Is anyone here planning on watching the Queen's address to the Commonwealth?

She is a very nice dresser 👗

Why would it be her last public address OP?

I've been waiting for it for about two weeks, since they first announced she would. When is it?

I said "may," R2.

Starts in 43 min, R3.

as longs as she states this as the true annus horribilis

Will it be covered here in NYC?

Probably not, R6, but you could probably live stream it from CBC.

I'm assuming all of you are her subjects. Why would an American want to watch this or care either way what some old lady without any real power or authority as to say about anything?

Yay!

OFF WITH YOUR HEAD, R8.

I am not her subject, nor do I think she should hold any power over anyone, but... She is one of the last of her generation, and has played a role in recent (20th century) history. Generally, I have found she shows excellent leadership qualities, in that very British, stiff-upper-lip way. Keep calm and carry on. I'm looking forward to watching, as it will be a nice change from the screaming news with its vapid talking heads, and the imbecilities and downright idiocy of our own national "leader"...

Plus it will kill 20 minutes of this house-bound day.

The last thing I want to watch is some Brit talk on and on about their country and how they've totally ruined it by letting everyone under the sun immigrate there.

[quote]true annus horribilis

I always thought Andrew was the truly horrible asshole, but--surprisingly--Harry may be moving into that realm.

[quote] Why would an American want to watch this or care either way what some old lady without any real power or authority as to say about anything?

You must be new here.

You should be able to watch via this link if you wish. Let me know if it works for you, if not, I'll try and find another.

^ That one only works in Canada, r15.

Self-discipline and resolve, bitches!

Maybe this one, R16?

I think the Royal expert on CTV right now is a DLer.

r18, I can hear a gay named Richard talking about the Royals, but there is no picture.

"Hold my purse, R2," H.R.H.

But seriously, I'll bet Queen Elizabeth's address to her subjects (and to the world) will be more informed, more empathetic and more heartfelt and reassuring than anything Orange It has spewed on a daily basis these past long and frightening weeks.

Long live Elizabeth.

Weird, R20. Richard is CTV's Royal consultant, lol.

Try this Youtube link.

It’s nice that she took her own sweet time.

This is only the fifth time she's made a special address, R2. How many more can there possibly be?

Channel 104 on Optimum Cablevision

It's on the BBC in the US.

[quote] It's on the BBC in the US.

Not on BBC America, BBC News.

Starting now!! OMG>

She looks and sounds good.

She's going to announce that she is now a Lesbian.

What type of stone is in her pin?

She made no mention of her ratings.

How refreshing.

[quote] Starting now!! OMG>

Dyatlov right?

Is it just on YouTube somehow? None of these links works for me.

"quiet, good humored resolve"

CNN and MSNBC carried it.

[quote]She's going to announce that she is now a Lesbian.

I thought she was transitioning. She would prefer being King.

I'll watch it later on Youtube. But it's still important to me, even though I'm American.

She seemed more in control than Donald Dump does.

How refreshing to see a head of state not refer to their ratings, fucking models, and thinking killing people is worth restarting the economy.

If anyone finds it posted for US viewing, please link it.

Starts around 1:25 mark

I like how she linked this broadcast to her first during the Blitz of World War II. She also mentioned people of no faith, which would not happen under the current U.S. administration. "We will meet again" were the most powerful words of the broadcast for me.

Thank you, Queen Elizabeth. You hit each and every note with dignity and grace.

MSNBC carried it live and will probably rebroadcast it during the afternoon.

This broadcast was recorded a week ago and a full transcript of it available online for at least two days.

She really has her shit together for someone 90+.

R46 is here to declare that she is the smartest one in the room.

Yawn.

Here is the text of her address:

Enjoy Trump's nightly shit show then, R48.

I liked it. In the news, I've been avoiding the features meant to cheer us up or provide a bit of humour in dark times. Here, the tone was right: acknowledging the deep crap we're in, nevertheless hopeful.

By she I meant the poster, not the Queen.

From the Royal YouTube channel.

From the Royal YouTube channel.

We must have misplaced your press release, R46; can you find it in your heart to forgive us?

Oh, sorry, R48/R52.

Enjoy Trump, R46.

