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blackswaneuroparedux · 1 year

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You can make all sorts of solid arguments against a constitutional monarchy - but the point of monarchy is precisely that it is not the fruit of an argument. It is emphatically not an Enlightenment institution. It’s a primordial institution smuggled into a democratic system. It has nothing to do with merit and logic and everything to do with authority and mystery - two deeply human needs our modern world has trouble satisfying without danger.

- Andrew Sullivan

This is the genius of the British monarchy, supremacy exemplified in the late Queen Elizabeth II and now in King Charles III. Walter Bagehot was the first to really get to the heart of the matter.

Walter Bagehot, a journalist who would co-found and edit The Economist magazine was one of the greatest Victorians of the 19th century and he concerned himself with the workings and the reform of the delicate constitutional arrangements between parliament, the House of Lords, and the monarchy as so much is based on custom and unwritten practice.

Walter Bagehot published his classic work, The English Constitution in 1867 but it is the best way to understand the delicate balance of parliament and the monarchy. No one has written a finer work than Bagehot and his book remains the bible for many interested in constitutional matters regarding the monarchy.

In it he argued that the constitution was divided into two branches. The monarchy represents the “dignified” branch. Its job is to symbolise the nation through pomp and ceremony. The government - Parliament, the cabinet and the civil service - represents the “efficient” branch. Its job is to run the country by passing laws and providing public services. He was right to say that the dignified branch governs through poetry, and the efficient branch through prose.

In Bagehot’s view, a politically-inactive monarchy served the best interests of the United Kingdom; by abstaining from direct rule, the monarch levitated above the political fray of tribal politics (of left and right), and remained a respected personage to whom all subjects could look to as a guiding light. The monarch was to stay severely neutral and be apolitical. Instead the monarch was to embody in the flesh the core values of a nation.

There is a tremendous burden tied to that kind of role. When Elizabeth Windsor became queen, she was tasked as a twenty-something with a job that required her to say or do nothing that could be misconstrued, controversial, or even interestingly human - for the rest of her life. She achieved that both stoically and heroically in many people’s eyes. King Charles III has taken on that inhuman mantle now. Time will tell if he can follow the late Queen’s example.

Duty, sacrificial service, and honour....without power. That’s the role of modern royalty.

It’s hard for non-British people to understand how a monarch can come to embody the psyche of the nation. The Crown represents something from the ancient past, a logically indefensible but emotionally salient symbol of something called a nation, something that gives its members meaning and happiness. As Bagehot says, it’s an act of imagination.

Some of my non-British friends particularly can’t quite grasp this connection; to them the British royal family functions mainly at best as a different form of celebrity. But to these friends as well as those republican friends sincerely opposed to monarchy can and should grasp something else - nations and cultures need people and institutions who transcend politics, which left to itself quickly descends into tribalism or worse, authoritarianism.

#sullivan #andrew sullivan #quote #monarchy #british monarchy #king charles III #united kingdom #crown #royalty #constitutional monarchy #history #custom #heritage #tradition #queen elizabeth II #bagehot #walter bagehot #society #politics

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realcatalina · 7 months

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My thoughts on this painting

I found it on twitter account called Tudor Extra, and they say it has been recently discovered by Dr Emma Cahill Marrón(on twitter as EmmaLCahill) in London.(link is at end of post)

Honestly in closeup it looks in really poor state.

On left are obviously Henry's parents and correctly identified so.

But i am not so sure about rest of figures being correctly identified. Or rather I am sure they aren't!

Yes, the figures lined in red are Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

But the orange I lined in orange is supposed to be Margaret Tudor. Henry VIII's sister. Fashion-wise it's possible.

Catherine's gable hood has both veils down, frontlets up. So at earliest it could be somewhere in 2nd half of 1510s, at latest late 1520s. The lack of ends of paste would point to c.1520(however if this was a copy...painters tend to not include them, or not give them justice...) So I am not 100% trusting it.

Margaret left England in 1517(read up on her life, if you want to know more), so in theory she could have been included here. But why is she by Catherine's side? Or rather behind that. Odd isn't it?

Such possition would much better fit Mary I. The sizes can be deceiving here...because in reality Catherine is supposed to be way smaller than Henry...

