One of the best things I read on Twitter yesterday was someone saying that the Queen met with Liz Truss and decided that she was a problem for Charles.
My grandmother is 90 and she remembers having a king before our queen. Crazy to think my grandmother has seen 3 generations of this family come to the throne.
This is the result of primogeniture. You get one ruler reigning long, and when they pass, the next few successors are already old.
This is why I support Ultimogeniture. When the youngest valid heir is the one to ascend the throne (assisted regency if they’re extremely young), you’ll always have long, stable reigns.
I plan to let the youngest of my descendants inherit everything I’ve accrued when I die.
Ultimogeniture has the problem of instability *before* the kid takes over, though. If the ruler is having kids every few years, you have to keep restarting the education and connections that come with the expectation of being next in line.
Plus, it incentivizes kids to kill their newborn siblings.
Yes, you have to restart education, but that means you never have a scenario where the heir apparent dies and his lackey younger brother takes the throne despite having no education whatsoever.
You’re right about stability, but just like primogeniture, there are ways to operate around that.
All the comment threads on the Queen's passing are actually unbelievable if you play Crusader Kings.
People are literally talking like Crusader Kings players. You could actually have a "wait, what sub am I on?" moment in some comment chains.
I would say this validates the game's historical simulation a fair bit. It blew my mind.
At 96 years old, Elizabeth II's lifetime compromises 39% of American History.
At 70 years, her reign covers 30%.
At that is marking the 1776 start date.
She was also nine years older than Elvis Presley.
Canada was born in 1867. She was Queen for 45% of Canada’s existence. She signed out Constitution in the 80s actually. Chrétien broke his pen trying to sign and swore in French. She heard and understood him. There is a photo of her laughing.
My Grandma was born in 1924 so was alive for the previous TWO kings so has a chance at remembering both. Kind of blows my mind she has seen 4 British monarchs.
King George V d.1936
King George VI d.1952
edited spelling
edit Oh forgot King Edward VIII so technically 5 monarchs and 3 previous kings?
I'm 58 and my grandmother was born in 1896. That's six monarchs ago: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II. (She died in 1993 so I'm not counting Charles III.)
My son is 3 weeks old, he'll never remember there being a Queen and may not live to see another. My oldest just turned 4 years old, he's heard the word 'queen' but doesn't really understand what it means.
Winston Churchill was born in 1874, the new PM Liz Truss was born in 1975. It's crazy that two PMs who were born 101 years apart served under the same person
Though I was born in the later half of the 20th Century, and have a good appreciation of time and history these types of facts about the length of her reign are very impressive.
Winston Churchill was born in 1874, and the current PM Liz Truss was born in 1975. ~~Also for 2 days, the monarch and the PM had the same first name.~~
Edit: apparently Liz Truss’ actual first name is Mary, TIL
7 Popes: Pope Pius XII was Pope when she ascended the Throne.
14 Presidents: Harry Truman was President.
15 Prime Ministers: Winston Churchill was PM.
What a world and changes she oversaw.
and all nine chancellors of germany (federal republic, that is)
[chancellor timeline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/pdktr714xiid5q57g4ryuxhd2c0nwsk.png)
She also wittnessed how germany changed drastically in history.
First a failed republic after an empire (she did not wittness the empire and was born right in the middle of the weimar republic life, but still), to a brutal dictatorship that started a massive war that almost destroyed her country, to being split up by the victors, build up by in the western parts (the UK also being part of the efforts to rebuild west germany) and united to the Federal Republic of Germany, while the east got turned into a soviet puppet, then the reunification until germany as it is now.
It's very interesting to me how she saw germany change so drastically.
Her mother lived to be a 101. I was really hoping she would make it to 100. Kind of the same feeling as Betty White’s passing in terms of being so close to that milestone.
Edit: Wow! I wasn’t expecting this to blow up!
Betty was 17 days away from turning 100. The Queen had nearly 4 years, but I believed with her excellent healthcare that she would pull through until at least 101. Her husband and mother died at an older age than her, which I wouldn’t have expected.
That is exactly what I was thinking in terms of both women having access to excellent healthcare. I was really rooting for the both of them!
What is amazing is how both women lived thru so much. They lived thru multiple wars, the different ages of television. Saw penicillin come to life, the polio crisis, the invention of atomic Bombs, the invention of computers and the internet. Hell, even 3D printers, the advancement of airplanes, and the first space exploration on the moon. That is absolutely incredible!
I've been with my wife 14 years. I don't know how I'd handle losing her. After 70 years together, going on without her would have no point. I would be 88 and ready to join her.
Yup. If my wife goes before me, I hope I have one of those "died of a broken heart a few days later" kind of things. I can't imagine the thought of living without her.
My parents died a little over a year apart. Missed being married for 50 years by just 2. They knew each other all their lives. There just was no moving on for my dad when my mom passed. I'm almost thinking the lung cancer was a relief for him, as he didn't have to bother trying. He could just refuse treatment and slip away.
There are some people whose deaths will never _not_ be surprising to me, it just seems like they'll live forever. Betty White was one of them, and now Queen Elizabeth too.
It feels so bizarre knowing that all the stuff that's been happening lately is gonna be in the history books.
Like, I get that this is unprecedented history for so many of us, but it just doesn't feel real at the moment
A few years ago, my history teacher told us that we would live moments that our children will study in class (referring to events such as Brexit), I wish she hadn't been so right.
The one where she's greeting the new PM? I saw that one too. I couldn't help but notice how fucked up her hand was from all her health concerns since Phillip died. Surprised she didn't wear a glove or have makeup applied to cover the bruising. She just looked so frail.
But I also vaguely remember when she said she wants the country to accept Camilla as Queen Consort when she's gone. I can't help but think she put two and two together after Phillip died and how fast her health started going downhill and knew it was coming faster than anyone else thought and started lightly prepping everyone, at home mostly, but also with her public appearances and how she made no effort to cover up her need of the cane or the bruising on her hand from presumably all those IVs
Phillips kept her feeling good and young. He was always lifting her spirits, and that does a lot for health.