That was really a wonderful address. She looks and sounds sharp and controlled.

So, so different from what we're assailed with in the US whenever the current president shows up for self-aggrandizement and mendacity.

I've never paid much attention to the Royals, but I really enjoyed this.

Who wrote it?

R57, according to a royal arbiter on the BBC, she did with the input of Prince Philip, another nonagenarian.

I liked that she invoked the WWII era. She has the gravitas of being someone who's lived through worse shit than this.

I found it strangely comforting. I was surprised that the Queen acknowledged atheists.

^ pleasantly surprised, obviously

For [R57]:According to the BBC, she wrote it herself, with input from her husband, Prince Philip, and her secretary.

Quiet dignity and sympathy beats orange chest thumping any day. I found her address both moving and heartening. Well done.

I loved her brooch and she looked great in that green.

Fuck, I started to tear up by the end...and I'm an avid anti-monarchist!!!!

On Euronews

I was all for Canada leaving the Commonwealth, R64, but her address touched me. I teared up too.

We all teared up, I'm sure. Not because she's a queen (we're all queens, too!) but because she was a person of authority speaking intelligently and compassionately. Here in the US, we haven't heard that too much in the last three years...

We are not amused!

It’s 1 Fuckingham Palace ain’t it?

Why were people having trouble typing in BBC.COM and watching it? That's what I did. Are we really that helpless?

^^^ BUCKingham OG course lol

Likely because here on DL, BBC means something entirely different...

Very queenly. For most of us, she has been the queen for entire lives. Hard to imagine the world without her.

Really r13, you want to put Harry on the same level as a pedophile? Some of you people are insane.

For you Royal watchers, which brooch was she wearing?

[quote]Hard to imagine the world without her.

To be honest, it's not all that difficult for one to imagine.

[quote]Who wrote it?

Bruce Vilanch, of course.

They should skip Charles and William and hand the throne straight to Charlotte.

R70 BBC. wut?

No tiara?

Truly a class act, still sharp like a tack.

That was note-perfect.

She never asked me how I am!

She can afford a better bra.

Hoist those puppies UP.

I’m very confused, half the posting mentioned it was a Live speech and the other half said it was prerecorded, which was it?

I was very disappointed that she wasn't in sweats covered in potato chip crumbs like the rest of us.

Like others, I was having trouble locating it, I don’t understand news releases and articles that discuss it, but then didn’t give a link? So I tried Queen.org, thinking who else is there really to have it other than her? Surprisingly, no one owns it???

Well said, R59. I also found it comforting.

Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond brooch, since you asked.

It was a wedding gift to Mary from the then Prince and Princess of Wales, Edward and Alexandra, one day to be Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, upon Mary's marriage to their son, George.

The Queen has hardly ever worn it - I think not until very late in her reign.

And, yes, she was note-perfect. It was rather sad, in its way: having to invoke the ghost of the Greatest Generation and Vera Lynn to try to get people to behave. I fear that spirit has been killed by the Me-First Self-Actualisation priorities of the Age of Narcissism in which we live.

Still, I'm glad there's a remnant of it left somewhere.

She will be 94 this month. Given the odds, this may well have been her last major national address outside of the Christmas broadcast, barring accidents of fate, like Charles predeceasing her.

No one’s discussing the fact that the children of a Great Britain have cooped the rainbow as a symbol from the gays?

It was short but meaningful

Is it this turquoise brooch?

[quote] half the posting mentioned it was a Live speech and the other half said it was prerecorded, which was it?

Pre-recorded.

All her addresses are pre-recorded - they didn't use to be, and her father, King George VI, was said to be so terrified of the yearly Christmas address that he couldn't enjoy the holiday until it was over. The BP Communications Chief asserted that it was filmed by only one cameraman dressed in PPE ware.

Even the green dress was well chosen, as green represents spring, hope, and rebirth. If there's one thing she understands, it's symbolism.

It's Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch.

R95, are you also R89?

Sorry, R89, I didn't see your post.

^R95

Thanks, R89

Princess Elizabeth, in 1940.

I thought it was lovely - it brought tears to my eyes. I liked that she tied it back to WWII as a reminder of other bleak & difficult times and that we'll all meet again. Quiet & dignified - the very antithesis of the US leadership.