Hence this figure doesn't necessarily have to be a child(Mary I), but could be. And Mary was wearing same cap in Vyne chapel(where is commonly mistaken for her mother.)

(If there was Margaret, why wouldn't there also be Mary Rose? (Henry's other sister). ...Wouldn't that be even more odd than his daughter being included.)

But...I am really buffled by two figures entirely on right side.

Allegedly on left is Eleanor of Austria and on right her husband Manuel I of Portugal, whom she married in 1518:

...Nobody thinks it weird? ...Just me?

Well, in my opinion. They are misidentified. Both of them.

The man wears order of golden fleece-but that wasn't limited to just Habsburgs, plenty of foreign royalty were honourary members. Including Manuel of Portugal and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

One would be normally considering if the entire portrait is not done to commemorate Charles V visit to England...with figure beside him being widowed Germaine of Foix(who was there!).

But why would Henry's parents be included in such portrait?...Makes no sense!

Unless...we're looking at dynastic portrait!!!

...Where Henry's parents are on left, Henry, Catherine and their daughter Mary in middle, and Catherine's parents on right!

This could certainly be Ferdinand:

Ferdinand died in 1516, but Henry's parents were long dead too...

But...what about the woman? You cannot tell firmly the shape of gown and jewelry(mind could easily play tricks upon you.)

But why would Isabella wear french hood?

...And i considered that perhaps somebody confused portrait of Germaine of Foix or even real Eleanor and Joanna(netherlandish type of frenhc hood) with Isabella...

But then I noticed shape within the french hood's veil...

And it looks suspiciously like cofia de tranzado... the cap and 'braid', just where they are supposed to be.The headwear is overpainted!

Hence it could be based upon some portrait of Queen Isabella!

Unfortunately this is just card/print from Ancaster Collection, Grimstorpe castle labelled slightly wrong as family of Henry VII(instead of Henry VIII):

I hope we can all agree. It deserves way more love and attention.

This might be the first Tudor dynastic portrait!

Equivalent of Whitehall Mural or The family portrait from 1542/3.

...And if there is black and white card of it...is it drawing, engraving, printm or photograph? ...It could be out there...

PS: In it...Elizabeth of York is taller than Henry VII. Not that I'd trust the proportions entirely...but it'd be funny if true.

#historical portraits #tudor history #catherine of aragon #mary i of england #henry vii of england #elizabeth of york #mistaken identity

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mariedemedicis · 1 month

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inspired by @mihrsuri‘s awesome posts:

“While Charles regarded the Prince of Orange and Prince George of Denmark as suitable matches for his nieces, for his daughter and heir a mate was required who would willingly play second fiddle...” “Princess Elizabeth was given a choice among the younger sons of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of James IV and I. Elizabeth chose for her prince the handsomest of the brothers, Maximilian William, a third son three years her elder...” (Charles II and His Daughter Elizabeth II)

“The birth of Princess Elizabeth went a long way towards soothing anti-Catholic fears among the English population, with a Protestant heir standing between the Catholic Duke of York and the throne. The Queen’s position improved immensely..” “Although her fondness did not extend to her father’s mistresses, the new Queen was inordinately fond of her half-sisters and brothers. Don Carlos accompanied his niece the Princess Royal on the occasion of her marriage to Philippe, Duc de Anjou, later King of Spain...” “Elizabeth’s closest inner circle included her mother the Queen Mother, uncle the Duke of York, the younger of her surviving cousins the Lady Anne, and her half-sister Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield...” (The Protestant Princess Who Saved England: Elizabeth Stuart and the Protestant Succession)

“Although the match had been set for years, as the time drew near for Max to leave for England, Sophia began to harbor misgivings. Her son was not content as a third son; he had been very pleased to have been chosen over his brothers but how long he would be contented to leave the reins of power in the hands of his wife?” "Max proclaimed himself very happy with his new bride. Elizabeth was not classically beautiful (she had too much of her father in her for that) but she was considered handsome. Max described her in letters to his mother and sister as 'tall and well-formed with dark curly hair and sensual lips'..." "The first clash came when Max, slighted over the Queen's choice of her brother for a honor he believed should have been his, lashed out by showing deliberate and obvious attention to one of his wife's ladies..." "Theirs was a tumultuous marriage but when the couple worked in concert, they could accomplish great things indeed... " "Did Max and Elizabeth feel love for one another? We'll never know for certain but what we do know is that whatever their arguments, they remained physically affectionate throughout their marriage..." (Jolly Prince Max: He Who Would Be King)