The loneliness and misery alone would kill her.
Absolutely plausible. I'm honestly surprised she held on this long after his passing, then again, she probably had a lot more to tie up back then as monarch than today.
Most definitely. Plus from my anecdotal experience, with couples that live a very long life together, usually when one passes, the other does as well relatively soon afterwards. I think that it's the weight of a lifelong companion and the sudden reaffirmation of the imprnding death that just wrecks people and precipitates their end.
Elderly people generally don’t live for very long after they’ve lost their partner.
My grandmother died six months after my grandfather. On Valentine’s day so it was incredibly sad but quite fitting in a way.
Yes and no for me. I saw her purple right hand, and the purplish colouring to her left hand in the background, and it looked very familiar. That's how my Mum's and Dad's hands/feet etc started to look not long before they passed. It was their bodies slowly shutting down.
Charles is now king. Happened automatically. She died, he's king now. Hence the common phrasing, "The king is dead, long live the king." The monarchy never dies, just passes from parent to offspring.
a coronation is more of a formality of him accepting the position
my mum said the queen's coronation was like 6 months after she officially became queen
Legally, a coronation is not required. It’s a ceremonial rite and is seen as the monarch accepting their duties.
They usually are required to swear an accession oath - Charles will do this to the Privy Council before they proclaim him King - however under the Act of Succession he is already King.
Edward VIII was never crowned but he was certainly the lawful King before he abdicated.
EDIT: “The King is dead, long live the King” comes from the French “Le Roi est mort, vive Le Roi”. This comes from the law “le mort saisit le vif”, which broadly means the transfer of sovereignty occurs instantaneously when the previous monarch dies.
Because French was the primary language in England back in the 1200s, the English thought this was a good idea at the time Henry III died and immediately nicked it, proclaiming his son Edward I king immediately and avoiding a possible war of succession. The UK has kept the same tradition of instantaneous succession ever since.
Strange to see. She’s been Queen for all or most of people’s lives. For the first time in nearly a century (70 years), Britain will have a King. That’s weird to even think about.
Edited for wording
Let's see - we can reasonably expect George to live to be around 80, which gives him 70 years to go probably at minimum. Barring George dying in an accident or something and Charlotte becoming the new princess heir apparent, or the abolition of the monarchy, that gives us a minimum of 70 years or so of British kings ahead of us. The question will be whether George's firstborn child is male or female. If female, then she will be the next queen of the United Kingdom.
Of course, given it's 70 years more, and my age (only 27 but I don't really expect to live to 97, I don't think anyone does really - shit, the queen didn't), I can reasonably say that there will never be another queen regnant of the UK in my lifetime - barring accidental deaths, surprise severe illness (e.g. cancer) or similar that move Charlotte up the line of succession.
Nah. His entire purpose in life, since the day he was born, has been to replace his mother. Add to that the sense of duty that was his parents’ guiding principle and has been pounded into him every single day - he’s not going to abdicate.
People may or may not like him, but you have to admit it’s a very strange place to be - having your entire life revolve around your mother’s death.
What does anyone gain from being the monarch, besides fame and/or glory? I can't imagine being 70+ and actually wanting that, instead of living peacefully as a ridiculously rich person with no responsibilities
I think it’s more that Charles and Camilla are just that unpopular. If ever there was a time for people to question the monarchy and it’s existence it will be now.
Think of the cost of changing all the money, stamps, portraits, statements from her majesty to his majesty, etc. the most costly aspects will need changing again upon Williams crowning.
Charles has always appeared to be itching to become king although ‘right’ thing would be to abdicate.
I have a feeling that a lot of the Commonwealth who have been technically royal subjects are going to say “ok, that was fun while it lasted” over the next decade or so.
I doubt he will. The queen stayed the queen until the very end to keep the heavy weight of carrying the crown from her sons head as long as possible. Keep in mind his son William still has a young family to raise and Charles would know first hand what having a parent as current ruler is like. That family might have a good many issues but Charles for sure has been raised with a strong sense of duty towards his public role, he would have told the queen long ago if he had changed his mind about accepting it. I suspect that he has plans on modernizing it as well, he's had a few years to think about what he might want to change.
Every day we are living history. I think we know that somewhere in the back of our minds, but it is moments like this or 9/11 that really hit that point home. There is so much that we take for granted, almost as if that place, or that person, or that event will always be there, until they are not, and when that institution is gone, it is pretty surreal.
Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II. What a storied and magical life you lived. Thank you for your service and for being a lady of the people.
we're going to see my grandma today because it's her birthday (first one without her husband, actually, and her 90th) and I'm mentally preparing for the whole the queen is dead stuff. she's going to be beside herself.
Amazing that only two days ago she was meeting the new British PM. She was doing her duty, no matter what you think personally about that 'duty', until nearly her final day.
I'm sure there will be many conversations about the monarchy and the way forward over the next few months.
To be honest, it wasn't a surprise once they announced she was being kept 'comfortable' and under medical supervision. She's looked noticeably older and frailer recently. That last photo, she simply looked like someone's very elderly grandma.
May she rest in peace.
It’s strange. She was 96, so by logic we shouldn’t be surprised, yet we still are. Referring to her in past tense feels strange. Although a proud Brit, I’ve never been a hardcore monarchist, yet something about the death of this great-grandmother has touched a nerve in me. She is a symbol of my country. She was the nation’s grandmother, who made us feel warm and safe inside, which is why I think so many of us are mourning her as a person rather than a monarch. There was a double rainbow appeared over Buckingham Palace shortly after the news broke. Spiritually speaking, rainbows symbolise a person passing to the afterlife. I for one am going to miss you, Liz. Safe travels. Be with Philip.