The Brits are lucky to have her & they are going to miss her when she's gone...

Wonderful speech, timely, calm, re-assuring, and brief and to the point. It's amazing to know that she invoked her first speech to the nation at age 14 in 1940: 80 years ago! Amazing.

Thanks to the posters for the deets on her brooch. I like how they styled her set today, simple and unfussy, like the woman herself. The White Drawing Room she was sitting in, at Windsor, is actually fairly ornate although you couldn't tell from the broadcast.

I wasn’t expecting her to be so well coiffed and put together, are the royal stylists and beauticians considered essential workers? And did anyone get a view of what handbag she was using? Apparently, she sends secret messages using them, so I wonder what she was saying with it this time?

Really, I imagined her wearing a headscarf and wellies have just come in from mucking out the stall at Balmoral stables, kind of let’s all pull ourselves up by the bootstraps kind of speech.

And to think that she worked as an auto mechanic during WWII!

And to think that she worked as an auto mechanic during WWII!

r103 her personal dresser, Angela Kelly, is one of the very few people currently in private quarantine with her and Prince Philip at Windsor. Luckily so - TQ looked terrific today.

It would have been a nice gesture at the end if she had offered the brooch to the highest bidder to raise funds for ventilators or such.

[quote]Generally, I have found she shows excellent leadership qualities

Princes Andrew and Philip would agree.

But she looked terrific and that's all that counts, I'm sure.

Her Maj does give donations to charity but she doesn't boast about it. Now if Trump had ever given a cent to a charity ever, we'd never hear the end of it.

R89 here - no, I am not R95.

R92 Is this supposed to be the same pieces in The Queen?

[quote]For most of us, she has been the queen for entire lives.

Honey, this is DL. Some of us remember Queen Victoria’s funeral.

Britain has the money for ventilators - it's the NHS that doesn't. The NHS is shamefully underfunded.

At some point in the last ten years or so, a survey was taken amongst the Great Unwashed about what made them proudest of being British, and the NHS was one of the top 3 responses.

The truth is, humans are really badly lacking in long-term planning capability. We're by nature short-term thinkers. Probably goes back to hunter-gatherer DNA, you know, only looking toward the next couple of meals?

This is hardly the first pandemic, its point of origin (China) was predicted by both scientists and sci fi writers before this, and, as always, the First World ignored the handwriting on the wall and went for the short money.

I really do think it's who we are.

This is pretty much what I expected her to look like for the speech.

"Honey, this is DL. Some of us remember Queen Victoria’s funeral."

Speak for yourself, sir.

[quote]No tiara?

No mask!

R114 - Then you clearly aren't British, let alone English. No one comes in from being out with the guns into a formal sitting room.

During WWII, Queen Elizabeth was asked why she wore high heels, hats, gloves, and pearls to go visit the bombed out rubble of London every day. She said sweetly, "They would wear their best clothes if they came to visit me." Her wartime suits were done in soft pastels and other hues that didn't show the dust as much as the brighter colours the royals usually wore so they could be seen better.

One must have a sense of form.

Washed up harpy from her ivory tower telling the populace that pays for her lavish lifestyle that everything's gonna be OK during a pandemic. England is a Monty Python skit.

[quote]Fuck, I started to tear up by the end...and I'm an avid anti-monarchist!!!!

It’s the power of symbolism, and of continuity and tradition. That’s the strength of monarchy. I’m not getting sentimental about the institution, I know it makes no sense at all... but then there’s days like today.

If she shapeshifts into a reptilian it might be something worth noting. hahaha Why are DLers so much into monarchy? Are you part of a cult or something?

[quote] Fuck, I started to tear up by the end...and I'm an avid anti-monarchist!!!!

No you're not and you know it.

Did she sing "We'll Meet Again"?

R118 is a cunt. I thought it was a wonderful Address, just what we needed from her. We'll done Ma'am!

*well

R118 adds her usual je ne sais quoi.

I see Sunshine Sachs is posting here all the way from sunny LA at r118. Welcome!

R73 she's been queen longer than my parents have been alive

[quote]It would have been a nice gesture at the end if she had offered the brooch to the highest bidder to raise funds for ventilators or such.