“Unlike her father and uncle, Elizabeth, who lacked close family ties to France, pursued a much less conciliatory policy towards France and one that aligned more closely with Parliament’s ...” “Though the pair later married their eldest surviving daughter to a grandson of Louis XIV, they also married the rest of their offspring with the exception of Princess Charlotte into the other royal families of Europe...” (Politics in the Court of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Max)

#*princess rachel's world #fake snippets of fake historical biographies

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confusedgnosticcg · 2 years

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IX-VIII-MMXX

“Long live the queen.” A single tear left Prince Charles’ eyes, leaving a soft glisten down his worn cheek. “Let the people know,” he let go of her dead hand, “the queen is dead.” the other people in the room left with their hearts broken. Moments later it was all over the world, “The longest reigning monarch of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is dead.”

Back at the royal residence, the family of Windsor mourned their beloved family member as she lay in her deathbed. Tears were shed all around. Love is rarely stronger than those for relatives.

“M-may I have a moment alone with her?” Lady Louise asked her family. Her and the previous queen had been close. If Elizabeh had a favorite it was probably her. Each person took their leave after saying public goodbyes. Finally they were alone. Louise took her grandmother’s hand. “You were brilliant in your time. Everyone will miss you,” she paused, “I just… I just don’t understand why you didn't wait till you were 100…” Without even opening her eyes, the queen bursted out into laughter. “You could have waited four more years! ‘Dying’ at 96 is so unsatisfying!”

“I am tired! I don’t want to wait four more years. That also just seems a bit too eye-catching- dying right at 100.”

“I think you dying at all is too eye-catching. You should just let everyone know you’re incapable of such mortal whims. I think it’s more believable.” They both shared a good, small laugh. “So what will you do now?” Louise inquired. How was one of the most famous people on earth supposed to live out the rest of her immortal days without being recognized for a good century or two- possibly more? Shakespeare and Hathaway took 4 centuries to come back into the open.

“Oh not much. Probably just roam around the secret corridors and ‘chillax’ in the bunker. I plan on whispering ideas on how to run the country into Charles’ ear as he sleeps, so that will be fun. Hopefully he doesn’t die right away from madness.”

“Well, I wish you luck. I hope you’ll leave me a way to come visit you every now and then.” Louise smiled at her grandmother. She had known since she was a little girl that the conspiracies and silly theories were true. When the Queen was more youthful, she had held a secret meeting with Anne Hathaway and her husband, Adam Shulman (William Shakespeare). They had given her their secret of immortality in exchange for fame when they came back out into the open. The Queen wanted to wait to use it, and now was finally the time.

No one knew. No one except little Lady Louise Winsdor.

“Of course I’d let you visit. It’ll be dreadfully boring living my time out alone. I’ll need a few people to keep me company. Who better than my most beloved granddaughter?” They shared a warm smile before an unwelcome knock presented itself at the door.

“Louise, are you done now? It’s time.” It was Andrew.

“Yes, I’ve made my peace.” She left the Queen with a smile on her lips and a longing in her eyes. She loved Elizabeth, she just wished the queen would let her love her longer.

That night as everyone lay sleeping in their beds, even the former queen thought to be dead, several pairs of eyes jolted open at thoughts of schemes. Elizabeth packed her most treasured treasures in preparation of going into hiding that night. As she packed away her things, her door creaked open without a second’s notice. Andrew had walked in.

“God save the queen,” he gasped in astonishment. “You are alive.” The queen dropped her rucksack in surprise at her being found out. “How…H-how are you still alive? We saw you dead!”

“Oh hush now, Andrew,” She composed herself, “anyone can conjure up the right sleeping drought with the right friends and enough money.” The boy accepted his confusion and jumped straight to idiocy.

