Queen Elizabeth 2

[Bullfrog]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/prince-harry-will-reportedly-be-left-out-of-a-royal-family-tradition-at-the-queen-s-funeral/ar-AA11KnWD?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b5cff1326b584ac1f64baccce70b0f09

Cool. cool. So Prince Andrew -- a likely rapist -- can wear a military uniform at the funeral, but Prince Harry -- who served for 10 years -- can not. How out-dated is the monarchy?

[herman]

https://twitter.com/Lanre_Bakare/status/1569675763405783041

[Arn]

The new king had his moment in Northern Ireland today.

I thought the interactions with Sinn Fein were fascinating. The speech delivered to the king was given by the speaker of the house, who is a Sinn Fein member and devoted republican and reflected on the Queens role in Ireland. Bit of a summary below

https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2022-09-13/what-sinn-fein-leaders-said-during-meeting-with-the-king

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I'm glad I'm gone to be honest, stories of people being arrested for peaceful protest are horrifying.

Fascists in plain sight.

[OldTimeHockey]

It's ridiculous that the canadian federal government will be granted a holiday on September 19th to mourn the loss of the queen.

Not quite as ridiculous as a federal holiday to remember those effected by residential schools....but ridiculous all the same.

[Bender]

It's ridiculous that the canadian federal government will be granted a holiday on September 19th to mourn the loss of the queen.

Not quite as ridiculous as a federal holiday to remember those effected by residential schools....but ridiculous all the same.

The provinces decided not to enforce it and federally regulated companies were given their own choice and they said no. So I don't really blame the Feds here, rather everyone else thinking workers don't deserve a day off.

[OldTimeHockey]

It's ridiculous that the canadian federal government will be granted a holiday on September 19th to mourn the loss of the queen.

Not quite as ridiculous as a federal holiday to remember those effected by residential schools....but ridiculous all the same.

The provinces decided not to enforce it and federally regulated companies were given their own choice and they said no. So I don't really blame the Feds here, rather everyone else thinking workers don't deserve a day off.

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

[Madkenstalin]

My late friend and colleague's son was at the front of the coffin as it was carried into Westminster hall yesterday. His dad would have been so proud.

[Nik]

As I said, I understand and empathize with people that this is a big deal for but after weeks of paralytic wailings the UK now looks like a nation of crazy people.

[Bender]

As I said, I understand and empathize with people that this is a big deal for but after weeks of paralytic wailings the UK now looks like a nation of crazy people.

I mean... It's been 10 days.

Sent from my SM-S908W using Tapatalk

[Arn]

As I said, I understand and empathize with people that this is a big deal for but after weeks of paralytic wailings the UK now looks like a nation of crazy people.

Don't equate the whole of the UK to England  ;D

But yes.

[Arn]

Well that was quite the spectacle today. Fascinating in many ways to watch that play out.

[Joe]

Well that was quite the spectacle today. Fascinating in many ways to watch that play out.

Can you provide a QE2 in 30 for those of us who missed it?

[Arn]

Well that was quite the spectacle today. Fascinating in many ways to watch that play out.

Can you provide
a QE2 in 30 for those of us who missed it?

;D

I had no intention really of watching the whole thing, although I did intend to dip in and out.

The entire country shut down for the duration, including non emergency hospital appointments and pharmacies and pretty much every shop. Even some playparks were blocked off. So the hysteria was a bit OTT in many ways and I think too OTT.

But I actually ended up kind of glued to the events pretty much all day. (Possibly as there was nothing else to do  :D )

It started with a procession of the coffin from Westminster Palace to Westminster Abbey. The gun cart carrying the coffin was pulled by members of the Royal Navy and the band played a funeral march. Similarly when the coffin left the Abbey to travel to Windsor Castle there was a massive procession through London with a band playing funeral marches and a beat on the drum before the coffin was transferred to a hearse.

There were 2 church services, one in the Abbey which was very much a Church of England religious service then one in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle which was a bit more personalised. No real interest in these but the music and choirs were fantastic.

So the things I found kind of fascinating were just the spectacle of the marches. I'm a sucker for good music and a bit of spectacle and there was a lot of brilliant old classical music and an awful lot of spectacle.

I fully get and agree with a lot of the arguments that have been made in this thread, but I just thought as a spectacle and event it was quite a stunning thing to see. I guess more so cos we haven't seen something like it in 70 years. I don't think it'll have anywhere close to the same impact the next time which will be a much shorter timeframe away.

The post was mainly about yesterday, but in many ways the whole last couple of weeks has been kind of fascinating. I didn't think people would really still buy into something that is pretty much an ancient ritual.



There's a load of photos here that kind of give a flavour: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-2d82cfba-f5ea-4072-ba5e-32c28c749a55

And a couple of video: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-62957322

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-62929200

[Arn]

Oh yeah, and all day it was the only thing showing on any of the main TV channels - every BBC, ITV, Sky Channel, including Sky Sports.

And in the evening when normal programming returned there were no adverts on the commercial channels, just a black holding page with an image of QE2 and 1926-2002