Much of her jewelry isn't hers to auction. Many pieces are part of the Crown Jewels, and belong to the nation but kept in trust by the monarch.

She does have many private pieces, including today's brooch. These are priceless and would be difficult to value for sale.

Far better for the UK's 1% to get together and donate certain fractions of their wealth, to make a dent to help the NHS. That could be billions of $.

i love when she said "and that success would belong to everyone of us".

you just know Drump will take all the credit for himself once all is said and done here in the US

The tower isn't as ivory as all that: in case you missed it, Windsor Castle is an ancient feudal castle built to withstand sieges.

"The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century State Apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.

Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte-and-bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century."

And whatever the systems quite identifiable problems in a modern era, it beats seeing athletes making millions off kicking a ball into a net. And it's not "her" tower, ivory or otherwise. It's part of the Crown Estates and we rather like it for its links to our history.

What the hell did Prince Philip have to add to the address?

[quote] What the hell did Prince Philip have to add to the address?

The bits about the virus.

He's 98 years old and lived through and seen even more than the Queen. He supposedly went over the speech, to influence it's 'tone' and frankly if he did, it was a good thing because it was a great and timely speech.

R13 why is Harry worse than Andrew? If Princess Margaret could have had her money and kept her royal title, she would have left too. The monarch and the closest heirs should only be the ones on the public tit. Everyone else should be allowed to do what they want.

R132 The Queen crossed out his slitty-eyed virus bit though.

[quote]So I tried Queen.org, thinking who else is there really to have it other than her?

RuPaul? Aaron Schock? Ross Mathews?

I wish we could still hear the male announcer at R135. Voices on the BBC are just so common now--some of them are just incomprehensible.

Correction: the male announcer at R100.

Love the Queen, well done as always.

Watched her.....not particularly inspiring.

Bit of a damp squib.

No. Not British. Bad enough we have to see Trump all day. She's probably going to outlive Charles.

R140 all the more reason to watch the Queen’s speech — it’ll remind you what coherent English sounds like.

trump ain't worthy to empty Lilibet's bedpan

The Queen offered a special message to Canadians.

And of course Trump announces a last minute briefing....

[quote] What the hell did Prince Philip have to add to the address?

The ‘oh, dears’ in the margin - that was him.

Well, in truth it was ‘fucking rubbish, this bit from Boris’ but same thing.

The Queen offered a special message to Canadians.

"Dearest Canadian subjects: you have just suffered a disastrous double whammy, with COVID-19 following quickly on the heels of the brief but traumatic and costly Sussex residency in British Columbia. I know you will recover from these twin horrors in time. God bless you as you go forward into brighter days."

I love this. The Brits pretend they don’t care that much about their monarchy anymore, and it’s the Americans who absurdly obsess over it.

But then the little old lady in a green dress has something to say about the pandemic, and the BBC goes over every syllable with a fine toothed comb — something they haven’t done for scientific experts regarding the subject. Lol!

That little, old German/Scottish woman's few words say and mean more than those of months' worth of daily briefings.

We will not see her like again.

^^ thank the goddess

[quote] We will not see her like again.

Think again, peasant.

As a Canadian and monarchist I did indeed. Although perhaps mentioned already (too lazy to scan the 150 replies) Her Majesty is the only living Head of State who served in uniform during World War II. She served as a truck mechanic with the Auxiliary Territorial Service with a rank equivalent to a second lieutenant.

[quote]Bad enough we have to see Trump all day. She's probably going to outlive Charles.

Just got an image flash of The Queen stepping foot on American soil to stand ringside at the burial of DJ Trump.

Then onto the inauguration of the newly-elected Democrat president.

Wouldn’t that be glorious?

[quote] I see Sunshine Sachs is posting here all the way from sunny LA at [R118]. Welcome!

LA may be sunny but my heart is full of darkness R125. Thanks for acknowledging me.

I'm still doing my laundry from a bucket without living my crib, nothing is funny right now and no one needs a privileged old hag with dozens of maids to wash her panties to tell everyone else that everything is gonna be fine.

Guilhotine to this annoying crone and the cultish bootlickers. Go change her diapers if you're so proud of being a submissive toady sycophant.