“Well, now that you’re alive, you can continue your rule! Charles isn't the King!”

“Ah tut tut tut tut tut,” she halted him, “Charles will be king, whether I'm truly dead or not.”

“But, I don’t understand.”

“My time is done, child. I no longer wish to be queen.”

“You can't do that though! That’s not how the monarchy works. You are alive, you are still queen!” He was getting angry now. Confused people often misplace emotions.

“I am not the queen… and I'm not alive.” This made Andrew even more confused. “I’ve passed away peacefully in my bed. Immortals have to die some time or another.”

“Immortals?”

“Oh, sweet Andrew,” she walked up to him and began rubbing his arm lovingly. He was one of her favorites too. “Death has knocked on my door many times. I’ve invaded him time and time again. I hide in plain sight, cloaked under the veil of midnight. I am invisible to him.” Andrew’s face soon changed from puppy eyes and gaped mouth, to a devilish smirk and a scheming brow.

“Thanks for letting me know.” He pushed Elizabeth away and pulled a gun to the front of her chest. “I happened upon your little conversation with Louise earlier today. It was hard to grasp at first, but I’ve heard the conspiracies. The ones about you and your immortal friends. I’m not entirely surprised, but I think Louise is wrong. If the people find out it’ll be a real riot. That’d be real fun, no?”

“You can’t tell anyone. It would ruin everything.”

“Oh? Hm… I suppose I could keep it a secret. In exchange for the cloak.”

“What cloak?” The former queen’s glaire was sending daggers through Andrew’s spine, but he wouldn’t dare show his wavering.

“Oh please, ‘cloaked under the veil of midnight?’ You are ‘invisible’ to death? I’ve heard of Harry Potter, mother.”

“Wow,” she began, “you really are an idiot.” With that she pulled out her own weapon and shot fire straight through the Prince’s chest. “No loose ends.”

She decided to leave the body there. No one could blame someone who was dead and gone. Before she departed into the secret room beyond the walls she called out to her dearest granddaughter.

“Louise.” The room after that was left so quiet only the young girl’s thundering heartbeat could be heard. She showed herself, appearing from out behind the door.

“Y-yes?”

“I know why you’re here. I thought you of all people would be the least likely to betray me like this.” Louise’s heart pounded louder and faster. It was so far up her throat she thought she might vomit.

“No! I- I just- just wanted-” She stumbled over her words like a pathetic newborn baby.

“You’ve seen what I do to those who try to get in my way. Be a dear and bring me some rations every month.”

“Yes, grandmother.”

#long live the queen #god save the queen #queen of england #queen elizabeth ii #prince charles #prince andrew #lady louise windsor #anne hathaway #shakespeare #immortality #fiction #short story #gun warning #september 2022

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grandmaster-anne · 2 years

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them 💜

#from my drafts #i hope they are resting well and very much in peace together #although we won't get any more photos and footages of them #we have lots to watch and re-watch #i do hope they would release more private footages #queen elizabeth ii #prince philip #philibet

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moonflower-rose · 4 months

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In-keeping with .. well.. my whole life really, I’d like to know about the food one please! Food fair 2022? 😘💕

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Shamefully, I signed up at the eleventh hour for this fest, wrote 3K, got distracted by the fact that I was throwing a massive 40th birthday party and totally missed the fest - like totally missed it, not just the deadline, I literally didn't open my emails for like two months and then it was like 'ohhhhh...fuck.'

This was the prompt I claimed:

Prompt #34 Claimed for Fic Only Food Theme: British foods/snacks Travel Theme: Import shop in a Commonwealth country Scenario: In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Golden Jubilee. Down on his luck, Draco finds a job in a Muggle pop-up import shop set up for the Queen’s visit (your choice of one of the Commonwealth countries she visited that year: Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada). Harry is either visiting or living in the same country and goes looking for his favourite British treats. Optional Additions: Homesick Harry. Draco makes shit up about the British Royal Family when he talks to customers. Enough Union Jack-themed stuff to bury a palace Era: EWE | Ignores Epilogue Maximum Rating: Left up to creator

And below the snip is a little preview of the beast itself.

Kylie Minogue had a lot to answer for.

