Queen Elizabeth Has Died

[Edgy MD]

Part of me thinks she was motivated to reach that day.

I also wonder if, after his coronation, the new King Charles will have to tour the world accepting respects from his subjects as head of state of Canada, Australia, Bahamas, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc.

[vtmet7]

RIP. I scoffed at the whole idea of the monarchy, but a British friend once noted to me that it really was useful to have a permanent, apolitical member of government who could provide non-binding advice to the politicians who walked through the revolving door to the Prime Minister's office.

I guess the British national anthem again becomes "God Save the King".

it's always bugged me that they stole "America (My Country tis of thee) and changed the lyrics to suit their royalty...

[Fman99]

I don't care. I bet a lot of other old English ladies died yesterday too and didn't get any press. Nothing duller to me than the topic of the British royal family. They are as important and necessary as nipples on a man.

[Ceetar]

https://fij.ng/article/may-she-get-what ... ate-queen/

“We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us, her death is a reminder of a tragic period in this country and Africa’s history,” the statement reads in part.

[metsmarathon]

harsh. but not at all wrong.

[Willets Point]

[MFS62]

Got an email from my company telling us that the Queen Elizabeth 70th Jubilee coin is sold out.
Later

[kcmets]

Just because I know how many Motörhead and Sex Pistols fans hang here...

[Edgy MD]

Latter-day John Lydon's positions:

1. He's got nothing against the queen and thought she was rather lovely. He just mostly objects to tax dollars supporting the royals' lavish lifestyles.
2. He thinks anarchy is a really stupid idea.

[whippoorwill]

Got an email from my company telling us that the Queen Elizabeth 70th Jubilee coin is sold out.
Later

I’m sure! I’ve got a couple of Charles and Diana’s wedding coins tucked away somewhere

[Lefty Specialist]

The Irish have a slightly different perspective.....

[kcmets]

Latter-day John Lydon's positions:

1. He's got nothing against the queen and thought she was rather lovely. He just mostly objects to tax dollars supporting the royals' lavish lifestyles.
2. He thinks anarchy is a really stupid idea.

Yay for Johnny Rotten. 66 year-old shock rocker grew up.

I can't post anything here just for fun anymore. It has to be peeled apart. Dissected.

Someone posts 'good riddance', everyone is fine with that instant karma invite.

[Edgy MD]

I didn't mean to peel apart anything. I'm just offering an interesting (to me) pair of semi-relevant factoids.

I'm certainly not fine with "Good riddance," but I'm not particularly successful at all in asking folks to be decent (in fact, I tend to make things worse), so I choose my spots.

[Edgy MD]

I LOVE Motörhead's take on that song.

[Frayed Knot]

it's always bugged me that they stole "America (My Country tis of thee) and changed the lyrics to suit their royalty...

Well once they stooped to stealing our language, that they'd then steal a tune of ours shouldn't come as a surprise.

[Edgy MD]

Setting their flag in red, white, and blue was a crap move, too. Get your own colors!

[Edgy MD]

The Irish have a slightly different perspective.....

This was writer Patrick Freyn writing in The Irish Times, a few years back, in reviewing some big Oprah Winfrey interview with the much-publicized royals Harry and Meghan. The broader view of the Irish people has been more complex, despite Elizabeth II being monarch during the entirety of The Troubles. She's typically carried a 50% approval rate or so in the Republic of Ireland, which usually outstripped the ratings for their own political leaders.

Monarchys are undoubtedly silly things, certainly to me, but as societies, we tend to get caught up and trapped in our governing systems, conflating the survival of the system with the survival of the society, so reform comes slowly and stubbornly, even when the need is glaringly obvious.

[MFS62]

In the silliness of counting every little thing she did, my Canadian friend noted that she visited Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan more than she visited New York.
I reminded him that the Royal family has a ranch in Moose Jaw and they haven't owned any property in New York since 1776.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Plus it's easy to find Moose Jaw as native son Clark Gilles famously said; "it's about six feet in front of its ass.'

[MFS62]

Watching all the formal ceremonies leading up to the funeral.
I like the pomp, but I don't like the circumstance.

Later

[Ceetar]

[kcmets]

....the Queen will be buried in an English oak coffin featuring brass handles that was designed more than 30 years ago, and lined with lead.

The practice of burying royals in lead-lined coffins dates back hundreds of years.

As Royal Family members are buried inside a chamber, rather than directly in the ground, their coffins are lined with lead in order to slow decomposition. The lead seals the coffin and prevents moisture from getting in, preserving the body for up to a year.

The practice dates back to the Victorian era, when an airtight seal on a coffin was necessary to prevent the potent effects of decay in above-ground burials.

Members of the Royal Family and English nobility have used coffins lined with lead for at least four centuries.

According to Westminster Abbey records, Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles II were buried in lead-lined coffins, as were Princess Diana, Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Francis Drake.

The combination of lead and oak makes for a heavy coffin, so heavy in fact, it is reported that eight military pallbearers will be needed to lift Queen Elizabeth II's coffin.

From: Why is Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lined with lead?

[Edgy MD]

Drake was buried at sea. I imagine the lead in his coffin was more about sinkage than stinkage.

Folks have tried to find his coffin, as where he was supposedly "buried" was reported for posterity, but to no avail.

[MFS62]

When my wife visited London, she went to Westminster Abbey and said the caskets of Sir Isaac Newton and George Orwell are also there. But I'm not sure if their caskets are radiation poof.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Orwell's remains are buried in Oxfordshire, northwest of London. Supposedly, anyhow. If Westminster has his casket, I don't think his bones are in it.