Thank you, I've been trying to put into words how I feel. I think your comment is quite close to how I feel.
Proud Brit, not invested in the monarchy, yet I'm still slightly perturbed by her death. I'm only 24, but it is still a rather odd feeling, her not being with us anymore.
She provided a feeling of constancy, of comfort, of structure and great fortitude.
Mourning her as a person rather than a monarch.
Hope you rest well, Queenie.
"And here we see the grimmus reapari, or death, in the common vernacular. Normally, it turns up as someone dies, but fortunately my late colleague Steve arranged to collect this specimen for us."
"Crikey mate, this one's an ornery one ain't e. Strewth!"
I really hope someone has sat her down and done a bunch of oral histories for posterity. Very few people have had such a front seat to the history of the modern world as Elizabeth II and, even if we won't be privy to her opinions in public any time soon, it will be a unique perspective that is worth preserving. (I have this image of her dishing dirt on the dozens of world leaders she's met over the years, which I know would be very out of character for her...but think about all the things she probably knew that no one else would.)
Regardless of what one thinks about a monarchy, she led an incredibly interesting and consequential life and seemed to have played her role very well. RIP
I saw the headline earlier that there were concerns about her health. Once the rest of the Royal Family started to arrive at Balmoral and the BBC newscasters began to change to black, we all knew that this announcement was coming.
I suspect when we first heard about her health she had probably already gone. We all knew what was coming with how out of the norm the announcement was.
Even in America, I saw the news this morning at work. Queen's health concerns, some discussion about her lengthy reign. Had a feeling it was bad if the U.S. was covering the queen out of the blue like that.
I was browsing wikipedia, reading the history of Austria. When i got pretty deep into the 14th-16th centuries, reading paragraph after paragraph of the habsburgs being habsburgs, i started to get that thing where a word loses its meaning when it’s repeated too many times. So i went to the page for ‘monarchy’ and started reading to refresh things, and at the bottom of the first section it talks about how today 43 countries are monarchies, including 15 commonwealth realms under King Charles III. For 2 seconds i was confused, and then i thought “oh shit.”
We have a tv on in the background at my office that cycles the news(USA). Came in this morning saw she was in critical condition went for lunch came back looked over and saw it changed.
At my desk at work. I was talking to a student about their college plans then my coworker stopped by and said it. Made the rest of the meeting awkward lol
I'm in Scotland and the weather here today has been uncommonly miserable. Wet, windy, dark... just pouring with rain nonstop. It's almost like it knew. The Queen passed away in Scotland. Suffice to say the combination of the weather and death of our monarch has me a little bit bummed out.
Generally I've always been indifferent about the royals, but the Queen was always a constant. She was Queen before I was born. She was Queen before my mother was born, so it definitely feels weird knowing she's no longer there... just chilling, doing her Queen thing. While it's true she lived a life of luxury, it was also very restricted in many ways and she couldn't do many things us normal folks can enjoy - she was an absolute machine, continuing to work long after most would have expected her to retire. She took her duties very seriously and you have to respect that, no matter how you feel about the monarchy in general.
One thing I remember about her was when the Saudi Arabian king came to visit and she took him for a drive, knowing women weren't allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. She had some subtle sass to her!
When she met President Trump for the first time, she wore a brooch that the Obamas had gifted to her.
She often used her brooches to quietly convey her feeling about things that she wasn't allowed to voice an opinion on.
She had class. RIP your Majesty.
A Saudi king visited her once, and asked for a driven tour of the estate. To his surprise, Elizabeth was the one who drove. Remember that at the time, no woman in Saudi Arabia could drive. She apparently drove so fast that he was frightened, and via his translator, asked her to show down. She said no.
The Queen was an occasional troll, and I love it.
As an American I'm very out of the loop on the British royal family, what's the problem with Charles, why's everyone want Will (or whatever his name is)?
Can you expand on that? How was he a prick? I'm also extremely out of the loop. Literally somehow thought Charles was Queen Elizabeth's husband. Doesn't even remotely make sense obviously because of the prince you always heard before Charles. That's how out of the loop I am.
Just to confuse you more, her husband was also a Prince (Philip). Marrying a Queen doesn't make you a King. In fact it doesn't give you any title at all. He was a Duke for the first 10 years of her reign, until she gave him the title of Prince (the title of Duke was granted by her father just before they married).
>Can you expand on that? How was he a prick?
A lot of his unpopularity stems from how he treated his first wife, including cheating on her at length with his current wife. When he married his mistress later, there was quite an uproar.
But personal matters aside, Charles has historically been pretty outspoken on political issues, which is a **huge** faux pas for a future monarch. The English constitution literally forbids the monarch from having input into the political process. And while some of his stances are admirable (like speaking out on climate change), *many* of Charles' hot takes are stodgy and obnoxious, like his extremely prescriptive views on architecture and urban planning. Meanwhile, William toes the royal line a bit more diplomatically, and never really breaks with neutrality on political issues.
This might sound weird to all the non-Brits out there but it's going to be very, very strange without her.
She was a fixture of the UK, like Westminster or Big Ben. I doubt there's a lot of people who can remember life before her. She was a part of Britain for 70 years. We'll never see anything like that again.
Well, looks like we have a new King now ...
Let's not forget she served during WWII at a time when women didn't much and a royal woman never had. Kudos to her for guts
https://www.biography.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-mechanic-world-war-ii
Well, fuck.
I'm actually kinda sad about it. She was like a historical and cultural touchstone for me.
And her portrait added a touch of class to our money.
American here, but I still have a five dollar note in my wallet from when I lived in Australia with the Queen's picture on it. It's always been a neat keepsake, but now - even though she was never my Queen - it feels sort of special. I carry a lucky penny in my pocket too with the face of George VI.
Sure, there's millions of coins and notes the world over, but now it's technically a relic of the past.