If Harry was being fair he would probably have admitted it was his own responsibility to thoroughly research a place he was planning a holiday to, and possibly not the responsibility of Kylie Minogue, international pop star, to educate him on the subject.

And Harry, in this theoretical version of reality where he was being fair and reasonable, had to admit he’d done absolutely no research on Australia beyond what he’d seen on episodes of Neighbours or Home and Away over the years at the Dursleys (from his vantage point between the fins of an air vent in the door of his cupboard or sometimes leaning over the bannister at the top of the stairs to strain for a look at the television). Or the occasional packet of Muggle photographs that Hermione enthusiastically shared when they’d come in the post from her parents, with bright pictures of beaches in places like Perth, Western Australia (rather different from the bleak greyness of Perth, Scotland). And that would be stretching the definition of ‘research’ to unrecognisable lengths.

On the other hand (and it was very important to consider all sides of an issue, Hermione’d always said so), Harry’d never had a reason to look up Australia at the library during school, and he hadn’t set foot in one since then either (in fact, he’d made a strenuous effort not to study at all if he could help it). Not knowing things about Australia was not uncommon, and it certainly wasn’t irresponsible (in a general, day-to-day sense); not like not knowing the Muggle road rules would be irresponsible, or not knowing the name of the current Minister for Magic. There was no expectation that the average Englishman should have any baseline knowledge about Australia. Harry had a normal amount of Australia-based information. And that amount was none.

Of course, going to a library was not his only option. Hermione’d set him up with the internet eventually, and helped him buy a computer, but he hadn’t got the hang of using either yet beyond playing Solitaire, and reading all the chain emails that Ron kept sending him about Nigerian princes who needed help getting access to their inheritance, or the ones that claimed if you didn’t send this message along to ten new people your penis would shrink to the size of an acorn and you’d have bad luck for the rest of your life. Harry’d had enough bad luck, and certainly wasn’t willing to risk his penis, so he always forwarded. You couldn’t be too careful.

But cumulatively, that left Harry with hardly any time to do research, and thus a rather short list of things he knew about Australia before he impulsively booked himself on what he’d described to Ginny as a ‘maybe a week, maybe forever’ holiday.

What Harry knew about Australia up to and including the moment he cleared Customs and Border Control had been as follows:

1 - Christmas was in the summer there, and a lunch of beer and seafood followed by an afternoon lazing around on the beach sounded kind of exciting after twenty-one years of snow and roast dinners, and more recently, mulled wine.

2 - The weather was always sunny and perfect, even in the middle of winter.

3 - The spiders were big and the snakes enormous.

4 - Nobody had heard of The Boy Who Lived, there.

There was nothing wrong with a bit of snow and a roast dinner (England could keep the mulled wine), and frankly, as appealing as prawns by the ocean sounded it would mean giving up Christmas at the Burrow and knitted Weasley jumpers, and there was nothing Harry could think of that would be worth missing that. Ron had been relieved to hear it, and was far more receptive once they’d got that cleared up.

“I’d come with you, you know,” Ron had said. He’d then stuffed most of a ham and cheese croissant into his mouth in one go and anything else he’d intended to say was muffled by pork and dairy.

“I know you would,” Harry’d said. “I just want to try doing something by myself for a change that’s not inherently dangerous.”

Ron understood, a bit, being one of many brothers.

Escaping the gloom of London in winter generally, and the never-ending microscope of the Daily Prophet specifically, was becoming less of a ‘nice to have’ and more of an essential for life. Both were wearing on Harry’s spirit, more and more as each year passed. His temper had never been thinner and he flinched every time there was a flash of light, which was especially problematic in the lead up to Christmas because there were quite a number of flashing lights around that time of year. So that was how Harry found himself on one particularly cold afternoon in late January, casually slipping on a Glamour and popping into the wizarding travel agency on Quizzic Alley to book himself an international Portkey to Melbourne, Australia, departing two weeks from the day and with an open-ended return date.

“Oh, Harry!” Hermione had gripped his hand tightly enough to hurt a little bit. “I’m very pleased for you. I’m a bit nervous about you going by yourself—I’d come with you, if you wanted me to.”

