I am of mixed emotions on this, the day of the Queen's funeral. There is so much pomp and circumstance, gold and uniforms. It is historical, and fascinating, but tinged with the dark shadow of The Firm that controls the family and ensures that their jobs are safe. It is a new era, and we shall see what it brings. The monarchy gives me some trouble. Someone said, "In Commonwealth countries, the wealth is not common." Many countries were exploited for their human and natural resources during colonization.
That said, I know how much the Queen meant to my late mother. Her family, and my dad's, came from England. Dad emigrated with his mother and sisters when he was 3, Mom's grandparents came over back in the day. My late mother always had her hair done just like the Queen's (image: Wiki)!
Our food always smacked of British sensibilities. It was only as I grew older that we had Chinese food from our local restaurant on Fridays, for example. Normally, it was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on Sundays. Rice pudding was common, meat and potatoes.
💦 This commoner is about to put out garbage for the morning! We've ☔ rain, thunder and lightning, and it is the servants day off! We cannot put garbage out the night before since the critters get into it: crows, coyotes, bears.
👑 The crown on the coffin is the Imperial crown: 2868 diamonds, 277 pearls, a sapphire from King Edward the Confessor, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 17 rubies, a 317 K diamond discovered in South Africa. The monarchy owns quite a few of these. It weighs a kilogram.
The True Story of the Koh-i-noor diamond on the crown. (Smithsonian Magazine)
Ironically some say the Kohinoor should be returned to #Iran because the Persian king Nadir had it as the spoil of war. He stole it. The Brits re-stole it. If the diamond came from a mine in #India, worn by Indian monarchs, it should be returned to #India. https://t.co/DU7phDQFb5
— S Ibrahimi (@saberibrahimi) September 11, 2022
15 comments:
Hari OM
Yeah, I'm over it... YAM xx
Yes, it's definitely a new era.
Britain will never give up monarchy; it makes the Brits feel different and better in quality than others, and they like that.
Monarchy might get abolished ,though, as a result of two possible kinds of crisis: economic crisis, and climate crisis (being an island UK might heavily going to be targeted by climate change.).
...I'm glad not to be a subject!
Yes indeed, and I was just listening to radio broadcast of the British events...which of course have been happening for hours by now! This is the day that the death will be final, and a new beginning will start.
I'll miss her.
The Brits sure know how to do a ceremony.
I watched the start of the ceremony, such precision, so many of the Navy, a carriage, the stiff upper lip, and now a new King. Thousands lining the streets, Hyde Park with huge TV screens, and once again the media will have a field day with whatever Meghan did or didn't do .The Non working Royals will not be able to step in, so things all change there too. Princess Anne, in uniform, looking gaunt, for want of a better word. And only Charles had a card on her coffin.My thoughts, hope my service is more private and with a whole LOT less pomp and ceremony. Thank goodness this didn't happen during the Covid pandemic.
She is definitely a part of my history. A big part, despite the fact that colonisation was a decidedly mixed blessing for many.
I am totally over the coverage though.
I always kind of liked the Queen since she started her reign a couple years before I was born. I also understand that many hold her in high regard and I get that and that many people in some of the former colonized countries do not. I kind of wonder what the whole monarchy does for England going forward. It would seem that they are an expensive burden to bear.
May she rest in peace
Around the world is a mixed bag of bloody history ~ yet the Queen herself was a special woman I think given her heritage ~
Yep ~ can identify ~ I didn't have Chinese food until I was 19 yo ~ did manage to have pizza or spaghetti when my Dad was away for some reason ~ always a treat to have something besides meat/fish and potatoes ~ I was a 'mutt' actually ~ Old Yankee, Scottish, French and a bit of Swedish ~ intriguing ~
Good to hear from yu ~ Xo
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Here's the rub. It's all in how we were raised and our belief system. I am a CITIZENS of the U.S., while you and the Brits are SUBJECTS of the Crown. I think now the Queen is dead, some Brits no longer want to be subjects, but individuals. I have heard Justin Trudeau is ready to bolt.
One thing I have read about Charles is, he is very much into recycling. He apparently puts his money where his beliefs are because he runs his farm on ways to recycle everything. We shall see how the monarchy changes under him.
It is quite an ostentatious spectacle, but the objects were accumulated long ago, so I don’t know what else is supposed to be done with now. The whole thing is quite a dilemma to me, all of the property and so on.
I think over time past, the monarchy made some big mistakes -- or maybe it isn't the monarchy, but the government. How much say did the Queen or those before her really have to say on the bad things done in building the empire? Is there a country not without similar issues as they have evolved over time? Certainly the U.S. and slavery and Native Americans is an ugly and long chapter in our history. That was then. What I worry about more is the "now." We've slipped back. Has the UK? I don't know enough to have an opinion. But I do appreciate the traditions of the monarchy, the pomp. Sometimes I think we need a little more of that.
I attended to it as a historical event of rare import. We won't see another monarch like she has been.
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