Queen Mother

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Is anyone else fed up with all this nonsense about the Queen Mother? (sorry, this might exclude non Brits form the topic...)

I didn;t like her, I didn;t dislike her and I feel sorry for her famillies lose. However, I resent being told by Charles that she "stood for all generations" - I don;t believe she had the slightest influence on my generation at all...

Any other thoughts?

 

Ah yessah! Queen mum sah! God bless'er sah!Well, a pearl she was sah, she was much better then the restof'em, if you take my meaning sah!.

 

It was another opportunity for people to get all emotional about the loss of someone who, in all likelihood, didn't even know they existed.
I also find it hard to understand, the thing is, she was 101 years old - and everyone was saying how unexpected it was etc.
Has life expectancy suddenly increased to 200 without me knowing?

(Ha! I am Cynic, god of Madness! Among other things... )

 

In today's world, I don't understand why everyone places so much attention (in developed countries, at least), to royalty and celebrities. Some people's interests just revolve around whether some actress broke up with her boyfriend or whether the prince (whoever is prince of so and so) likes (whoever he likes). I've never understood why. Why people have as much interest in strangers as themselves or close friends/relatives is a mystery to me.

When a celebrity or a royalty dies, we place so much emphasis on it. And yet when some important political figure dies, you don't hear about in everyday talk that much.

 

how is me not being able to buy food from a supermarket a mark of respect? Why have all the shops closed?

She went on forever, lived at my expense, my fathers expense, my granfathers expense and my great grandfathers expense, and then has the right reserved to stick up two fingers form the graves by messing up an entire week after she is dead...

 

Chris,

I don't really see the issue? The shops are closed for 3 hours. Big deal.

She was the queen (consort) of this country during a very important period in our history, WWII, during which she did a great deal of good work.

She has done a lot since for many people via charities and directly. She is therefore well loved by a lot of people.

You don't have to agree with some of the emotions etc, but for you to think that it is more important for you to be able to go shopping this lunchtime than for hundreds of thousands of people to be able to show their respect and remember her fondly is plain daft.

Show some respect for the Lady. You can shop till you drop this afternoon.

 

There are many people more deserving of the intention than her, but deaths should be left to family/friends. For those who wish to mourn let them, but there are large enough numbers to carry on for those of us to who is really is an irrelevance. I'd certainly be surprised to find out that the employees at that shop were actually watching the funeral in enough numbers that would have left it short staffed so that it needs to be shut. Thankfully, however, the place I visited just before noon today was open.

Regarding what she has done for this country, if you apply that to everyone who is as, or more, deserving; we'd be on a 24/7 shutdown. Clearly not a practical option.

 

The Guardian (UK morning newspaper) printed this letter on Saturday March 30:

In addition to escaping the jubilee (Letters, March 29), I am hoping to be away somewhere remote when the Queen Mother dies. But it's not something one can plan in advance...
Mary Scott
Aberdeen

Did she know something we didn't?

 

She was bound to die sooner rather than later.

 

Why should I (anyone) show any more respect to her than to any other 101 year old who I didn;t know and who had no influence whatsoever on my life?

Like I said initially, I feel sorry for her fanilly - but their loss shouldn't be forced onto everyone else in this country, who choose not to acccept it.

I agree with Luan.

[This message has been edited by Christopher_Lee (edited April 09, 2002).]

 

Wowzers. I'm as prone to make fun of the British royal family as the next guy, but why do you guys have your panties in a bind?

She was something of a leader to her people, especially during WW2. And it seems she was a good one. If you young tykes don't like not being able to shop... well, perhaps you should ask your elders about why she's so important.

No, she's not a somehow more valuable soul because of the random chance of marrying into the house of Windsor (or was she born to it? I get lost in the inbreeding over there.), but I can completely understand why the Limeys would want to mourn her for a few hours.

 

To quote the original post:

"Is anyone else fed up with all this nonsense about the Queen Mother?"

I wasn't, but I am now.

Mr. Lee, if you are so fed up with this, then why are you perpetuating it?

 

Coz he is English and feels that this is how he should rebel against the establishement.

Seen it many times, they all grumble about the royal family and when you try to mention a republic to them they freak out

[This message has been edited by Vukodlak (edited April 09, 2002).]

 

I try not to get involved in these arguments nowadays but I just had to post to add my support to Viking. I was very saddened by the Queen Mother's death and watched the service today. I don't consider myself a raving royalist but admit that there have been signs of tears in my eyes this last week. While I can appreciate that not everyone feels this loss you might take a moment to think about two things.