“Of course you would.” He’d squeezed back as best as he was able, but he’d started to lose feeling in his knuckles. “I’ll be alright—I’ll be great.”

While not in possession of much of a plan and even less practical knowledge, Harry hadn’t picked Melbourne completely at random either. Australia was actually perfect for what he was looking for, which was to do something a bit different and to do it completely anonymously, but not to bite off more than he could chew all in one go.

A couple of years ago, pretty much right after Hogwarts, Dean and Seamus had gone to America. The Gryffindor’s all expected that it would be for a good long while (years at the very least) but they were both back within six months, and Dean had told Harry once over beers at the Leaky that he couldn’t explain why exactly, but he’d struggled to shake off a feeling of not-rightness the whole time they were there. The money looked strange, the bread was weird, none of his shows were on the telly, and he found he missed the sound of an English accent so much that it ached inside. Hermione said it was something called ‘culture shock’, and Dean had said he’d never considered that it would happen to him, and certainly not in America.

That story was front of mind as Harry’d leaned over a pile of brochures at the travel agent’s and pushed aside Contiki tours by enchanted bus, carriage, boat or carpet, as well as locations which were both tempting and exotic. He didn’t want a cookie cutter tour - that was about the only thing he did know, that he didn’t want that. He could go to Brazil and see the beaches and the football and the amazing architecture. Or he could go to Cambodia and see the temples and jungles and elephants. He could go to Iceland and see…ice, probably. There were a million amazing things he could do in the world, but Harry had to remember a couple of fairly key factors:

1 - He had, rather recently, been through a pretty traumatic life event and his inner reservoir of resilience was at an all time low.

2 - Although he’d been on a number of pretty crazy adventures, he’d never really been out of the United Kingdom, and in fact had rarely ventured beyond either Surrey or Hogsmead.

3 - Per the previous two points, he’d spent quite a lot of his life in a cupboard.

4 - This time, he’d be really and truly on his own.

What it boiled down to was that Harry didn’t want to push himself too hard too fast, and ruin what would hopefully be a life changing experience. Life changing in a good way, for once.

Everything, including being on the run and sleeping in a tent in a forest while plotting to kill an evil wizard, was a lot easier when you had your friends with you. Honestly, Harry wasn’t entirely sure he would have got anywhere near killing Voldemort without Hermione and Ron. He’d never really had the luxury of easing himself into anything before, and if Dean and Seamus had struggled to cope with America together, Harry wasn’t confident that he’d be any better hanging off the side of a mountain somewhere, or sweating his way through a market in Morocco.

In Australia he could be a stranger in a strange land, except it wouldn’t be too strange since everyone spoke English (of a sort—Australians seemed to do rather odd things to their vowels) and used similar money, and there would be food that he recognised, and television he was used to. It was a massive step out of his comfort zone while still being not that different from his life in England. He’d watched the soaps so often over the years (or rather, listened to them from his cupboard or behind the locked door of his bedroom) that it felt like he’d practically lived there already, and suburban Melbourne seemed like it really wasn’t all that dissimilar to life in Little Whinging if Neighbours was any indication. Cul-de-sacs and nosy neighbours, and supermarkets and telly, and nosy old ladies named Madge. Just like Surrey, but warmer and with bigger spiders.

The food would be familiar, which was good, but Hermione kept saying Australia was a very multicultural place so he’d have plenty of opportunity to try all the things he’d wondered about, like sushi and dumplings, and pad thai, and scallops. You could get those things in London too, but Harry didn’t fancy the front page spread of him spitting a mussel out into a napkin that he would have got at home. Vegemite. Prawns. Those little brown bottles of bitter. It gave him a flutter of excitement in his chest.

Hermione’d said he should get the Lonely Planet guide, so Harry had, but never bothered to read it. What was the point? It wasn’t like he was headed to Vietnam, or Uruguay, or Bangladesh (was Bangladesh a country or a city?). Melbourne was basically a smaller version of London, but with more sunshine and a lazier speech pattern. It was going to be great.

Kylie Minogue really should have warned him.