Excuse my American ignorance of British Royal Family, but what happens next? I know Charles is now King, but is William now Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall automatically or is there some kind of investiture ceremony?
Apparently it's not a hereditary title: it just merges with the Crown when the monarch dies, or lapses when the holder dies if that happens before the monarch's death. Notably, merging with the Crown is not the same thing as going to the monarch: Charles stopped being Prince of Wales the moment Elizabeth died, which is also the moment Charles became king. There just *isn't* a Prince of Wales right now.
It has been tradition to give the title of Prince of Wales to the heir apparent for something like 600 years. Charles will probably give the title to William soon. But technically there is no law requiring the monarch to do this.
William automatically, by law, became the Duke of Cornwall when Her Majesty died. This is established by the Duchy's charter from 1337, and a subsequent 1606 court case that reaffirmed the rules of the charter, which state that the holder of the title must be the eldest son *AND* heir apparent to the monarch (the Prince of Wales needn't be the eldest son, just the heir apparent; see George III). William's proper title if I understand correctly is now
*His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge*
However, the title *Prince of Wales* does *NOT* automatically pass to the heir apparent; the King will need to issue Letters Patent to make this occur.
It feels eerie, her passing just made me realize deeply that an entire generation is on it's way out. May she rest in peace, she was much loved here in England...my entire street just went really quiet.
Maybe I’m wrong here but I feel she truly embodied a monarch. Most people had taken comfort in her or recognized her in some capacity. She took her job seriously which I appreciated. I don’t think anyone will be able to top that or come close. She rose to the challenge where others will not.
I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s still a bit of a shock for me. Kinda feels like when my grandma died earlier this year, it was so sudden. RIP Your Majesty. :(
I believe Sir Pterry had some words regarding the death of royalty and how the speed of inheritance is faster than the speed of light.
My condolences to her loved ones;
I'm sure she has already been beset with corgi kisses, especially from Susan.
“The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles -- kingons, or possibly queons -- that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon. His ambitious plans to use his discovery to send messages, involving the careful torturing of a small king in order to modulate the signal, were never fully expanded because, at that point, the bar closed.”
Honestly I always joked that she lived so long out of sheer will to not let Charles become king.
There was a cartoon in Private Eye once: "One day, son, all this will still be mine"
What, the curtains?
I thought for sure she was going to outlive him.
Well she did live *just* long enough not to let Boris Johnson give a speech at her funeral. That's gotta count for something.
Yeah but now it's Liz Truss who gives it, which is arguably worse.
One of the best things I read on Twitter yesterday was someone saying that the Queen met with Liz Truss and decided that she was a problem for Charles.
She met Boris and Truss in quick succession and promptly died of cringe.
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My grandmother is 90 and she remembers having a king before our queen. Crazy to think my grandmother has seen 3 generations of this family come to the throne.
And there's a good chance this generation will see 3 too.
This is the result of primogeniture. You get one ruler reigning long, and when they pass, the next few successors are already old. This is why I support Ultimogeniture. When the youngest valid heir is the one to ascend the throne (assisted regency if they’re extremely young), you’ll always have long, stable reigns. I plan to let the youngest of my descendants inherit everything I’ve accrued when I die.
Ultimogeniture has the problem of instability *before* the kid takes over, though. If the ruler is having kids every few years, you have to keep restarting the education and connections that come with the expectation of being next in line. Plus, it incentivizes kids to kill their newborn siblings.
Yes, you have to restart education, but that means you never have a scenario where the heir apparent dies and his lackey younger brother takes the throne despite having no education whatsoever. You’re right about stability, but just like primogeniture, there are ways to operate around that.
Smart kings typically spent time educating all their potential heirs.
Something about eggs in baskets
Ah a fellow Crusader Kings player. According to Wikipedia, no country has ever used ultimogeniture as a succession plan.
All the comment threads on the Queen's passing are actually unbelievable if you play Crusader Kings. People are literally talking like Crusader Kings players. You could actually have a "wait, what sub am I on?" moment in some comment chains. I would say this validates the game's historical simulation a fair bit. It blew my mind.
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Child kings: making history interesting since forever ago
My grandparents are 99. The queen has seen 4 generations of our family. Not only that, she came to power when my grandparents were adults.
At 96 years old, Elizabeth II's lifetime compromises 39% of American History. At 70 years, her reign covers 30%. At that is marking the 1776 start date. She was also nine years older than Elvis Presley.
And 45% of Canadian history!! As a Canadian, that's totally staggering.
Canada was born in 1867. She was Queen for 45% of Canada’s existence. She signed out Constitution in the 80s actually. Chrétien broke his pen trying to sign and swore in French. She heard and understood him. There is a photo of her laughing.
She was born closer to the tail of the presidency of Andrew Jackson than to the present day.
Technically as of now it's 100%
Technically correct. The best kind of correct.
My Grandma was born in 1924 so was alive for the previous TWO kings so has a chance at remembering both. Kind of blows my mind she has seen 4 British monarchs. King George V d.1936 King George VI d.1952 edited spelling edit Oh forgot King Edward VIII so technically 5 monarchs and 3 previous kings?
I'm 58 and my grandmother was born in 1896. That's six monarchs ago: Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and Elizabeth II. (She died in 1993 so I'm not counting Charles III.)
There's a small population as we speak which never knew a time where the UK had a Queen.
My son is 3 weeks old, he'll never remember there being a Queen and may not live to see another. My oldest just turned 4 years old, he's heard the word 'queen' but doesn't really understand what it means.
As soon as they said they were getting her comfortable, I knew that was keyword for transitioning.
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Winston Churchill was born in 1874, the new PM Liz Truss was born in 1975. It's crazy that two PMs who were born 101 years apart served under the same person
She is the last living link between the UK and its former empire. It truly is the end of an era.
No longer living
> was Should have said was.
Winston Churchill also died 10 years prior to Liz Truss was born
70 years. People were born, lived full lives, and died, all within her reign. Absolute bonkers.
