I heard Nicholas Soams (the grandson of Winston Churchill) speaking on the radio. I Thought he added a great historical perspective to the Queen's reign.
Most of us - including himself - have only ever known one Monarch, but his grandfather was born during Queen Victoria's reign and lived through Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI's reigns before serving as Prime Minister under the young Queen Elizabeth II. To stress the passage of time he pointed out that his grandfather actually took part in a cavalry charge on horseback, carrying a sword, in the battle of Omdurman in 1898.
He then told a story that he'd never told before. Apparently, Churchill held a small informal dinner in number 10 the night before he was deposed in 1955. Queen Elizabeth was present and although it had been agreed there were to be no toasts, still stood up near the end, raised her glass and said, 'To my Prime Minister'. He returned the complement in full, the mutual respect between the two was absolute.
I guess the experience of Churchill must have been invaluable to Elizabeth in the early part of her reign. We'll never really know what the Queen thought of her subsequent Prime Ministers - such are the confines of the job. I personally doubt Elizabeth would have ever raised her glass to Boris though, especially after his 5 week prorogation of Parliament, which put her in such an invidious position.
I heard Nicholas Soams (the grandson of Winston Churchill) speaking on the radio. I Thought he added a great historical perspective to the Queen's reign.
Most of us - including himself - have only ever known one Monarch, but his grandfather was born during Queen Victoria's reign and lived through Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI's reigns before serving as Prime Minister under the young Queen Elizabeth II. To stress the passage of time he pointed out that his grandfather actually took part in a cavalry charge on horseback, carrying a sword, in the battle of Omdurman in 1898.
He then told a story that he'd never told before. Apparently, Churchill held a small informal dinner in number 10 the night before he was deposed in 1955. Queen Elizabeth was present and although it had been agreed there were to be no toasts, still stood up near the end, raised her glass and said, 'To my Prime Minister'. He returned the complement in full, the mutual respect between the two was absolute.
I guess the experience of Churchill must have been invaluable to Elizabeth in the early part of her reign. We'll never really know what the Queen thought of her subsequent Prime Ministers - such are the confines of the job. I personally doubt Elizabeth would have ever raised her glass to Boris though, especially after his 5 week prorogation of Parliament, which put her in such an invidious position.
She gave Margaret Thatcher the Order of Merit and i'm not sure she gave those to too many PM's
RIP HM Queen Elizabeth : mother , grandmother , great grandmother; a women of deep faith ; a monarch respected globally and a public servant with no equal
I am not a keen monarchist but feel the loss to the country is so great , not least because of the sorry state of public service in our national political life. The difference in attitude and application is stark
It is hard to reflect on a moment in history in just a few hours.
We all hopefully have some constants in our lives which provides us with anchor points from which to grow. One such anchor has been lost.
To be such a huge mainstay of the stability of a nation through an extraordinary period in our history and in an ever changing world it is hard to imagine, for someone so dedicated to a life of service, a life could have possibly been better lived.
None of us is perfect. We are all human and on occasion will find ourselves out of step with others. Her steadfastness in those difficult moments in life, no matter one’s wealth, shone through with a hugely engaging sense of humility and humanity.
With enormous respect for your dedicated and profoundly wise contribution to the lives of the people of the United Kingdom and many others in the world - thank you. May you rest in peace.
It feels incredibly strange not to have the Queen with us anymore. She barely put a foot wrong in her life and seems to have commanded respect from so many.
She had enormous dignity and a sense of duty which she kept to the end.
Already posted on here soon after the announcement,now the morning after when the reality is setting in,I feel there is a gaping hole in my life left by this wonderful ladies passing.Her ability to always say the right things,treat everyone with respect ,and lift our country in the most testing of times was incredible.She was held in awe by fellow world leaders.I remember when she met Putin some years ago.it is the only time I have seen him look uncomfortable and a bit star struck.Charles has a hard act to follow,but with the help of most of his family he will be fine.