#rosie answers #my asks #my fic #wip drafts thingo #wip snip #that snip got a bit hefty soz

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saintmeghanmarkle · 7 months

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the Duchess of Kent the Duchess of Sussex - a contrast between pure hearted love & malevolence by u/ElectricalAd9212

the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Sussex - a contrast between pure hearted love & malevolence in the thread 'She's working on her brand', AcanthaceaeOk2426 says:"Jeez lady you have had all the goddamn time in the world to work on you brand, you just chose to work the negative angle instead. How about shut the f up, take off that tacky jewellery and go sweat your butt off for a few hours at a community garden. There’s a good start to your fking brand."This reminded me of the Duchess of Kent.She is the wife of Her Majesty the Late Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, Prince Edward the Duke of Kent.She lived a very aristocratic life, and was heart stoppingly beautiful and glamourous.But in the 1990s, she decided to step back a little.She wrote to the Queen and asked permission to have her 'Her Royal Highness' title rescinded.Earlier in her life she had exprienced tragedy when her child, a son, died. And she herself had health problems. She also converted to Roman Catholicism. But because the Monarchy is the defender of the Anglican Church, she first of all wrote to the Queen asking permission, which was of course granted, because her Majesty was deeply loving and compassionate.So what did she do after she stepped back from royal life? She basically disappeared from public life. But she was working for charities. In particular UNICEF.But also, she became a music teacher at a primary school in Hull.Hull is an industrial, working class city in the north east of England.There is poverty, and people from the rest of the country sneer at it as a boring, bleak place, they are snobbish about it.She became a music teacher. She taught music to children from deprived areas. Anonymously. She never used her royal title. She did it because all of her life she loved music, she loved children, and she just wanted to do good.She had no airs or graces. She moved away from the glamour of palaces and royalty, and lived in a working class industrial city in the north of England, teaching music to kids.In an interview, the headteacher said:"She is an inspirational music teacher and the children love working with her. They say she never gets cross, she always looks for the positive."She added: "I believe that because they are so fond of her, they have done well in music."Nobody knew she was doing it. It wasn't trumpeted as PR. The children didn't curtsey or bow to her. She became a music teacher who conveyed love and the wonder of music. She did her duty, quietly, humbly, with love.She embodies everything that is true and graceful about noblesse oblige and the good things that can be done for those with good hearts and souls.The contrast with Markle and Harry is profound.Lets pray for the Duchess of Kent. She is in her nineties now. She embodies what is great about the monarchy and Britain. What a beautiful and kind soul.God Save the King, God Bless America.https://ift.tt/3wOJdB4 post link: https://ift.tt/5OzgoLp author: ElectricalAd9212 submitted: October 29, 2023 at 12:38PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

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trexalicious · 2 years

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He nails it as it's the problem with the world today. When you can't even be compassionate...

#don't celebrate her passing it's classless #god rest our queen #hrh queen elizabeth ii #qeii #she was the best #duty to country #duty first #a life of service #a life well lived #thank you for your service #royalty is not celebrity #this is how you royal #british royal family #gstk

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missezri · 1 year

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Small Defence of Kristina in Young Royals

So, I felt it was about time to do a bit of a defence for Queen Kristina of Sweden. Who I feel, while still unlikely to win any “Mother of the Year” awards anytime soon, is not the villain of Young Royals. In Season 1 however, she does end up as the personification of the villain, the Monarchy.

The first time we are introduced to Kristina, she is pissed. Her son has been in a fight that has gone viral. We see the whole machine that is the Royal Court and PR of the Royal Family at work trying to manage the situation. I am sure media personalities are saying that Wilhelm should be charged with assault or something, given that 15 is the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden. There could be lawsuits coming from the victim. There is also the fact that he is a 16-year-old caught in a club drinking, well under the legal age.

Kristina has every right to be pissed off at her son. Her options are limited as to what she can do. Her options probably come down to, sending him aboard or sending him to boarding school in Sweden. So, she decides to send him to Hillserka. It gets the media/public opinion off of everyone’s backs, keeps Wilhelm out of trouble (or so she hoped) and maybe he can learn how to get into the role he was born into like Erik brings up himself.

