I am sad to report that The Queen Mother passed away at 3:15pm this afternoon, Saturday 30th March.
Our thoughts and respects to the Royal Family during this incredibly difficult time.
Dan J
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Dan,
That is sad, really sad.
I was in her presence once, a really, really nice person.
Mark.
To the dickhead who posted the reply to Dan - because a person died. A real person, not an anonymous moron like you. Pathetic that you can use a death to spout views which you not only do not have the balls to back up with your name, but which you no doubt copied from someone not having the wherewithall to have your own thoughts.
Or should we be rude when your Mother dies because we don't like your politics. Assuming, of course, that you have, or ever had, one.
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Ditto Mark, @!#$ off!
I have no real love for the Royals, but neither am I keen on the republic idea.
However, I feel that I should pay my respects to the mother of our Queen [who is just about the only thing blocking giving everything to the French, sorry the eu]
Also, even though I had never met her, everyone who had said that she was a most pleasant person to spend any amount of time with.
So rest in piece Ma'am, and pillock rot in hell.
Kev
P.S, sorry for poor grammar, having bad day
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Er, I don't think any of us are given a choice as to whether the moment we leave this earth is appropriate or not.
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"What amazes me is that the continental Royal Families (Holland, etc) seem to be far more respected than ours - why is this so?"
I think some of it might be due to Rupert Murdoch's press. I believe he is a committed anti-royalist and has unleashed his tabloid journalists on the Royal family. Not that I'm a royalist, but I wouldn't support any other system in this country.
RIP Queen's Mum.
And I hope to God Milly is found safe.
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Agree entirely, esp. about the Dirty Digger (who is now a naturalised American, just to circumvent foreign ownership laws in the US).
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The unpleasant and uncalled for post above only serves to illustrate the pusillanimous nature of many anti-Royals.
The Queen Mother was one of the old Royals, who understood the meaning of reserve and dignity.
Rather unlike many of those who would like to ditch our Royals and head down the bland Republican route.
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I have never understood the anti-royal movement. Even those who subscribe to it seem unable to make the separation between the institution itself and the individuals within it. The Queen Mother was a wonderful example of what she believed the institution and the family who bears its responsibilities to mean to the British people, primarily one of public service. Just look at the period of history she lived through.
To suggest otherwise is mean-spirited in the extreme. RIP indeed, there will not be another like her.
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I had the pleasure of meeting HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother several times over the years, the first time when I was 15 and the source of a motoring link which I might get round to originating later.
Well done indeed, Dan J, for originating this thread, and well said everyone else but Vive La Republique. Curious though that VLR and Fox on the Run, with his very intriguing and thought-provoking post, appear to be related.
Jack
PS VLR - If you have to quote your unwelcome views at such a sad time - and you don't - learn how to spell what you say you stand for.
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What times she has seen. A link with Empire and with the darkest days of 1940. A privileged life but nonetheless one of steel and leadership. She should be remembered with honour and dignity.
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She also managed to convey a great sense of fun and occasional irreverence, and in so doing brought the monarchy a little "nearer" its subjects and endeared herself to people.
Incidentally the anti-Royals and the pro-Republicans might ponder this. I and a good many of the people I know are married to non-British partners, who come from a republic with a history of instability, muddled culture (Moslem/Christian/Buddhist/tribal) and foreign (US and Spanish) domination and influence. Virtually without exception they envy the UK its strong sense of identity and central focus provided by "the Royals" -- to use that distasteful tabloid expression-- because it is something their own set of national identity values lacks, and which they seem unable to find in the mundane, mediocre leaders they produce. They yearn for the kind of roots which an enduring monarchy seems to provide. Maybe we don't notice that ourselves because we have it already.
Thus they show far more interest in the Royal Family than I do for example, and can tell me facts I didn't know about it. The Queen Mother was revered especially because she seemed to be just that, the nation's grandmother. In a society which reveres bloodlines and respects relatives, what the Royals represent seems to hold something many of these people yearn for.