You have to wonder if that special message to Canadians wasn't a coded apology for having to put up with Megs and Harry for all those weeks. Or a subtle thank-you for showing them the door.

a moving speech. and very grateful not to hear ugly postering and bragging like $45 does

Trump is a deplorable but at least he's actually doing something. This old hag is just wasting bandwidth and people's hard earned money.

[quote] LA may be sunny but my heart is full of darkness [R125]. Thanks for acknowledging me....I'm still doing my laundry from a bucket without living my crib, nothing is funny right now and no one needs a privileged old hag with dozens of maids to wash her panties to tell everyone else that everything is gonna be fine.

Moron at r154, neither Ken Sunshine or anyone else from SS is living in anything less than splendor at the moment, never mind doing laundry in a bucket lol. The irony of calling TQ a 'privileged old hag' when that guy is alive and kicking.

You clearly missed the gist of the post.

R157 = Meghan.

r157 - Trump Rabidian

Pray tell, exactly what is that corrupt, ignorant, self-dealing, scared, fat-ass, gelatinous ignoramus doing?

Bandwidth must be the new Megaloon talking point. Have you given up on KKK Granny, fascist and racist?

The Queen (still Princess) on her 21st birthday, in 1947. If you're really impatient. go to around the 5:30 mark

That old bat’s sure well paid for the little she does.

This thread was appropriately titled. I wouldn't have expected any anti-Monarchists to waste their time opening the thread, much less,responding. Scurry off, you defecating pigeons!

[quote] I like how she linked this broadcast to her first during the Blitz of World War II.

Same. She looked good for 94.

She SHOULD look good, never having lifted a finger in her life.

You're so full of shit r166. Yeah, she's wealthy. Yeah, she's privileged.

I've noticed, however, that humankind hasn't mastered evenly distributing those two things, as I wish, one day, we would.

But, while QE II hasn't "lifted a finger" in the same ways you or I would, us being poor and obscure, still, I have no doubt that it's plain, old fashioned, hard work, mentally, emotionally and physically to preside, practically every fucking day of your life, over a duty that must be performed, in her role as Head of State.

Q E II, ain't the cubefrau across the office, she ain't the frau neighbor next-door, or a socialite.

She's Queen Elizabeth II, of Great Britain and the Commonwealth Realms. She's her own, singular, world-famous presence.

I adore that old war horse. By far, she is my favorite celebrity

Smooches for that great post, Della.

She’s not a celebrity. She’s famous, but she’s not a celebrity. No celebrity could have generated the reaction tonight did.

The masses are so easily pleased with a crumb of attention.

It’s unhealthy.

[quote] No celebrity could have generated the reaction tonight did.

Well not all celebrities, but perhaps a few.

She does her JOB. Unlike...

Back at 'ya, r168.

Agreed r169.

I amend my post to say, By far, she is my favorite famous person.

r2

Because the eldergays on this site want everything to be dramatic.

Can we become a colony again?

Sure. Bow and curtsy, American bitches.

God bless Her Royal Highness. And no : I'm not being "ironic". May she reign for many years more !

[quote]LA may be sunny

It was cold, cloudy and rainy in LA all day today.

[quote] God bless Her Royal Highness

Majesty actually.

She is not a Royal Highness -That's a title for people who are direct heirs to the throne. The Queen is Her Majesty. If you are speaking directly to her, you would say, "Your Majesty." After that, you could call her Ma'am.

[quote] It was cold, cloudy and rainy in LA all day today.

Yeah, so? It's called metonymy, moron.

"I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong:"

~QEII 1947

That's a kind of commitment and devotion that is unheard of to an American like me. R167 Smooches, Della. I never sign my posts, but we've known each other for a long time, You're one of the only DLer's who makes me rethinks thinkg a bit.

[quote] You're one of the only DLer's who makes me rethinks thinkg a bit.

Rethink "rethinks" and "thinkg" a bit.

A bit late, Liz.

You're sweet, r182. I'm sure I've read your posts and have pondered them, too.

Anyway, I feel a bit ashamed. I want QE II to convenience me with the timing of her death.