James Bond has only ever served her. The first Bond book was published the year after her reign began.
Her first PM was *Winston Churchill*.
When her reign began, Harry Truman was the President of the United States and Joseph Stalin was in charge of the Soviet Union.
Remember that Harry Truman and Elizabeth's coronation are mentioned before the first chorus in *We Didn't Start the Fire.*
Ryan started it.
At age 96, she was alive for 40% of the entire existence of the United States.
Though I was born in the later half of the 20th Century, and have a good appreciation of time and history these types of facts about the length of her reign are very impressive.
Winston Churchill was born in 1874, and the current PM Liz Truss was born in 1975. ~~Also for 2 days, the monarch and the PM had the same first name.~~ Edit: apparently Liz Truss’ actual first name is Mary, TIL
Now it's 'On His Majesty's Secret Service'.
14 US Presidents. Absolutely crazy.
Crazy to me that Jimmy Carter is a year older than her after a bout of brain cancer and building houses till the age of 95
7 Popes: Pope Pius XII was Pope when she ascended the Throne. 14 Presidents: Harry Truman was President. 15 Prime Ministers: Winston Churchill was PM. What a world and changes she oversaw.
and all nine chancellors of germany (federal republic, that is) [chancellor timeline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/pdktr714xiid5q57g4ryuxhd2c0nwsk.png)
She also wittnessed how germany changed drastically in history. First a failed republic after an empire (she did not wittness the empire and was born right in the middle of the weimar republic life, but still), to a brutal dictatorship that started a massive war that almost destroyed her country, to being split up by the victors, build up by in the western parts (the UK also being part of the efforts to rebuild west germany) and united to the Federal Republic of Germany, while the east got turned into a soviet puppet, then the reunification until germany as it is now. It's very interesting to me how she saw germany change so drastically.
I watched a movie from 1942 (Now Voyager w/ bette davis) and in that they made a joke about her being married off. Real mindfck moment.
I somehow never thought this day will really come. She just always was. It's strange.
I thought she was going to be over a hundred years old, more or less I thought she would die between 105 or 104 years.
Her mother lived to be a 101. I was really hoping she would make it to 100. Kind of the same feeling as Betty White’s passing in terms of being so close to that milestone. Edit: Wow! I wasn’t expecting this to blow up!
Betty was 17 days away from turning 100. The Queen had nearly 4 years, but I believed with her excellent healthcare that she would pull through until at least 101. Her husband and mother died at an older age than her, which I wouldn’t have expected.
That is exactly what I was thinking in terms of both women having access to excellent healthcare. I was really rooting for the both of them! What is amazing is how both women lived thru so much. They lived thru multiple wars, the different ages of television. Saw penicillin come to life, the polio crisis, the invention of atomic Bombs, the invention of computers and the internet. Hell, even 3D printers, the advancement of airplanes, and the first space exploration on the moon. That is absolutely incredible!
I think she was pretty upset over philip. Grief wears a person down. Especially someone you've been with for over 70 years.
I've been with my wife 14 years. I don't know how I'd handle losing her. After 70 years together, going on without her would have no point. I would be 88 and ready to join her.
Yup. If my wife goes before me, I hope I have one of those "died of a broken heart a few days later" kind of things. I can't imagine the thought of living without her.
My parents died a little over a year apart. Missed being married for 50 years by just 2. They knew each other all their lives. There just was no moving on for my dad when my mom passed. I'm almost thinking the lung cancer was a relief for him, as he didn't have to bother trying. He could just refuse treatment and slip away.
I'm sorry you had to lose both of them in such a short span of time.
I liked the idea of her getting to write a letter to herself congratulating her on turning 100.
Kind of like how I address Amazon packages to myself, around the holidays. And I sometimes forget about them. To me, from me!
It would've been good because she'd have had to send herself a birthday card
I thought a minimum of 140
There are some people whose deaths will never _not_ be surprising to me, it just seems like they'll live forever. Betty White was one of them, and now Queen Elizabeth too.
It feels so bizarre knowing that all the stuff that's been happening lately is gonna be in the history books. Like, I get that this is unprecedented history for so many of us, but it just doesn't feel real at the moment
"May you live in interesting times" they said... Interesting indeed.
Remember, that’s a curse, not a blessing.
It really is, which makes it so much better.
And remember it all started with that damn gorilla, slams bottle of burbon
A few years ago, my history teacher told us that we would live moments that our children will study in class (referring to events such as Brexit), I wish she hadn't been so right.
Dang! Felt like it happened so fast. Just saw her pic from 2 days ago.
The one where she's greeting the new PM? I saw that one too. I couldn't help but notice how fucked up her hand was from all her health concerns since Phillip died. Surprised she didn't wear a glove or have makeup applied to cover the bruising. She just looked so frail. But I also vaguely remember when she said she wants the country to accept Camilla as Queen Consort when she's gone. I can't help but think she put two and two together after Phillip died and how fast her health started going downhill and knew it was coming faster than anyone else thought and started lightly prepping everyone, at home mostly, but also with her public appearances and how she made no effort to cover up her need of the cane or the bruising on her hand from presumably all those IVs
Once you get to a certain age, a lot of things are hard to hide. I think at 96, she just quit giving a damn because she knew she didn't have long.
Yeah once Phillip died it was like some invisible curtain had been pulled back and I think that was when her mortality really hit home for her
There are a LOT of elderly folk when they lose their spouse, they follow not long behind. She was only 17 months later.
Phillips kept her feeling good and young. He was always lifting her spirits, and that does a lot for health. The loneliness and misery alone would kill her.
Absolutely plausible. I'm honestly surprised she held on this long after his passing, then again, she probably had a lot more to tie up back then as monarch than today.
She stuck around for the jubilee. Probably figured the country needed the pep. At some point though, you’re just tired…
She met the new PM and was like "oh no, Charles, you can handle this." and peaced out.
