rockhopper penguin 2,265 Posted March 9, 2017 This is genuine (honest). Child flirting with a spell in the Tower. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39220461 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 11, 2017 Finally, a bit of real news: it was just formally confirmed on television that the Queen will not be attending the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year. No real surprise there as her days of overseas travel have been said to be over before but it is significant as she has never before missed a Commonwealth Games so it is a bit of a milestone announcement. The palace also apparently said quite openly that she wouldn't be likely to ever come to Australia again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathray 2,940 Posted March 12, 2017 18 hours ago, Davey Jones' Locker said: Finally, a bit of real news: it was just formally confirmed on television that the Queen will not be attending the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year. No real surprise there as her days of overseas travel have been said to be over before but it is significant as she has never before missed a Commonwealth Games so it is a bit of a milestone announcement. The palace also apparently said quite openly that she wouldn't be likely to ever come to Australia again. Noting new. It's been the case for almost four years. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/new-era-in-train-as-queen-has-seen-her-last-aussie-games/news-story/188372c9284abf171561ce9f247049fb Quote When the Prince of Wales was again named to represent the Queen at CHOGM in Sri Lanka in 2013, royal aides revealed that she was unlikely to undertake further long-distance travel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 12, 2017 55 minutes ago, Deathray said: Noting new. It's been the case for almost four years. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/new-era-in-train-as-queen-has-seen-her-last-aussie-games/news-story/188372c9284abf171561ce9f247049fb Cheers. Not sure why they were making such a fuss of it on the news last night then. The Palace must have issued further confirmation or something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 12, 2017 According to this rather dubious paper, the Queen described her cold as "grisly": http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/593189/the-queen-health-illness-sickness-rumours They also make a fuss over the fact that she likes a drop: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/592924/the-queen-elizabeth-drinking-alcohol-booze-gin Oh, and they also claim Trump wants the USA to join the British Commonwealth: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/591749/queen-ruler-us-donald-trump-commonwealth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,436 Posted March 12, 2017 Her mother drank like an actor, and lived to 102. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 12, 2017 3 minutes ago, msc said: Her mother drank like an actor, and lived to 102. Yes, who cares if she enjoys a tipple at this age? Let the old girl enjoy herself a bit. BTW, I saw an old chap I know today who just turned 90 (not a celeb!). He is very alert in the mind but stooped and unsteady on his feet and has had the occasional bad turn at times. It highlighted to me just how well both Liz and Phil are for their age. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,436 Posted March 12, 2017 This allows me to badly re-tell one of my favourite Queen Mother anecdotes. Mid-1990s, some embassy or other gave the Royal Family a gift of a crate of booze. They were on official business, so the cargo went to stay with the Queen Mum who said: "If they don't want it, I'll finish it off myself". 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 12, 2017 An Aussie journalist asked Hewitt outright if he was Harry's dad last night: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/james-hewitt-says-he-is-not-prince-harrys-dad-in-sunday-night-exclusive/news-story/719ce379eb9aeb0a4e41079e29cd083d 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 12, 2017 LOL - more on her drinking "habit": http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/thequeen/the-queen-concludes-each-day-with-a-glass-of-champagne-77963 Amazing how journalists can make so much mileage out of a non-existent story. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 13, 2017 On 12/03/2017 at 12:17, Davey Jones' Locker said: Cheers. Not sure why they were making such a fuss of it on the news last night then. The Palace must have issued further confirmation or something. The reason why it was brought up again was that apparently the Games Committee sent her an official invitation to attend as a matter of protocol even though she had stated she would not be attending anymore. When she formally declined the invitation, the news media picked up on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theoldlady 2,296 Posted March 14, 2017 Would it be possible to add her old monitor: Encrusted with barnacles, but still unsinkable. She is one strong woman. (I do not think it is rude at all.