Assuming I outlive QE II, I hope she doesn't die until this terrible Covid-19 thing is passed because, (and here's the shame part) I want the full, solemn pageantry of a world state funeral. Who's there? Where are they seated?

Ok, I'll just admit it-I'm looking forward to the DL thread on her funeral.

Let's not talk about her death. Please.

CTV's Royal commentator Richard Berthelsen.

I think this speech now rivals her tribute to Diana as the most impactful and memorable of her reign. Yes, her 21st birthday speech in 1947 will remain the most important of her life, but I thought today was actually her best moment as monarch. I mean, "We'll be with our friends again; we'll be with our families again; we'll met again," perfect! That brought a tear to my eye, and I'm one of the most cold-hearted bitches on DL.

[quote]R180 If you are speaking directly to her, you would say, "Your Majesty." After that, you could call her Ma'am.

Or just “Ms. Fatass Leech”.

The usual Brit buck up, rally round and hope for better days speech, which the Brits are past-masters at. Reminded me of Churchill's famous "we will fight them on the beaches" in 1940.

The Old Girl is 93 years old and still speaks with authority and presence. OK, she's been doing the gig for almost 70 years, but still.

Well done, Ma'am!

I truly love the Queen. As a Canadian, we grew up with the Queen being such an important person in our lives. Yes, there are people that don't like the monarchy, but for those of us who have an appreciation for the Monarchy and proud to be part of the Commonwealth , the Queen has given us a strength we look towards. She is a leader and an inspiration. God save the Queen

Why did it take her this long to make an address? And then, only after her son got sick.

#Classy

Thank you for proving my point for me, r148!

Anti-monarchy criticism is valid, but I think some of the critics here miss the value of having a system with a ceremonial head of state, one of whose jobs is to deliver this kind of address.

In contrast to the US, where the president fulfills both ceremonial and governmental functions (and indeed now very poorly).

If anyone has ever shown Donald Trump up for being the white trailer trash he is, QEII just read him to FILTH.

In her coronavirus address to the nation, the queen wore green. But who wore it better?

Her Majesty rarely puts a wrong foot forward except for that one time when Tony Blair had to go to Balmoral and tell her to get her ass to London to address the nation when Diana, Princess of Wales died. Elizabeth mistakenly thought Diana should be iced out and treated as a discarded former member of the royal family. Elizabeth was dead wrong and the nation's approval of her suffered.

And now this. Her Majesty wore green on COVID-19 speech day less than a month after commoner Markle thought she would revenge dress and steal the show on Commonwealth Day.

God Bless,Ma'am. We will meet again.

Fergie chimed in, desperate to stay relevant

And I noticed that, Trump, in his daily Carnival Side-Show, aka the "daily briefing", didn't acknowledge her remarks. That probably was deliberate. He can't stand being shown-up.

E un altro bacio, Della, for your post!

R184 - HM has to wait for government approval to make a speech like this. My guess is, they were waiting to see how bad it would get before giving her the green light. She isn't free to do something like this on her own volition.

Poor Fergie, yes, desperate to show her relevance and reinforcing her irrelevance at the same time. Bless.

My life sucks so hating the Queen makes me feel a lot better. My therapist said...

[quote] I think this speech now rivals her tribute to Diana as the most impactful and memorable of her reign

Probably more, because of the poetry at the end with we will be with our friends, we will be with our families, we will meet again.

The Diana tribute, to whatever extent she meant it and I believe she did, will always have whiff of hostage taking about it. It was so not how she wanted to do it, but at the time she was still playing by the previous rules.

Just FYI: three out of four viewers in Britain watched the Queen's speech last night - 23 million viewers.

So much for Britain being on its way to becoming a republic.

Oh god, the “Queens Speech,” I see another Oscar bait movie starring Dame Helen Mirren coming with her nursing corona ridden Charles and agonizing what she will say, wear and if she’ll stutter like daddy. Gary Busey for Boris!

[quote]R202 they were waiting to see how bad it would get before giving her the green light. She isn't free to do something like this on her own volition.

She’s a grown ass woman, and one of the richest people in the world.

What were they gonna do... take away a tiara??

