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The Queen Mother has died (1 Viewer)

Andrew Pratt

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This is a sad day for the british monarcy...she was one of the few bright spots in the royal family.
 

Dan Brecher

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The situation here is interesting. Naturally all the main terrestrial TV channels have broken down usual transmission in order to cover this, but the feeling isn't one of total shock or sadness. She was 101 and had been incredibly frail in recent months, but I am curiously watching the situation on public reaction here because there is a growing apathy toward the royal family.

Regardless, may she rest in peace.

Dan
 

andrew markworthy

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She had been ill for some time, and the announcement could not be said to be unexpected. Nonetheless, she was easily the most popular of the Royal Family (with the possible exception of the Queen); unlike the late Diana (who was, with all respect to her memory, deeply unpopular with a large proportion of the British population) she commanded genuine respect, even amongst those who are not very fond of the whole idea of monarchy. I think the essence of it was that she expressed a certain dignity and an awareness of the importance of maintaining a particular image (decidedly unlike Diana or indeed several of the other royals).

Dan, I think that thee and me are probably slightly too young to appreciate how popular she was with older people (memories of the wartime years, etc). Nonetheless, I'll be interested to see whether the country shows the same reactions that were shown after Diana's death got - I doubt it (and indeed I fervently hope not), but let's see.

All these remarks notwithstanding, may she rest in peace. She served her country faithfully, and there are far worse epitaphs than that.
 

Richard Cooper

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Definitely Britain's favourite Royal. I guess it's been on the cards for a while as she was ill for a long time. The Queen's Jubilee year has had very little to celebrate so far. Rather sad, really.
 

Dan Brecher

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Dan, I think that thee and me are probably slightly too young to appreciate how popular she was with older people (memories of the wartime years, etc). Nonetheless, I'll be interested to see whether the country shows the same reactions that were shown after Diana's death got - I doubt it (and indeed I fervently hope not), but let's see.
Indeed, sir.

Dan
 

andrew markworthy

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Come to think of it, it really has been a bloody awful Jubilee Year, hasn't it?

[For the benefit of American readers - this year celebrates Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the throne; so far her sister and mother have died and nobody seems all that interested in the big events being organised to celebrate it [the Jubilee, that is, not the deaths]; even street parties - a big feature of similar celebrations 25 years ago - now require special local government permits, thus killing a lot of spontaneous fun stone dead].
 

Dennis Nicholls

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As an uneducated American perhaps you can refresh my memory. IIRC George V died in 1938, Edward VIII was there for a year or so before abdication, followed by George VI? She was married to George VI IIRC. So she had been a widow since 1951? That's a long time to be a widow.
 

andrew markworthy

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George V died and was replaced by his elder son Edward VIII. He was, strictly speaking, king from the moment his father died (hence the phrase 'the King is dead, long live the King'). However, before he could have his coronation, Edward VIII abdicated because of the Mrs Simpson affair (no bad thing - there is very strong evidence he was a Nazi sympathiser). George VI (Edward's younger brother) then became king. The poor man was ill-equipped for the role (apart from anything else, he had an appalling stammer), but he did an heroic job (for once the phrase is not ill-used) and he and the Queen (the Queen Mother who has just died) acted as major patriotic figureheads throughout World War II. When George VI died, his eldest daughter (there were no sons) became Queen, and his widow became Queen Mother (the title and role was unusual and effectively designed for her).

So yes, she was a widow for fifty or so years, during which time she acted without a trace of scandal. I know a couple of anecdotes about her which show a more human side, but perhaps this is not the time to air them.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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My aunt had one of those Royal Daulton china cup & saucers made for the coronation of Edward VIII. As the coronation didn't happen these were withdrawn so I believe it's quite a collector's item.
During the war the Queen refused to evacuate to Canada and even learned to use a revolver in case the enemy tried to kidnap her.
Strange that some thought a country like GB could actually be conquered. And here I always wondered what she carried in that little purse.
 

