role straight to William either.

Snoozer11 · 15/11/2021 00:52

@TannyFickler

I thought it was a bit of a brave move to produce all those new banknotes with her face. I would have hung on a bit…
You know they'll still be legal tender?
IWouldntHavetoWorkatAll · 15/11/2021 00:56

She would never abdicate, she would see that as a disgrace.

If she becomes too ill to carry out her duties then Charles will become Prince Regent and act on her behalf for the remainder of her life.

Marcipex · 15/11/2021 00:59

Of course it’s a sombre event, but I agree that the royals did look very grim on the whole.
Kate was very pinched and pale, Sophie looked deeply unhappy. Even Anne, such a stalwart, seemed crushed.
They are all obviously very worried.

StucklnAMuumuuCantGetOutOflt · 15/11/2021 01:04

Isn't it simply that Queenie has cystitis but because it's her nether regions, they are calling it back sprain instead?

Mummyrowland · 15/11/2021 01:08

She will never retire she is a work horse how served in ww2. She most definitely isn't dead the country would have known

BasiliskStare · 15/11/2021 01:08

"We shall not easily see her like again"

I agree with this but I cross my fingers she stays well enough to do enough jobs in the future for a while yet. Others can take over some other jobs.

Her dying and we not being told is just bonkers - there would be a notice posted on the gates of BP & the BBC informed faster than you could say Elizabeth

I hope her son and grandson ( at the appropriate time ) can step into her shoes and be good.

TannyFickler · 15/11/2021 03:07

@Snoozer11 yes Wink of course, just felt mischievous.