It feels a little odd to say RIP the Queen, like it doesn't look right on the screen. I feel kind of awkward even commenting as I'm against the idea of monarchy as an institution, but still respect the Queen for her role and for reminding us what service looks like. I think this will end up being quite a pivotal moment, for us as a country, because one of the things that has been constant has been the Queen. Reading people's personal tributes has made me quite emotional, and one thing to take from this is it doesn't matter how important she was to us individually, collectively she was important to a lot of us and that demands respect.
She hasn't died yet. Of course we can take it she is seriously ill and at her age the day will come sooner rather than later but it doesn't mean it will be today, this month or this year.
Did you read my post? They have a set protocol to follow ' operation London Bridge' it does appear its in motion but i hope its wrong and purely speculation, although first hand one of my friends said she has and heard from someone who works in sky news.
Not trying to be rude to you mate, but if I had a pound for every time I heard the queen had died over the past few years, even from people "in the know" I'd be able to buy Buckingham Palace.
Yep this aged well and Muttley, as i said i didn't post it lightly and i had a message from one close friend who had a message from someone in sky news who knew alot earlier but couldn't release until there was an official statement.
*worst i told you so ever, sad day yesterday RIP HM The Queen
I recall when I was young there were a fair number of coins with the king's head on them. And I was born in 1964, 12 years after the coronation. I don't recall any notes to be fair but they don't last as long. Of course what happened then and what happens now may not be the same but there needn't be a rush to change the currency, just newly produced ones. It will be nice to have her face around day to day life for some time to come yet.
Wonder if there's ever been a new monarch and Prime Minister in the same week before?
It seems this is only the second time both have happened in the same calendar year. Which seems unlikely somehow, but I guess Prime Ministers used to last a bit longer than they have been lasting recently.
Wonder if there's ever been a new monarch and Prime Minister in the same week before?
It seems this is only the second time both have happened in the same calendar year. Which seems unlikely somehow, but I guess Prime Ministers used to last a bit longer than they have been lasting recently.
I recall when I was young there were a fair number of coins with the king's head on them. And I was born in 1964, 12 years after the coronation. I don't recall any notes to be fair but they don't last as long. Of course what happened then and what happens now may not be the same but there needn't be a rush to change the currency, just newly produced ones. It will be nice to have her face around day to day life for some time to come yet.
The last coins in use with George VI's head on them will have been old 2 shillings used as 10p coins up until the size was changed. Wikipedia tells me that was 1992, so 40 years.
That's right, going decimal would have been a reason we lost a lot, but it was the 10ps I remember and there were a fair number of those around when I was young.
Like a lot of people have said, I'm not a monarchist and have been a bit surprised at how strongly I've reacted to this. Whatever I may think of the concept of having monarchs with actual power, in practice there was a lot to admire about the actual person.
One thing I found very striking yesterday evening on Twitter was the sheer number of other countries that were marking her passing. Not just the Commonwealth, but places like France, the US and Ireland. Ireland in particular - so much bad history between the two countries, and that state visit she made was such a big step forward.
Just reading some of the things from her life which put into context just how long she reigned for.
Churchill was PM when she became Queen. We had 15 PM's in her time. She met 13 US Presidents, including JFK. 12 French Presidents. Only reigning monarch to visit Australia. She got a wedding present from Gandhi. She met Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin. The Beatles performed for her.
She also would have been alive for every FIFA World Cup
I recall when I was young there were a fair number of coins with the king's head on them. And I was born in 1964, 12 years after the coronation. I don't recall any notes to be fair but they don't last as long. Of course what happened then and what happens now may not be the same but there needn't be a rush to change the currency, just newly produced ones. It will be nice to have her face around day to day life for some time to come yet.
The last coins in use with George VI's head on them will have been old 2 shillings used as 10p coins up until the size was changed. Wikipedia tells me that was 1992, so 40 years.
30...
I was buying school dinners in 1989 with two shilling bits.