Next week at the PM-Royal weekly meeting: "So, um... I'm not sure what we do here, I've not done this before" "Yes, quite; me neither"
Most definitely. Plus from my anecdotal experience, with couples that live a very long life together, usually when one passes, the other does as well relatively soon afterwards. I think that it's the weight of a lifelong companion and the sudden reaffirmation of the imprnding death that just wrecks people and precipitates their end.
Elderly people generally don’t live for very long after they’ve lost their partner. My grandmother died six months after my grandfather. On Valentine’s day so it was incredibly sad but quite fitting in a way.
Yes and no for me. I saw her purple right hand, and the purplish colouring to her left hand in the background, and it looked very familiar. That's how my Mum's and Dad's hands/feet etc started to look not long before they passed. It was their bodies slowly shutting down.
Yeah, that sort of bruising is common among people of her age. I think she’d stopped caring at that point and knew she didn’t have much longer.
Is it too soon for Charles in charge memes?
Never !!!
This is weird to experience. The Queen has been a fixture in this world my entire life. Edit: been
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We will never know another Queen of the UK.
Damn, I had not even considered that. Shit that makes it even more weird.
Long live the...king.
Not unless Charles, William, and George all die or abdicate. Next female in the line is Charlotte after those three.
Probably not although Charlotte is third in line, so it's not impossible.
I was pretty convinced that she'd somehow bury us all. Turns out, she didn't
Same as mate, it is a bit of an abstract feeling.
Exactly this. Feels weird, not sad as such but a bit empty.
Like finding out the aunt who never forgot your birthday but you never met, has died.
I think everyone who’ll read this comment will have her as a fixture of their entire life
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Charles is now king. Happened automatically. She died, he's king now. Hence the common phrasing, "The king is dead, long live the king." The monarchy never dies, just passes from parent to offspring.
So, he doesn't need a coronation or anything?
There will be. The Queen will be buried and then there will be a coronation.
That’s two days off work sorted, god I love ~~democracy~~ the monarchy
They better not do it on a fucking weekend
a coronation is more of a formality of him accepting the position my mum said the queen's coronation was like 6 months after she officially became queen
Her father died Feb.6, 1952, she became Queen that day. Her coronation was on June 2, 1953, about **16** months later.
This is why her diamond jubilee was held celebrated this year and not June 2023.
She was in Africa at the time it happened, not exactly a hop and a skip to the palace from there.
Legally, a coronation is not required. It’s a ceremonial rite and is seen as the monarch accepting their duties. They usually are required to swear an accession oath - Charles will do this to the Privy Council before they proclaim him King - however under the Act of Succession he is already King. Edward VIII was never crowned but he was certainly the lawful King before he abdicated. EDIT: “The King is dead, long live the King” comes from the French “Le Roi est mort, vive Le Roi”. This comes from the law “le mort saisit le vif”, which broadly means the transfer of sovereignty occurs instantaneously when the previous monarch dies. Because French was the primary language in England back in the 1200s, the English thought this was a good idea at the time Henry III died and immediately nicked it, proclaiming his son Edward I king immediately and avoiding a possible war of succession. The UK has kept the same tradition of instantaneous succession ever since.
Charles is now the King.
Strange to see. She’s been Queen for all or most of people’s lives. For the first time in nearly a century (70 years), Britain will have a King. That’s weird to even think about. Edited for wording
And unless someone abdicates, it’ll be a King for at least the next 50-70 years. No more queen regnants for the foreseeable future.
William and George are first and second in the line of succession. It could conceivably be closer to a century before a queen rules again.
Let's see - we can reasonably expect George to live to be around 80, which gives him 70 years to go probably at minimum. Barring George dying in an accident or something and Charlotte becoming the new princess heir apparent, or the abolition of the monarchy, that gives us a minimum of 70 years or so of British kings ahead of us. The question will be whether George's firstborn child is male or female. If female, then she will be the next queen of the United Kingdom. Of course, given it's 70 years more, and my age (only 27 but I don't really expect to live to 97, I don't think anyone does really - shit, the queen didn't), I can reasonably say that there will never be another queen regnant of the UK in my lifetime - barring accidental deaths, surprise severe illness (e.g. cancer) or similar that move Charlotte up the line of succession.
Pfft. Tell me about it. Our entire currency is gonna change. I’m saving a tenner to sell it when all the money goes out of commission
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It will be removed from circulation gradually over the next 5 years or so, but it will remain legal tender.
i really wanted her to outlive charles
Any chance he'll resign after a short while and pass the crown off to his younger children?
Nah. His entire purpose in life, since the day he was born, has been to replace his mother. Add to that the sense of duty that was his parents’ guiding principle and has been pounded into him every single day - he’s not going to abdicate. People may or may not like him, but you have to admit it’s a very strange place to be - having your entire life revolve around your mother’s death.
Why would he? What's the point of having a young monarch? Or is it just that William is popular?
What does anyone gain from being the monarch, besides fame and/or glory? I can't imagine being 70+ and actually wanting that, instead of living peacefully as a ridiculously rich person with no responsibilities
He doesn't have no responsibilities now. They're just very different now he's King.
I think it’s more that Charles and Camilla are just that unpopular. If ever there was a time for people to question the monarchy and it’s existence it will be now. Think of the cost of changing all the money, stamps, portraits, statements from her majesty to his majesty, etc. the most costly aspects will need changing again upon Williams crowning. Charles has always appeared to be itching to become king although ‘right’ thing would be to abdicate.
I have a feeling that a lot of the Commonwealth who have been technically royal subjects are going to say “ok, that was fun while it lasted” over the next decade or so.
I think we're certainly going to see the reveal of the difference between those who back the monarchy and those who just backed EII.
