As Ever #3 As If

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

Another thread to discuss the rebranding of ARO and the merchandising of With Love, Meghan

Part 2: www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/5278062-as-ever-2-whatever

Yes, when the going got tough there are certainly no accounts of her collapsing on the floor weeping.

Interestingly she was also said to be very close to her grandfather, George V, who thought for some time that she was likely to succeed to the throne, and was apparently also responsible for some of her constitutional teaching.

She no doubt sat in chairs and cried a few times though and found her family very difficult.

Yet she never felt the need to tell us about it.

“Grandpa England.”

Yes - lovely nickname

She did converse in French on TV, swapping from English, there are lots of instances where she has spoken a little of another language. I appreciate that it is learned prose but takes a certain intellect to be able to do that, and a lot of courage to then speak it out loud in front of people.

@RecoIIectionsMayVary

The Queen was fluent in French and was taught the language as a child in her school room. And I can recall after one visit the French President praised her for her fluency.

I think the most the Queen ever gave away was the "annus horribilis". Somewhat restrained compared to the gnashing of teeth and sobbing of H&M.

Interestingly she was also said to be very close to her grandfather, George V, who thought for some time that she was likely to succeed to the throne, and was apparently also responsible for some of her constitutional teaching.

She was only nine when he died, so he wouldn't have had much of a hand in her more advanced education. Queen Mary, who was 'bookish', apparently took a hand in her education.

Elizabeth and Margaret, like most of their generation, would have had their education disrupted by the war - in their case, not able to travel to London for classes, lectures, museums, etc.

Hannah is a woman who promotes the Trad Wife life, but is also a social influencer and runs a meat business with her husband (they sell and ship meat from their farm). They employ quite a few people in the business.

Hannah also appears in beauty contests. She won the title of Mrs American a couple of years ago. Her social media accounts very much reflect the trad wife lifestyle though - she’s 34 and already has 8 children, and although she maintains she is very happy with her life, she also gets so exhausted looking after her brood, home schooling and making everything from scratch (even down to the condiments - mustard and Worcestershire sauce) that she’s had to go to bed for a week at a time suffering from exhaustion.

Hannah lives in Utah with her rich husband (his dad owns an airline company) and they are a very conservative Mormon family. She recently appeared on the cover of Evie Magazine - an ultra conservative magazine which discourages women from having jobs and discourages the use of birth control.

It’s not a life I’d envy no matter how cosy the home. Hannah on cover of Evie Magazine

StrawberryWasp · Today 13:07

My impression of our late queen was that she wasn't an intellectual.

I think you may be right. But there's a difference between being intelligent and being intellectual. For instance, I have a friend who I can tell is way brighter and quicker than me but she's not intellectual at all - doesn't have any interest in literature, art, politics etc. I'm sure the Q was quick-witted and intelligent enough for most normal purposes. I'm in awe of her ability to remember all the things she had to remember when dealing with foreign dignitaries - almost right up to her death.

As to the question of why is Andrew so stupid...well, that's for another thread and I couldn't give a proper answer. But on a superficial level, it seems that the RF have a dud in every generation (like many families) and he's the black sheep in his era. I suppose Queen Victoria had a few hopeless children (they thought Edward VII was awful until he did rather better than expected as king!) and of course the horrendous Nazi-sympathising twit, Edward VIII - we dodged a bullet there.

And how many other options do they have, frankly? They've cut off both their families and Harry seems to have lost many old friends and Meghan just sheds them like an old snake-skin once they're no longer of use.

Shocked to hear that she didn't even reply to TP when he wrote to her after her marriage. Manners, woman!

Doing well in the academic field is not the same as being very intelligent. Intelligence is wider than that. The late Queen seems to have had common sense, emotional intelligence when interacting with the public at least, and the ability to apply past experience to current political situations.

She may or may not have achieved academic success but many people I've known with the highest IQs and academic success have been useless in everyday life.

I think she spoke both French and German and Philip was practically tri-lingual in Eng, French and German. Not saying either of them did 'street French' , but Philip was partly brought up in Paris.

There are interesting interviews on YouTube with Philip speaking in both French and German, and reading the comments below from native speakers, he seems to have been very good.

Going further back, I thing Victoria and Albert were most comfortable speaking German together - Victoria's mother was German and it might have been more her first language than English.

I might get flamed for saying this but I've thought it for a very long time. I don't think Meghan identifies with black American culture at all. Yes, I know there will have been societal pressure on her in the film/TV world to fit into a stereotype but in so many ways (changing her appearance -nose job, hair etc) and in writing 'Caucasian' on her ID, she seems to deny her black heritage.

I don't think she had any input in the choice of black performers at her wedding. As pps have said - that was Charles, trying to be inclusive and welcoming. I would imagine the preacher was totally out of Meghan's experience! And some people have asked, regarding the upcoming show, where the black 'friends' are. Haven't seen anything myself, but I've seen comments about the lack of diversity there.

One of the things that narked me about the Megxit statement was the "service is universal".

But the kind of Royal family service they were talking about very much isn't universal. Philanthropy is an avenue available to the privileged few, and is only swallowed with a healthy dose of humility.

Queen Elizabeth II could strip a car engine, and once sorted herself out in the Highlands when her Landrover started to have problems.

Yes, and they've not exactly given much service. More like self service.

There was an interesting article in The Times a few weeks ago about Montecito and what it might be like to live there, written by a reporter who had been sent there. One of the things she remarked on was that everyone is very rich, everything is very expensive, and the rich people are white. The only non-white faces you see are in service roles - delivering things and working in hospitality and retail. That's where H&M have chosen to live - a super-privileged white enclave.

I agree. Her only black friends are Serena Williams who I don't think is really a friend anymore, and Oprah Winfrey who isn't a friend either. I don't think you can really count Tyler Perry as he didn't even know her when he offered them his house.

@CoffeeCantata

Going further back, I thing Victoria and Albert were most comfortable speaking German together - Victoria's mother was German and it might have been more her first language than English.

Victoria's first language was german and I have read a few times that she spoke with a heavy german accent all her life

I've always thought they were a very underwhelming bunch generally. But I did admire the Queen, not universally (spending £££ on getting Andrew out of trouble for his perversions, bringing in/tightening rules on them not having to pay tax etc) but I did admire her for her dedication to her role and I felt she fulfilled it very well and with aplomb. I admire a job well done. She vowed to put her country first, I would argue that she put her family first but I still think her dedication to Britain was pretty high.

I do take your points, and agree. I'm not saying I envy or aspire to every aspect of her life but I do admire her. She married a billionaire and I'm sure they have help but I find more depth and value in the things she's built her life around compared to other super-rich people I can think of. I don't know much about Mormon culture but I imagine those children are having a better childhood than Archie and Lilli.

I am quite fascinated by Hannah's set-up - I am sure its all curated and she has lots of help with the grunt work but I love watching her free-range children playing, getting messy in their crunchy clothes in a natural environment. It reminds me of my own chaotic childhood on farm in Ireland as one of 9 children with loads of cousins and other big families locally dropping in to play. We has so much freedom and fun with each other.

Oh come on moog, people can come out of such meetings and comment on how switched-on the late queen was, without divulging what exactly was discussed.

My father met the late queen twice to discuss two of his postings. Like the examples given by @Ohpleeeease, he said that she was terribly well informed and asked very good questions. Of course he was able to say this without ever divulging the content of their discussions.

My mother was at these meetings as a plus-one, and contented herself with observing that she had flawless skin!