The Queen

[RadFordee 66]

Just saw on the tv the queen has died. RIP.

[Beekay 4,398]

R.I.P. Her Majesty..God Bless. Condolences to family.

[Jill Sparrow 9,665]

We Four, reunited.  Like my own mother, it was only a matter of time once her beloved husband had gone. She always said she would die in harness and that's exactly what she's done. Someone who means what she says! 

[RadFordee 66]

Spot on jill, whether you are a royalist or not there is no denying that she was an incredible lady.

[benjamin1945 15,560]

I remember watching her Coronation 70 years ago........when with about 20 family members we crowded into my Aunt Connies front room on Leybourne drive...........she was the only one with a Television................RIP your Majesty....

[Hey Arnold 71]

It will be strange for many of us, only ever knowing The Queen in our lifetimes, to now have a King. She was the embodiment of duty & service and typical of the wartime generation, the like of which I don't believe we will ever see again, and without whom the world would be a very different place. 

[MargieH 7,423]

I’m not a monarchist (although the alternative might well be worse) but I really admired the Queen - she was so dedicated to her job.  I’m feeling very emotional but pleased she had a relatively quick passing.  Wonder what the future holds for the monarchy now….

[Cliff Ton 10,005]

41 minutes ago, Hey Arnold said:

It will be strange for many of us to now have a King.

 

And he is already 73 years old before he starts the job !

[DJ360 6,385]

R.I.P. Even though I'm pretty neutral about the monarchy, she did a good job.

[MelissaJKelly 2,080]

RIP to our beloved Queen. I've always had a soft spot for the Queen and think she is so iconic of everything British. She will be missed by so many. What an incredible job she has done these 75 years! 

[Alpha 166]

The BBC and ITV have again obliged us with a royal bereavement programme shut-down. We've the funeral and a coronation to endure next.

I'm not a follower of the monarchy. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with another incumbent monarch, unless Liz Truss has certain ambitions to instigate a change of direction.

 

[LizzieM 9,272]

3 hours ago, benjamin1945 said:

I remember watching her Coronation 70 years ago........when with about 20 family members we crowded into my Aunt Connies front room on Leybourne drive...........she was the only one with a Television................RIP your Majesty....

Watching the Coronation at a neighbours house on a tiny tv (with a magnifying glass fixed to the front of it) is my very first memory, I was 3 at the time.  

[MRS B 317]

I am a fan of the monarchy but what I do find interesting historically is that the new head of the Church of England and his Queen Consort are both divorcees and this is acceptable and divorce is recognised by the Church. Of course the creator of the Church of England did so because he wanted to get rid of his first wife to marry Boleyn and that was acceptable. Why was it not acceptable that both Princess Margaret and Charles could not marry the loves of their life at the time ?  Interesting conundrum.

 

[katyjay 4,997]

@benjamin1945I thought for a minute we were related! I thought you were talking about MY Auntie Connie, she also was the only person we knew with a television, and we went to hers to watch the Coronation. She was on Bailey Street Basford though, not Leybourne Dr!

[HSR 276]

4 hours ago, MRS B said:

Princess Margaret and Charles could not marry the loves of their life at the time ?  Interesting conundrum.

Didn't they not?..

I'm not a royalist but have respect for the Queen..devotion to her responsibility..

 

Recall my Aunt, after retiring doing 

volunteer work and receiving a MBE.

 

Put crudely she. couldn't care two s**t"s, was accused of arriving late (Wrong door) but on the job,advised only hold hand's to you are pushed away...

 

Still..RIP 

Will will never see the same again..

[HSR 276]

Thanks Katy..lol

 

[RadFordee 66]

12 hours ago, Alpha said:

The BBC and ITV have again obliged us with a royal bereavement programme shut-down. We've the funeral and a coronation to endure next.

I'm not a follower of the monarchy. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with another incumbent monarch, unless Liz Truss has certain ambitions to instigate a change of direction.

 

Whether you are in favour of the monarchy or not, the death of our Queen is a monumental historical event, not only here in Britain but all around the world. There are plenty of other tv channels nowadays if you dont want to watch it, or you could do what I do when any kind of sport comes on which I have zero interest in, I hit the off button!

[The Pianoman 1,484]

Well said!

[Jill Sparrow 9,665]

8 hours ago, MRS B said:

Why was it not acceptable that both Princess Margaret and Charles could not marry the loves of their life at the time

Princess Margaret could have married Peter Townsend had she been prepared to renounce her place in line to the throne. Clearly, she wasn't.  Many years later, she revealed that she and he made a pact that neither would ever marry anyone else but when she received a communication from him that he was going to marry again (a woman whose resemblance to Margaret was striking) Margaret was so angry that she accepted a proposal from Antony Armstrong Jones,who had recently made the offer. She said she didn't really want to marry anyone but did so because Peter Townsend had broken their pact. Small wonder it didn't work out!

 

As for Charles, I believe he did ask Camilla to marry him when they were young but she turned him down because she didn't fancy the restrictions life within his family would bring with it. His first wife might have been wise to have done likewise.

[Alpha 166]

RadFordee,

 

That's it I did hit the button, hence my comment. We have monumental events, far more important to consider than the demise of a ninety six year old.

The far reaching effects of the energy crisis, a European war, rising cost of living, imminent business closures, housing, unemployment; the possibility of the return of winter covid and the flu and national debt. 

[benjamin1945 15,560]

Kindness and Sympathy are lovely things.......to find time for..........

[RadFordee 66]

@Alpha I completely agree that the events you highlight, war in Europe, cost of living etc, are newsworthy issues. However over the last 70 years events such as these have come and gone and now are back again. Constant though, during these difficult times has been The Queen and this, coupled with the fact that she was the Head of State, not only for us but also for many commonwealth countries, and is held in high regard throughout most of the world, justifies the blanket media coverage

[MRS B 317]

Always benjamin1945, too much bad feeling in the world not to show kindness, it makes a lot of difference. 
The Queen had that quality of making people feel special and valued irrelevant of their circumstances.

[DJ360 6,385]

12 hours ago, Alpha said:

The BBC and ITV have again obliged us with a royal bereavement programme shut-down. We've the funeral and a coronation to endure next.

I'm not a follower of the monarchy. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with another incumbent monarch, unless Liz Truss has certain ambitions to instigate a change of direction.

 

 

I agree that it is just too much.

I recognise the huge significance of the passing of the Queen and would have no problem with the endless repetition of a few themes on one channel each of BBC and ITV.

But, to have BBC 1&2 both carrying exactly the same programming, consisting of endless repetition of stuff, and the other BBC channels 'suspended', smacks of compulsory mourning and makes the BBC in particular look increasingly like a 'state' broadcaster, controlling the 'message', rather than a supposedly 'independent' broadcaster.

I've long complained that the BBC is too fond of focusing on a single event to the total exclusion of all else, and throwing its schedules out-of the window to do so,  whether that be the passing of a monarch, or the overrun of a golf tournament. It really is a ridiculous habit, but at present, to pretend there is no other news at a time of huge political, social and economic turmoil, is not just careless, it is dangerous 

[Alpha 166]

That's is also part of my argument. The BBC has still not come to terms with impartiality in broadcasting. 

This coverage of the the current issue is exactly like DJ360's comment of state control, something we might well expect from a totalitarian state.

Who's pulling the strings here, the BBC lovies who still cannot release themselves from the rigorous control of the self governing BBC dictator John Reith, or is it the hand-wringing palace mandarins or both.