TheoGB

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Strange that some thought a country like GB could actually be conquered. And here I always wondered what she carried in that little purse.
Heh, well you guys took two years to even notice there was a war on. If we'd lost the air war Germany would have taken us.

Sorry, but I would like to point out that like the majority of the British public I do not consider this 'news' to be of much importance...
 

Jon_W

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Sorry, but I would like to point out that like the majority of the British public I do not consider this 'news' to be of much importance...
I would question your abilty to speak for the majority of the British people on this issue given it just happened less than six hours ago. As with any "news" it is all relative. To many at HTF the news of Billy Wilder's recent death will be of more importance. I think, however, it is always important to remember that people have lost a mother, grandmother, great grandmother,and a symbol.

Today royalty are like celebrities and how we love to build celebrities up and than bring them down. There always seems to be a need, I guess, fairly, to counter the media hype by stating that such and such a person really did not mean anything to "most" people. That maybe be true but they did mean something to someone. When famous people die it always makes me think of people who's deaths will not be reported. I think that is why some people, like myself, become rather ambivalent to the reports of peoples death on the news Certainly the Queen mum's death will cause people to rethink the monarchy and its imporatance. Can it survive the loss of its most popular figure?
 

Bill Cowmeadow

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May the Queen Mum rest in peace. And may all subjects of a given land act in such a way that there is heart felt sorrow at their passing.

God Bless The Queen Mother.
 

Keith Mickunas

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Could somebody explain the titles? I just saw her photo on BBC America and it said something like:

"HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother"

I thought the title Queen Mother was just honorary or something considering she is the queen's mother. Also, was she the Queen at one time? I read something today that referred to her as the Queen Consort or something like that. I assumed that she was the Queen since she married the King, but then again the Queen's husband is just a Duke, so I'm not sure how these titles are granted.
 

Danny R

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The royal title passes only to the heir, not any spouse. The spouse is always the "consort". Since a King outranks a Queen in the heirarchy, a male heir can have his spouse made Queen. However once a Queen marries they can't make their spouse into King, because that would theoretically give them power over her in the monarchy.

When Elizabeth II's father died, the Queen Mother lost all official power, and the monarchy passed to the daughter. Before Elizabeth and Phillip were married, he was raised as the Duke of Edinburgh so as to have a rank of appropriate authority for someone married to the Queen. 10 years later Elizabeth raised him higher as a Prince of the United Kingdom.

Phillip is a Prince in his own right, as his grandfather was King of Greece. However he had to abdicate any claim to that throne (somewhat mute now anyway) and become a british citizen prior to marrying Elizabeth.

Calling Elizabeth's mother the Queen Mother or Queen Mum is a respectful title that was given her, but carries no official power.
 

Jon Robertson

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It's fascinating the way that American contributors to this thread have a lot more compassion than the British. I'm not gleefully happy, just indifferent. She was "better" than most of the Royals, but most British people have far less interest and love for the Royals than the tabloids would have you believe, if any.

Some time last year, a rumour got out that she HAD died a couple of days prior, but Buckingham Palace were trying to keep it hushed up. Of course, it was all a hoax.

Reportedly, her condition was very bad from mid-week onwards, and the newspaper and television stations had been preparing headlines and documentaries, etc, and were just waiting to release them.
 

Danny R

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Us Americans have always had a facination with royalty... probably because we know we can never have any of our own. Also since none of our taxes go to support such an institution, we have no problems with it. They are an endless source of amusement and entertainment that does us no harm.
Its a classic example of the grass always being greener on the otherside of the pond. ;)
Personally I expected the Queen Mother to eventually choke to death on a fish bone. It seemed she was always getting those caught in her throat.
 

Steve Christou

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I'm not a fan of the Royals, and to be blunt this news wasn't a shocker, she was 101 years old, meaning no disrespect but the papers must have had their obituary specials on standby for ages now, just checking Sky news, yep still showing old BW clips of her life at this time 2.20am.

The Queen Mum was popular in Britain, more than the Queen or dotty Prince Charles.

RIP.
 

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