Happy 90th Birthday Queen Elizabeth!

[Archivist]

Wishing her a happy 90th birthday and many more to come!

 

[Picky Picky]

Wishing her a happy 90th birthday and many more to come!

And I join you in that.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Happy Birthday Your Majesty!

 

[Chesterton]

Apparently that anthem actually works.

 

[redleghunter]

Wishing her a happy 90th birthday and many more to come!

She is going to live as long as her mother. Good genes there. She is also hanging on no doubt to deny her son the throne.

 

[Uncle Siggy]

She is also hanging on no doubt to deny her son the throne.

I'm thinking he will be bypassed...

 

[Arcangl86]

I'm thinking he will be bypassed...

Can't happen. In order to change the succession all the commonwealth nations need to agree, and also there is no legal reason to deny him the throne.

 

[Oafman]

Nauseating. I've had to briefly leave the country.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

Nauseating. I've had to briefly leave the country.

I thought you guys overwhelmingly loved the Queen?

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I wish her a very good birthday and many more . I'm sure her family is also wishing her many more good birthdays also.

 

[Picky Picky]

Can't happen. In order to change the succession all the commonwealth nations need to agree, and also there is no legal reason to deny him the throne.

Certainly won't happen (although it wouldn't require the agreement of all 53 members of the Commonwealth, just of the 16 who share the Queen as head of state – 15 plus the UK).

 

[Picky Picky]

I thought you guys overwhelmingly loved the Queen?

She is popular, even Oafman would admit. However since about 1649 there has been a move to allow people their own opinion on the matter. And while Oafman may claim to be a Labour supporter, and therefore within the bounds of democratic decency, it cannot have escaped your notice that his name is an anagram of "Mao fan".

 

[Oafman]

I thought you guys overwhelmingly loved the Queen?

Nothing personal against a decent old lady. It's the forelock tugging that turns my stomach. It's not deliberate that I'm out of the country, it's a coincidence, but a happy one.

She is popular, even Oafman would admit. However since about 1649 there has been a move to allow people their own opinion on the matter. And while Oafman may claim to be a Labour supporter, and therefore within the bounds of democratic decency, it cannot have escaped your notice that his name is an anagram of "Mao fan".

Hmm, I guess there could be something subconscious going on....

 

[Arcangl86]

Certainly won't happen (although it wouldn't require the agreement of all 53 members of the Commonwealth, just of the 16 who share the Queen as head of state – 15 plus the UK).

Thank you for the correction. I meant the Commonwealth Realms, but I guess I forgot about the others.

 

[Picky Picky]

Thank you for the correction. I meant the Commonwealth Realms, but I guess I forgot about the others.

Not at all; it's a pleasure (and something of a surprise) to come across an American who has any understanding at all of this weird archaic monarchical stuff.

 

[Archivist]

Not at all; it's a pleasure (and something of a surprise) to come across an American who has any understanding at all of this weird archaic monarchical stuff.

My father served in India with the US Army Air Force during WWII. I remember him telling me how the Brits would become upset when the Americans would say what an SOB FDR was. He remembered one British soldier telling him that he would never use such terms to describe the King. Difference, I guess, between a head of state with very limited powers and a head of state with actual powers.

BTW, a British officer may have saved my father's life. A viper dropped off the wing of a plane and into my dad's shirt. Fortunately he didn't have the shirt tucked in and the snake slide onto the ground. The officer killed it with a riding crop.

 

[Picky Picky]

My father served in India with the US Army Air Force during WWII. I remember him telling me how the Brits would become upset when the Americans would say what an SOB FDR was. He remembered one British soldier telling him that he would never use such terms to describe the King. Difference, I guess, between a head of state with very limited powers and a head of state with actual powers.

BTW, a British officer may have saved my father's life. A viper dropped off the wing of a plane and into my dad's shirt. Fortunately he didn't have the shirt tucked in and the snake slide onto the ground. The officer killed it with a riding crop.

A riding crop! Excellent! How could he have been a British officer and a gent without a riding crop? Thank you for that nice recollection.

Yes, we are less deferential to our "betters" these days, which is no doubt an improvement. But of course in time of war the King as symbol of the nation attracts some extra awe.

I was listening to a commentator the other day who recalled Napoleon's statement that to understand a man you need to remember what the world was like when he was 21. For the Queen and her husband that means the war and just postwar, when serious dedication to duty was the necessity of the time; it doesn't take much thought to see that echoed in their characters.

 

[Oafman]

A riding crop! Excellent! How could he have been a British officer and a gent without a riding crop? Thank you for that nice recollection.

Yes, we are less deferential to our "betters" these days, which is no doubt an improvement. But of course in time of war the King as symbol of the nation attracts some extra awe.

I was listening to a commentator the other day who recalled Napoleon's statement that to understand a man you need to remember what the world was like when he was 21. For the Queen and her husband that means the war and just postwar, when serious dedication to duty was the necessity of the time; it doesn't take much thought to see that echoed in their characters.

You were in line for a like, with your riding crop quip. But then you mystifyingly suggested that I ought to be able to see something in the character of Prince Philip that relates to duty and public service. Since his wartime contributions (before he was a member of British royalty, I might add), he doesn't appear to have done a great deal, save the odd racist comment and the killing of a few endangered animals.

I go further, as I also do not buy into the Queen's 'exemplary sense of duty' nonsense. Joan Smith sums up my response to this often stated but rarely examined attitude: The Queen and a reign of abject failure

The fact that, in an age when we rightly demand greater scrutiny of recipients of public money than ever before, she has not only failed to modernise the institution in this regard, but has actually taken it backwards, ensuring it is legally protected from scrutiny. This represents a huge failure on her part. It also highlights just how out of touch she is, as she has failed to see that, for the monarchy to last after she's gone, a great deal more openness and accountability is required. Her failure is another nail in the coffin of the institution of monarchy.

 

[Picky Picky]

You were in line for a like, with your riding crop quip. But then you mystifyingly suggested that I ought to be able to see something in the character of Prince Philip that relates to duty and public service. Since his wartime contributions (before he was a member of British royalty, I might add), he doesn't appear to have done a great deal, save the odd racist comment and the killing of a few endangered animals.

I go further, as I also do not buy into the Queen's 'exemplary sense of duty' nonsense. Joan Smith sums up my response to this often stated but rarely examined attitude: The Queen and a reign of abject failure

The fact that, in an age when we rightly demand greater scrutiny of recipients of public money than ever before, she has not only failed to modernise the institution in this regard, but has actually taken it backwards, ensuring it is legally protected from scrutiny. This represents a huge failure on her part. It also highlights just how out of touch she is, as she has failed to see that, for the monarchy to last after she's gone, a great deal more openness and accountability is required. Her failure is another nail in the coffin of the institution of monarchy.

Do you know, Oafman, I suspect we are not about to agree. I follow your argument, and I read Joan Smith's column. I think it is mistaken, but I suspect also that you and I could natter until doomsday without persuading each other. Onward!

 

[Oafman]

Do you know, Oafman, I suspect we are not about to agree. I follow your argument, and I read Joan Smith's column. I think it is mistaken, but I suspect also that you and I could natter until doomsday without persuading each other. Onward!

I rarely shut up about this topic, and I generally reach this point with most people I speak to. My stock answer is, let's resume when Charlie's on the throne...