Though I guess it makes perfect sense she’d silence her own concerns just to keep the blood money rolling in, if she even SUSPECTED it would endanger her “job.”

R208 - It's always amusing watching Americans display their insularity and ignorance about how things works in countries besides their own.

Yes, she is a grown-ass woman. And being one, she's understood from the time she was ten years old what the constitutional boundaries of her position are. That's how the whole show survives: by not presuming on those boundaries on the basis of individual inclination.

It's how monarchical power got constrained into pockets where it can't do the kind of damage it used to do.

She can make any number of announcements about the foibles of her idiot descendants on her own.

But when she feels inclined to address the nation as its Head of State, she asks the government first. That's her job, those are where the legal constitutional boundaries are.

Her grown-ass appreciation of the limits of her position is what made her so successful at it for the last 70 years.

There's no "blood money" rolling in, you witless cunt. Wake up: it's 2020.

[quote]r209 Yes, she is a grown-ass woman. And being one, she's understood from the time she was ten years old what the constitutional boundaries of her position are.

So she’s basically a highly paid whore to the government. She keeps her mouth shut, regardless as to how it effects public health, for fear of cutting off the money train.

Her role is to provide a focal point for the nation, not to govern it.

R210, find a way to deal with your anger.

she sounds frail, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had COVID and is recovering and the government kept it a secret. She’s also very old.

I feel she should address the people more. Other sovereigns in Europe have been more present with their subjects. Her aloofness is archaic.

Any examples, R213? That’s such an interesting thing to read.

[quote]R231 I feel she should address the people more.

Obviously, with lives at stake, in this case she should have.

But r209 has made it clear she’s just a paid mouthpiece, waiting to be made to dance like a dog at her Daddy Warbucks’ bidding.

And all for a government paycheck - -

I watched the speech, [R206]. Doesn't make me a monarchist. The Queen is a national symbol. Her basic function is to provide continuity and hope in times of trouble. She provided reassurance that things will get better -like your favorite nan. That's what people were expecting when they switched on their tellies, and that's what they got.

We watched! Don't forget about us!

[quote] The couple “were both moved” by the sovereign’s words, says a source close to the pair

[quote] Now based in the United States and financially independent...

[quote] For Harry’s sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst, the current pandemic means that when travel restrictions finally come to an end, the need for responsible tourism will be greater than ever.

R197 not really. HM wanted to shield her grandsons from being the centre of a huge storm by keeping the family together at Balmoral, she wasn't trying to freeze Diana out. The press had whipped the public into a frenzy that week in 1997 and HM became the focal point of anger for not joining them to wail in the streets of London. And Blair did not travel to Balmoral to bring her back.

Her address was not released until it was decided it was needed most (The UK now going into its third week of lockdown and the highest daily death tolls). I'd say it was timed perfectly to meet the national mood.

Last night she gave a measured and reassuring speech, which 24 million of us Brits saw live. I do think she knows how much respect we still have for her and what a great Queen she has been.

Here's hoping that things have returned to normal and we can show her how much she means to us in 2022, her 70th reigning year.

R218, she means a lot to us here in Canada too, even those of us who aren't big fans of the monarchy in general still love her.

her brooch was a wedding gift to her grandmother Mary of Teck in the 1890s. Turquoise and diamond was very popular back then. Keep in mind turquoise like this doesn’t come from some dusty trader in the American Southwest, fine stones like this most likely come from ancient important mines in Iran or Egypt.

R219 apologies, I didn't mean she was beloved just to Brits, I realise she is admired across the world.

Why is Canada even a part of the Commonwealth still and under the yoke of the British monarchy? Talk about a country of subservients.

R222 piss off

R222 Why don't you read some history books and find out.

Because it's just soo much easier to mouth off about things of which I know nothing!

R207: "Gary Busey for Boris!"

meanwhile ... "Hope! Hope Hicks! Find me my SAG card!", Orange It bellowed.

No need for apologies, R221, I just wanted to express how much she means to us all.

I want Sir Elton to be Queen! He's royal now, isn't he?

If he didn’t leech of the system like the current queen, I’d be fine with that.

Who knows, he might even give something BACK!

R228 - No, dear, he's not royal. Sorry about that. It's just a lifetime knighthood.