So, those who would propose an abandonment of this in favor of throwing out history and replacing it with a bland alternative might usefully give a thought to something that has probably never crossed their tiny narrow minds. It is the same mindset which would happily hand over centuries of history and evolved resulting strength of national identity to a bunch of suits in a foreign country.
I am not especially pro-Royal myself but I can see the value of the institution when I hear it described to me by people from other countries.
I promise I will be back on motoring next time as I struggle with what all those different colored lines and blobs on UK roads mean all over again! Last time Growlette remarked "with all this crap you have to look out for and those dumb cameras, how the hell are you supposed to have time to look at the goddamn trappic?" -- another LDC's denizen's view of UK!!!
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well said Mark(B) and Growler
As the son of an Expat I am one step removed and very proud to be a Citizen of the U.S.A. But my grandmother who was born in 1890 and passed on in 1985 made sure the the household was kept up to date via her subscriptions to the London Illustrated news, Country Life, and The Field.... and my Mother who is now well up into her 80s has kept up the latter 2...
As I type this I am listing to the bells on sunday from Radio 4 via the web and feel a deep sense of loss akin to that I felt at the passing of my own grandmother... England has lost her grandmother and one of the last bastions of certain 'standards' of personal and interpersonal conduct that even in the so called 'class-less life' of the US have sadly passed away.
Be sure the loss of the Queen Mother is felt all over the world for who she was much more than just what she stood for. One of my favorite set of images of her are of pulling A pint in Youngs Pub... but then photo shot done for the press she went on to drink it and enjoy it... not something I could see her daughter the Queen (god bless her) doing!
~Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island, U.S.A.
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I worked, while at college in London, at Westminster Abbey and at St.Margaret's (The Parliament Church) - a very interesting time! In doing so I inevitably met many people, famous and infamous and also members of the Royal Family. Compared to the MP's and their like the Royal Family were at times, humble but always polite - the MP's were just full of their own importance. If the anti-Royals would prefer Tony Blair to be the Head of State with "Queen" Cheri then go ahead but it would be a huge mistake and we would lose what makes us the internationally respected nation we have become. We would also lose the immensely tolerant Head of State - imagine Tony Blair as HoS - foxhunting for one would be banned overnight and then anything else he, personally, took offence to regardless of people's individual rights.
While things are fine - the economy strong(ish), weather good and we're not being bombed people very quickly forget how the Royal Family give the UK that strong sense of identity and a clearly defined focus in times of trouble. Don't forget that.
What amazes me is that the continental Royal Families (Holland, etc) seem to be far more respected than ours - why is this so?
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MPs are elected and have every right to feel important in a democracy, because they are. If they get above themselves we can vote for someone else next time.
The royal family can afford to be humble because their wealth and power has been gifted to them by us, their loyal subjects, in perpetuity. It's rather pathetic IMO, that we remain such a cap-doffing nation, regardless of how good they are as people. And I doubt they are as pleasant and honourable as they'd like us to think. Who is?
It's sad that any family should lose two people in such rapid succession, though.
ChrisR
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Donkeys years ago, in the mid 1980s, I was walking up the east side of Hyde Park when I stumbled across a curious little event. A bunch of guardsmen has some of thse funny littlle ceremonial cannons, and banged them off in sequence for the benefit of a little old lady dressed in blue standing with a few other people in a temporary viewing platform. It must have been the Queen Mum's 85th birthday. There were no other spectators. No one stopped me or waved at me to go away as I walked through this curious, but pleasant scenario. I remember thinking at the time it could only happen in England. On a more serious note, see the posting headed Milly at the top. This is much more important than the final demise of an old lady.
HJ
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These things are both important, HJ, just in very different ways. We are not all bolsheviks.
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The soldiers would have been from The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery not guardsmen. Technically they are part of Household Troops not The Household Division.
They were given that name by King George VI and, after his death in 1952, The Queen decreed they should keep the same name.
C
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I didn't mean to offen you, Tomo, but, hopefully Milly is at the beginning of her life. The Queen Mother was at its natural end.
HJ
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