I recall when I was young there were a fair number of coins with the king's head on them. And I was born in 1964, 12 years after the coronation. I don't recall any notes to be fair but they don't last as long. Of course what happened then and what happens now may not be the same but there needn't be a rush to change the currency, just newly produced ones. It will be nice to have her face around day to day life for some time to come yet.
The last coins in use with George VI's head on them will have been old 2 shillings used as 10p coins up until the size was changed. Wikipedia tells me that was 1992, so 40 years.
30...
I was buying school dinners in 1989 with two shilling bits.
40 years after George VI died, 30 years ago. The old shilling had been still used until a few years before that.
I heard the confirmation (already knew) whilst in a small pub. I was a little worried that some may make comments I wouldn’t be able to handle. I need not have worried. All were very respectful.
A slightly trivial point, but is anyone else dreading the next time they need to sing the national anthem, due to the near-certainty of getting the words wrong? Or is that just me?
A slightly trivial point, but is anyone else dreading the next time they need to sing the national anthem, due to the near-certainty of getting the words wrong? Or is that just me?
I actually think it would be fitting for the anthem to be retired in her memory. I find it hard to get my head around it being titled/sung in any other way.
A slightly trivial point, but is anyone else dreading the next time they need to sing the national anthem, due to the near-certainty of getting the words wrong? Or is that just me?
I actually think it would be fitting for the anthem to be retired in her memory. I find it hard to get my head around it being titled/sung in any other way.
I think you might be on to something there. It sounds a good idea to me.
A slightly trivial point, but is anyone else dreading the next time they need to sing the national anthem, due to the near-certainty of getting the words wrong? Or is that just me?
Worried you might sing the Sex Pistols version by mistake?
Comments
Most of us - including himself - have only ever known one Monarch, but his grandfather was born during Queen Victoria's reign and lived through Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI's reigns before serving as Prime Minister under the young Queen Elizabeth II. To stress the passage of time he pointed out that his grandfather actually took part in a cavalry charge on horseback, carrying a sword, in the battle of Omdurman in 1898.
He then told a story that he'd never told before. Apparently, Churchill held a small informal dinner in number 10 the night before he was deposed in 1955. Queen Elizabeth was present and although it had been agreed there were to be no toasts, still stood up near the end, raised her glass and said, 'To my Prime Minister'. He returned the complement in full, the mutual respect between the two was absolute.
I guess the experience of Churchill must have been invaluable to Elizabeth in the early part of her reign. We'll never really know what the Queen thought of her subsequent Prime Ministers - such are the confines of the job. I personally doubt Elizabeth would have ever raised her glass to Boris though, especially after his 5 week prorogation of Parliament, which put her in such an invidious position.
I am not a keen monarchist but feel the loss to the country is so great , not least because of the sorry state of public service in our national political life. The difference in attitude and application is stark
We all hopefully have some constants in our lives which provides us with anchor points from which to grow. One such anchor has been lost.
To be such a huge mainstay of the stability of a nation through an extraordinary period in our history and in an ever changing world it is hard to imagine, for someone so dedicated to a life of service, a life could have possibly been better lived.
With enormous respect for your dedicated and profoundly wise contribution to the lives of the people of the United Kingdom and many others in the world - thank you. May you rest in peace.
The world is a poorer place for your passing.
Good luck King Charles lll .
She had enormous dignity and a sense of duty which she kept to the end.
She deserves a good rest.
RIP the Queen
*worst i told you so ever, sad day yesterday RIP HM The Queen
Seems so strange to start the week with a Queen and one PM, and end it with a King and a different one.
RIP Your Majesty. Dutiful to the end.
very strange sadness to this i feel.
God save the King
One thing I found very striking yesterday evening on Twitter was the sheer number of other countries that were marking her passing. Not just the Commonwealth, but places like France, the US and Ireland. Ireland in particular - so much bad history between the two countries, and that state visit she made was such a big step forward.
I was buying school dinners in 1989 with two shilling bits.
Thank you for your dedication to us.
It was an honour to serve you.
God save The King!