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 14, 2017 Off-Guardian pulls no punches: https://off-guardian.org/2017/03/13/video-queen-unveils-monument-celebrating-half-a-million-iraqi-deaths/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 14, 2017 Breaking news! The Queen and Prince Philip had an argument in 1954: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/royal-tour-stunned-crew-filmed-queen-lashing-out-at-prince-philip-in-victoria-in-1954/news-story/20159e03445d2bea448f60e3413bdbdc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,436 Posted March 14, 2017 Premium article, apparently. But a couple once had an argument? Christ, that's never happened before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr_T 254 Posted March 15, 2017 Lizzie and Phil's fight was written in to one of the episodes of "The Crown". Quite a good watch if you have got Netflix. I wonder if Lizzie was watching it when she was convalescing over Christmas and picking plot holes? She might be a little miffed that the actress playing her (although quite attractive) was not in the league of the actress playing Princess Margaret. But I guess that is true to life. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rockhopper penguin 2,265 Posted March 15, 2017 3 hours ago, Dr_T said: Lizzie and Phil's fight was written in to one of the episodes of "The Crown". Quite a good watch if you have got Netflix. I wonder if Lizzie was watching it when she was convalescing over Christmas and picking plot holes? She might be a little miffed that the actress playing her (although quite attractive) was not in the league of the actress playing Princess Margaret. But I guess that is true to life. She had a cold. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
time 8,586 Posted March 16, 2017 'Secret' plans for when the Queen dies. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,436 Posted March 16, 2017 So that's some of the code words they wont use now! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 16,129 Posted March 16, 2017 I'm sure they were changed long ago, as I remember reading similar articles years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,436 Posted March 16, 2017 Same, actually. As long as she lives, she'll be good for those "What about when she dies" articles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 16, 2017 8 hours ago, time said: 'Secret' plans for when the Queen dies. Thanks. I always enjoy reading these and this is an especially detailed one. Some choice quotes from it: "According to the Office of National Statistics, a British woman who reaches the age of 91 – as the Queen will in April – has an average life expectancy of four years and three months." Very interesting. Presumably with her current state of health, genetics and access to top class medical care the Queen will exceed the average. "From the Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre, at an undisclosed location in the capital, the news will go out to the 15 governments outside the UK where the Queen is also the head of state, and the 36 other nations of the Commonwealth for whom she has served as a symbolic figurehead – a face familiar in dreams and the untidy drawings of a billion schoolchildren – since the dawn of the atomic age." LOL - waxing way too lyrical there. I have certainly never dreamed of the Queen nor did I or any of my classmates from school ever have to draw her! "More overwhelming than any of this, though, there will be an almighty psychological reckoning for the kingdom that she leaves behind. The Queen is Britain’s last living link with our former greatness – the nation’s id, its problematic self-regard – which is still defined by our victory in the second world war. One leading historian, who like most people I interviewed for this article declined to be named, stressed that the farewell for this country’s longest-serving monarch will be magnificent. “Oh, she will get everything,” he said. “We were all told that the funeral of Churchill was the requiem for Britain as a great power. But actually it will really be over when she goes.” Unlike the US presidency, say, monarchies allow huge passages of time – a century, in some cases – to become entwined with an individual. The second Elizabethan age is likely to be remembered as a reign of uninterrupted national decline, and even, if she lives long enough and Scotland departs the union, as one of disintegration. Life and politics at the end of her rule will be unrecognisable from their grandeur and innocence at its beginning. “We don’t blame her for it,” Philip Ziegler, the historian and royal biographer, told me. “We have declined with her, so to speak.”" Interesting comment. I wish someone would hack a secure line and announce "London Bridge is down" to troll a radio station producer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218 Posted March 16, 2017 Amazing just how many posts are devoted to her considering the probability that she will outlive many of the 49 other names. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Davey Jones' Locker 1,324 Posted March 16, 2017 The other article linked from the Guardian one about soundtracks for national calamities is interesting too and actually quite well written by Huffington Post standards (a low bar I know): http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/christopher-price/soundtracking-911_b_957331.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 16,129 Posted March 16, 2017 12 minutes ago, Davey Jones' Locker said: I have certainly never dreamed of the Queen No? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
