There are certain events where one would always remember exactly when they occurred. I was about to get into a Zoom meeting when a news notification popped up saying that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II had passed away. I looked at the time, it was 12:48 PM (US Central Time), which was in the late afternoon in Balmoral Castle, the Queen’s Scottish home.
It was hard to concentrate on work the entire afternoon. Though I’ve become an American citizen, I’ve had a long affinity and fascination with the British royal family, especially Queen Elizabeth II. The UK’s longest-serving monarch since 1952 at the age of 25, her 70-year reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill and 14 American presidents starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,”
.#thequeen #queenelizabeth pic.twitter.com/m2NyWGiK6I— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 & 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 (@cornwallsnews) September 8, 2022
As her obituary says, her long reign was “… marked by her strong sense of duty and her determination to dedicate her life to her throne and to her people.” She’s also an endlessly fascinating monarch who defies expectations, this Wired article said that she’s tech-savvy (more than one would expect), being an early adopter of email and social media, she was on Twitter in 2014 and embraced Zoom meetings during Covid lockdowns.
I LOVE watching videos of the queen, as she has such a way with people from all walks of life with her refreshing no-nonsense candor. No matter who she interacts with, the queen is always the most memorable and fun to watch!
She also has such a love for animals, especially her numerous Corgis! Who could forget this scene when one of her corgi pooches made an appearance during her Jubilee celebrations 😀
No matter what failings she may have had, the queen is a product of her time and in that regard, I believe she’s made the best of what she’s entrusted to do as the UK head of state and head of state for 14 other Commonwealth countries. Imagine reigning for over six decades and living through such changing times throughout history. I’m not exactly enthused about Prince Charles, er, now King Charles III’s reign, as he’s nowhere near as popular as his mother. But all eyes will be on him as the new reigning monarch, as Britain launches Operation London Bridge, a term I actually just learned today from this recently released video.
Though the monarch has been portrayed on screen many times (which I’ll blog about later this weekend), the queen has played herself in several iconic videos to mark special occasions. I love that she’s got such a great sense of humor and this opening sequence with Daniel Craig as James Bond at the London Olympic Games is definitely one for the ages!
Whoever pitches the idea of having Paddington as part of the Jubilee is an absolute genius! In what turns out to be the queen’s last filmed appearance, this short film features her and the adorable Paddington bear having tea at Buckingham Palace and sharing her love of marmalade sandwiches!
How fortuitous that one of the first tweets I saw right after her death was announced is this simple but lovely and poignant tweet…
Thank you Ma’am, for everything.
— Paddington (@paddingtonbear) September 8, 2022
So there it is… I’d like to echo the same thing to Her Majesty The Queen… thank you, Ma’am and God Save the queen!
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She had her moments though I think I will remember her the most in being portrayed by Fred Armisen on SNL as this foul-mouthed, nasty, confrontational queen whose husband is just as nasty as they hurl abusive language towards Katherine, her sister Pippa, and Sir Elton John yet Pippa and Sir Elton John managed to fire back only to become friends with the Queen and Prince Phillip.
My feelings on all of this is mixed. I am sad that she died and what she meant to the family but her legacy is a mixed bag considering all of the shit that has happened under her watch. Especially in the fact that her son did some really awful shit and she didn’t really do anything while I feel awful for Meghan Markle for all of the shit she went through.. I hope people like Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne can go fuck off and never be seen or heard from again.
I hear ya, her legacy is complicated and the British monarchy’s relevance is growing thinner with time. But still admire her for what she had done for her country, I mean she was the unlikely Queen, as she wasn’t even supposed to be one had her uncle hadn’t abdicated.
Whatever might have been reported about Meghan, I do think she knew fully well going into the marriage w/ Harry.
I do find it troubling that the British press seem to attack her yet barely say anything about Prince Andrew and his bullshit.
I agree that the British press is terrible, they always have been sexist and racist. Prince Andrew is such a huge thorn in the Royal family’s life.
I am glad sends warm love to Harry and Meghan in his first speech as King. I hope they continue to reach out and repair their relationship.
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I honestly thought she passed away a long time ago, so I was bit surprised by the news of her passing earlier today. Then I again I don’t pay attention nor care about The Royal Family. May she rest in peace though.
Ahah I can’t believe you thought she had passed a while ago 😆 I don’t go out of my way to read about the Royal family either, but even as a casual news consumer, the Queen gets mentioned a lot.
Twitter was a weird place to be yesterday. I recently lost my grandma so I was probably being overly sensitive as I know what the monarchy represents, but I thought a lot of the jokes about her death were very distasteful. The whole thing made me feel weird. I do wish we could skip over Charles and just get to William.
I’m so sorry for your loss of your grandma. No I don’t think you are being sensitive, ppl on Twitter can be vicious, too much vitriol out there on social media, that’s why I rarely go there anymore other than to post links to my blog posts.
Yeah I was hoping the throne would pass to William too but then again Charles had trained to be king all his life, he wouldn’t give it up so easily.