Firstley the massive crowds and queues following the announcement, for the lying in state and for today's funeral etc tend to suggest that lots of people have been affected by the death. OK you might not understand it or agree with it but that doesn't mean all those other people are wrong to feel as they do.

Secondly if you are one of the people not affected, does it really hurt you to respect the grieving and sadness of those who do feel the loss. No one is asking you to join the mourners just to show a tiny bit of consideration and patience.

 

No, thats not the point. I have no problem with people being touched or moved - though you're right Slappy, I find it difficult to understand especially amongst those whose lives were demonstrabley untouched by the monarchy (in general) and the QM (specifically).

The point is is that this event did not merit the attention it recieved, and it became clear that it was going to be used (abused) as an opportunity for the public to show how much they liked the royal familly (as it is, without the reform it needs badly), rather than one harmless member of it. This attitude was then placed onto the rest of the country.

It is not a mark of respect to close stuff down, and to make peoples lives a hassle for a day (me getting into college in central London this morning), it is a pain in the ass.

It is also not disrespectful to say that the event has been blown completely out of proportion - which is what I started off by saying.

I agree with Vukodlak - roll on the republic

Edit after seeing the comment below: !?!

[This message has been edited by Christopher_Lee (edited April 10, 2002).]

 

Now here is goddamn why, why we should pay our respects to the late Queen Mother.

She's done more then any number of us here has done in the world. She has left a mark. Literally none of us here will. She will be remembered by a nation. Only a handful will remember us. She showed herself as a strong figure during the second world war. She has graced 3 centuries;the 19th; the 20th and the 21st.

What have we got to show that can compare to that? hardly anything! So unless you are some multi-milionaire whose made it big and can afford to scoff at the Queen Mother, shut your gob and appreciate the fact that Britain has produced some decent people!

PS. As for labour, they should get real! One minute they are slagging off the royal family and saying that no one is interested in them! Well think again! a good 400,000 people lined the route for the Queen Mother's funeral! Labour suck!

(Note: i am of the 'young' generation)

 

My, my, a young Tory supposrter - a rare beast these days I must say. Not that I don't agree with your opinion of the Labour party - they are quite bad - but that is merely because they seem to have inhereted most of the conservative policies. Libdems have now become the left wing and Tories have moved to where they should be - their own personal nevernever land.

Anyway, about the queen mum - I do agree with CL that her death is being used shamefully to promote the popularity of the royal family. However, I do believe a lot of people felt genuine affection for her - if for nothing else than because she brought something positive to the royal family.

 

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was most definitely not "inbred" into the House of Windsor. She was a descendent of the great queens and kings of England and Scotland and married into the (German) house of Windsor- which makes her more "real" English royalty than her late husband Albert to many peoples' minds. She did not have a title of her own (i.e. was a "commoner", albeit one in exalted circles as was the Duchess of York. The man she married was not the heir to the throne and she was thrust into Queenship rather than either choosing it by marriage or being born to it. She took on an unpleasantly public role with enormous grace and never showed her resentment. Good for her.

Although those of you who don't share our regret at her passing may wish to borrow her own comment at the outpouring of grief following Princess Diana's death: "Who would have believed she could be even more tedious in death than she was in life?"

[This message has been edited by Sprite (edited April 10, 2002).]

 

I don't see the big deal about the Queen Mother dying. Yes she helped Britain a lot during WWII and I can kinda understand why some older people would mourn her, but not the twenty- and thirty-year olds we see crying on tv. Even worse, I'm Canadian, I live in Canada and for the past week I've been seeing more reports saying that the Queen Mother's still dead, and people are still crying about it.
I'm don't mean to offend those people who mourned her, but come on, some of those people cried more for the Queen Mother than they would/did their own family. That's completely lame.
I guess what I mean to say, is that she may have had a decent effect on Britain, I don't see the problem with mourning her there (although 7 days is a long time to mourn someone you never met) she had little, if any, effect here on Canada-there isn't much point for us to mourn her here (except maybe on the day of her funeral as a sort of foreign relations policy).
And if I intruded on a solely Brit conversation, I'm sorry and please disregard this message.

 

What??? She's DEAD?!?

Well, bummer. She was powerful mentally, personally and physically. Especially physically. I mean, did you ever SEE those legs? They had more hair than mine - and I'm a MAN!!!