And then Erik dies and Kristina has to say those words to Wilhelm. She (or someone on her team at least) is trying to call Wilhelm multiple times so that he receives the news rather than find out through the media. Wilhelm never picks up, resulting in the school getting called to pull Wilhelm into the headmistress’s office to tell him over the phone. I think that gets missed. If Kristina was that horrible of a mother, why not have her husband make the call or another member of the palace staff?

The next time we see Kristina, she is again not in a good place. She has just lost her first son in a sudden and tragic car accident. She is a mother grieving. She holds onto Wilhelm’s hand as the coffin is lifted to be carried out of the church. There is a bit of weight as she leans into him. She is struggling as much as he is.

Kristina cannot even stomach her food when she comments on Wilhelm having to take over Erik’s role and Wilhelm’s response is, everyone already compares him to me. Now, could Kristina have waited longer to bring the subject up? Of course! She isn’t a perfect parent, but she isn’t the worst either. However, there is this running machine known as the Crown that doesn’t stop just because someone has died. We saw a real-world example with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The notice that even states she has died, refers to The King now.

And the rest of Season 1, I think can be seen in this view of a grieving mother, just trying to protect her son. Does Kristina react in the best way when the video is leaked? Hell no. But, she could of also had a lot worse reactions.

But when she arrives at Hillserka, yes the cars dramatically drive in, but Kristina is pretty calm herself walking into Wilhelm’s room to stoke his hair. That doesn’t read to be as a mother who doesn’t love her son.

And yes, she does tell him the video will have consequences, but she never yells at Wilhelm. She doesn’t snap at him like Kristina does back in episode 1. This will have consequences, there is no denying that fact, between being outed, the future of the monarchy. There is something genuine in how Kristina talks with her son. The only way she, and the Monarchy know to protect themselves is to bury the story. Wait for the next news cycle. She never raises her voice though, Kristina is stern, but she never yells at Wilhelm despite the situation and any frustrations she has.

Is this the best way? No, while Wilhelm is young, he is also 16 years old. He should get some say in the situation. Kristina should have also told Wilhelm about who really filmed the video, rather than him finding out through some sleuthing of a friend. I can however, see her perspective how it is her attempts to protect Wilhelm from the media/public that might not be so kind to having a queer prince. You see how the tabloids are already gossiping, and how Simon gets followed.

In season 1, the enemy is the Monarchy. As has been stated, the problem is never Wilhelm liking another boy, it is the fact he is a prince that is the issue at hand. In Season 1 the only representative of the Monarchy is Queen Kristina. This shifts, I feel, in Season 2 when Jan-Oalf is introduced and he becomes the representation of the Monarchy/Royal Court more than Kristina.

But I leave that for a part 2.

#i am nervous about posting this #these are just my thoughts #maybe i do part 2 #has she is a lot more redeemable there #young royals #young royals season 1 #queen kristina #prince wilhelm

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blackswaneuroparedux · 2 years

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- Andrew Sullivan

This is the genius of the British monarchy, supremacy exemplified in Elizabeth II and King Charles III. Walter Bagehot was the first to really get to the heart of the matter.

Walter Bagehot, a journalist who would co-found and edit The Economist magazine was one of the greatest Victorians of the 19th Century and he concerned himself with the workings and the reform of the delicate constitutional arrangements between parliament, the House of Lords, and the monarchy as so much is based on custom and unwritten practice.

Duty, sacrificial service, and honour....without power. That’s the role of modern royalty.

It’s hard for non-British people to understand how she came to embody the pysche of the nation. The Crown represents something from the ancient past, a logically indefensible but emotionally salient symbol of something called a nation, something that gives its members meaning and happiness. As Bagehot says, it’s an act of imagination.

Some of my non-British friends particularly can’t quite grasp this connection; to them the British royal family functions mainly at best as a different form of celebrity. But to these friends as well as those sincerely opposed to monarchy can and should grasp something else - nations and cultures need people and institutions who transcend politics, which in itself quickly descends into tribalism or worse, authoritarianism.

#sullivan #andrew sullivan #monarchy #quote #britain #republicanisl #bagehot #walter bagehot #constitutional monarchy #elizabeth II #society #culture #tradition #custom #queen elizabeth II #king charles III #charles III #history #british history

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