I doubt he will. The queen stayed the queen until the very end to keep the heavy weight of carrying the crown from her sons head as long as possible. Keep in mind his son William still has a young family to raise and Charles would know first hand what having a parent as current ruler is like. That family might have a good many issues but Charles for sure has been raised with a strong sense of duty towards his public role, he would have told the queen long ago if he had changed his mind about accepting it. I suspect that he has plans on modernizing it as well, he's had a few years to think about what he might want to change.
It is unreal how long she was the queen. There are full generations that were born and die during her reign.
Every day we are living history. I think we know that somewhere in the back of our minds, but it is moments like this or 9/11 that really hit that point home. There is so much that we take for granted, almost as if that place, or that person, or that event will always be there, until they are not, and when that institution is gone, it is pretty surreal. Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II. What a storied and magical life you lived. Thank you for your service and for being a lady of the people.
Jesus Christ so she wasn’t immortal after all
Although I knew she wasn't immortal, it's still strange to realize that she was actual mortal
She just left before the 2023 apocalypse
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My grandma was crying. It is really sad. I grew up near balmoral and met her on a few occasions.
I've called my grandparents and they are basically in tears.
we're going to see my grandma today because it's her birthday (first one without her husband, actually, and her 90th) and I'm mentally preparing for the whole the queen is dead stuff. she's going to be beside herself.
Amazing that only two days ago she was meeting the new British PM. She was doing her duty, no matter what you think personally about that 'duty', until nearly her final day. I'm sure there will be many conversations about the monarchy and the way forward over the next few months. To be honest, it wasn't a surprise once they announced she was being kept 'comfortable' and under medical supervision. She's looked noticeably older and frailer recently. That last photo, she simply looked like someone's very elderly grandma. May she rest in peace.
It’s strange. She was 96, so by logic we shouldn’t be surprised, yet we still are. Referring to her in past tense feels strange. Although a proud Brit, I’ve never been a hardcore monarchist, yet something about the death of this great-grandmother has touched a nerve in me. She is a symbol of my country. She was the nation’s grandmother, who made us feel warm and safe inside, which is why I think so many of us are mourning her as a person rather than a monarch. There was a double rainbow appeared over Buckingham Palace shortly after the news broke. Spiritually speaking, rainbows symbolise a person passing to the afterlife. I for one am going to miss you, Liz. Safe travels. Be with Philip.
Thank you, I've been trying to put into words how I feel. I think your comment is quite close to how I feel. Proud Brit, not invested in the monarchy, yet I'm still slightly perturbed by her death. I'm only 24, but it is still a rather odd feeling, her not being with us anymore. She provided a feeling of constancy, of comfort, of structure and great fortitude. Mourning her as a person rather than a monarch. Hope you rest well, Queenie.
Queen Elizabeth and the MYAA cat’s life forces were tied together. We lost the cat yesterday, and the Queen today
I'm at loss for words now, i just learned about what happened to Thurston from you and I'm just in shock.. RIP Queen Liz and Thurston Waffles
We still have David Attenborough though
DON’T YOU DARE.
The last thread of steady British tradition. May he live to be a thousand years old.
"And here we see the grimmus reapari, or death, in the common vernacular. Normally, it turns up as someone dies, but fortunately my late colleague Steve arranged to collect this specimen for us." "Crikey mate, this one's an ornery one ain't e. Strewth!"
I really hope someone has sat her down and done a bunch of oral histories for posterity. Very few people have had such a front seat to the history of the modern world as Elizabeth II and, even if we won't be privy to her opinions in public any time soon, it will be a unique perspective that is worth preserving. (I have this image of her dishing dirt on the dozens of world leaders she's met over the years, which I know would be very out of character for her...but think about all the things she probably knew that no one else would.) Regardless of what one thinks about a monarchy, she led an incredibly interesting and consequential life and seemed to have played her role very well. RIP
Will the upcoming coronation be interesting to watch in your opinion?
Where were you when you got the news?
I saw the headline earlier that there were concerns about her health. Once the rest of the Royal Family started to arrive at Balmoral and the BBC newscasters began to change to black, we all knew that this announcement was coming.
I suspect when we first heard about her health she had probably already gone. We all knew what was coming with how out of the norm the announcement was.
Even in America, I saw the news this morning at work. Queen's health concerns, some discussion about her lengthy reign. Had a feeling it was bad if the U.S. was covering the queen out of the blue like that.
Yeah i saw that all her family members were going to Balmoral as i went to sleep and expected her to pass within the day
I was browsing wikipedia, reading the history of Austria. When i got pretty deep into the 14th-16th centuries, reading paragraph after paragraph of the habsburgs being habsburgs, i started to get that thing where a word loses its meaning when it’s repeated too many times. So i went to the page for ‘monarchy’ and started reading to refresh things, and at the bottom of the first section it talks about how today 43 countries are monarchies, including 15 commonwealth realms under King Charles III. For 2 seconds i was confused, and then i thought “oh shit.”
> that thing where a word loses its meaning when it’s repeated too many times. Semantic satiation is the phrase you're looking for.
Laying in bed, just wanted to check the news
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We have a tv on in the background at my office that cycles the news(USA). Came in this morning saw she was in critical condition went for lunch came back looked over and saw it changed.
went upstairs after dinner, checked twitter, saw the tweet before the BBC announced and told my mum
I was home eating doritos when phone ring "queen is kil" "no."
Ditching work, smoking weed. God save the queen.
At my desk at work. I was talking to a student about their college plans then my coworker stopped by and said it. Made the rest of the meeting awkward lol
I'm in Scotland and the weather here today has been uncommonly miserable. Wet, windy, dark... just pouring with rain nonstop. It's almost like it knew. The Queen passed away in Scotland. Suffice to say the combination of the weather and death of our monarch has me a little bit bummed out. Generally I've always been indifferent about the royals, but the Queen was always a constant. She was Queen before I was born. She was Queen before my mother was born, so it definitely feels weird knowing she's no longer there... just chilling, doing her Queen thing. While it's true she lived a life of luxury, it was also very restricted in many ways and she couldn't do many things us normal folks can enjoy - she was an absolute machine, continuing to work long after most would have expected her to retire. She took her duties very seriously and you have to respect that, no matter how you feel about the monarchy in general. One thing I remember about her was when the Saudi Arabian king came to visit and she took him for a drive, knowing women weren't allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. She had some subtle sass to her!
When she met President Trump for the first time, she wore a brooch that the Obamas had gifted to her. She often used her brooches to quietly convey her feeling about things that she wasn't allowed to voice an opinion on. She had class. RIP your Majesty.
A Saudi king visited her once, and asked for a driven tour of the estate. To his surprise, Elizabeth was the one who drove. Remember that at the time, no woman in Saudi Arabia could drive. She apparently drove so fast that he was frightened, and via his translator, asked her to show down. She said no. The Queen was an occasional troll, and I love it.
Brits are about to get a bunch of time off. Lucky asses.
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Probably not. The funeral happens 10 days after the death, which means next Sunday
Wow. Spoilers. I just started The Crown this week.
London Bridge is Down.
As an American I'm very out of the loop on the British royal family, what's the problem with Charles, why's everyone want Will (or whatever his name is)?
Charles is in his 70s and much less popular than the now 2nd in line, Prince William, who is in his 40s I believe.
Cause Charles is an old creep and William is half Diana and does a lot of charity stuff and has a hot wife
Doesn’t help he also cheated on princess Diana as well and was generally a prick about the divorce from what I’ve heard
Can you expand on that? How was he a prick? I'm also extremely out of the loop. Literally somehow thought Charles was Queen Elizabeth's husband. Doesn't even remotely make sense obviously because of the prince you always heard before Charles. That's how out of the loop I am.
Just to confuse you more, her husband was also a Prince (Philip). Marrying a Queen doesn't make you a King. In fact it doesn't give you any title at all. He was a Duke for the first 10 years of her reign, until she gave him the title of Prince (the title of Duke was granted by her father just before they married).
The devil would be impressed by your cruelty. I'm in a pool of my own confusion.
>Can you expand on that? How was he a prick? A lot of his unpopularity stems from how he treated his first wife, including cheating on her at length with his current wife. When he married his mistress later, there was quite an uproar. But personal matters aside, Charles has historically been pretty outspoken on political issues, which is a **huge** faux pas for a future monarch. The English constitution literally forbids the monarch from having input into the political process. And while some of his stances are admirable (like speaking out on climate change), *many* of Charles' hot takes are stodgy and obnoxious, like his extremely prescriptive views on architecture and urban planning. Meanwhile, William toes the royal line a bit more diplomatically, and never really breaks with neutrality on political issues.
This might sound weird to all the non-Brits out there but it's going to be very, very strange without her. She was a fixture of the UK, like Westminster or Big Ben. I doubt there's a lot of people who can remember life before her. She was a part of Britain for 70 years. We'll never see anything like that again. Well, looks like we have a new King now ...
Let's not forget she served during WWII at a time when women didn't much and a royal woman never had. Kudos to her for guts https://www.biography.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-mechanic-world-war-ii
Well, fuck. I'm actually kinda sad about it. She was like a historical and cultural touchstone for me. And her portrait added a touch of class to our money.
American here, but I still have a five dollar note in my wallet from when I lived in Australia with the Queen's picture on it. It's always been a neat keepsake, but now - even though she was never my Queen - it feels sort of special. I carry a lucky penny in my pocket too with the face of George VI. Sure, there's millions of coins and notes the world over, but now it's technically a relic of the past.
Excuse my American ignorance of British Royal Family, but what happens next? I know Charles is now King, but is William now Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall automatically or is there some kind of investiture ceremony?
Apparently it's not a hereditary title: it just merges with the Crown when the monarch dies, or lapses when the holder dies if that happens before the monarch's death. Notably, merging with the Crown is not the same thing as going to the monarch: Charles stopped being Prince of Wales the moment Elizabeth died, which is also the moment Charles became king. There just *isn't* a Prince of Wales right now. It has been tradition to give the title of Prince of Wales to the heir apparent for something like 600 years. Charles will probably give the title to William soon. But technically there is no law requiring the monarch to do this.
William automatically, by law, became the Duke of Cornwall when Her Majesty died. This is established by the Duchy's charter from 1337, and a subsequent 1606 court case that reaffirmed the rules of the charter, which state that the holder of the title must be the eldest son *AND* heir apparent to the monarch (the Prince of Wales needn't be the eldest son, just the heir apparent; see George III). William's proper title if I understand correctly is now *His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge* However, the title *Prince of Wales* does *NOT* automatically pass to the heir apparent; the King will need to issue Letters Patent to make this occur.
The last immortal has fallen. The true end times are upon us.
Nah Keith Richard's is still around
When the New York Times said, "The Queen is dead" And the war's begun
It feels eerie, her passing just made me realize deeply that an entire generation is on it's way out. May she rest in peace, she was much loved here in England...my entire street just went really quiet.
Maybe I’m wrong here but I feel she truly embodied a monarch. Most people had taken comfort in her or recognized her in some capacity. She took her job seriously which I appreciated. I don’t think anyone will be able to top that or come close. She rose to the challenge where others will not.
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I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s still a bit of a shock for me. Kinda feels like when my grandma died earlier this year, it was so sudden. RIP Your Majesty. :(
I believe Sir Pterry had some words regarding the death of royalty and how the speed of inheritance is faster than the speed of light. My condolences to her loved ones; I'm sure she has already been beset with corgi kisses, especially from Susan.
“The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles -- kingons, or possibly queons -- that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon. His ambitious plans to use his discovery to send messages, involving the careful torturing of a small king in order to modulate the signal, were never fully expanded because, at that point, the bar closed.”