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Queen Elizabeth II has died

(www.bbc.com)
2827 points xd | 10 comments | 08 Sep 22 17:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.608s | source | bottom
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saberience ◴[08 Sep 22 17:52 UTC] No.32769157[source]▶
It's weird, I've never considered myself a "royalist" but this news has affected me quite strongly. I just burst into tears unexpectedly on hearing this news and I don't quite understand why I feel so very sad. I guess I have grown up and lived my whole life (as a Brit) seeing and hearing the Queen, singing "God save the Queen" etc, and this news made me suddenly feel very old, very nostalgic, with the sense that all things pass in time, which makes my heart ache deeply.
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dijit ◴[08 Sep 22 17:59 UTC] No.32769288[source]▶
It's understandable, she's been a constant vague presence for a lot of British people.

It feels like a minor part of our personal history died. I definitely feel saddened, even if I don't have a connection with royalty.

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1. PaulHoule ◴[08 Sep 22 18:09 UTC] No.32769470[source]▶
She's also been a moral authority. She avoided the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the moral family and frequently she's shown leadership. In WWII she trained as a mechanic so she could do something tangible to support the war effort.
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2. MichaelCollins ◴[08 Sep 22 18:28 UTC] No.32769857[source]▶
> the soap opera situations that have dogged the rest of the [royal] family

"Soap opera situations" seems like a gentle way to put it. Several of her family members have been accused of serious crimes, and associated with some very nasty people. For years they were shielded by their association with her.

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3. Beltalowda ◴[08 Sep 22 18:31 UTC] No.32769904[source]▶
I really don't want to go on criticizing the queen at length here because I think it's a bit insensitive, so I'll be brief, but I don't think that "avoiding soap opera situations" is really the same as "being a moral authority". Not that I think she was horribly bad either, but my standards for "moral authority" are quite a bit higher. Royal families tend to be neutral to a fault.
4. PaulHoule ◴[08 Sep 22 18:33 UTC] No.32769928[source]▶
and I think things that were really sad like the triangle between Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Camilla Parker Bowes.
5. bigfudge ◴[08 Sep 22 20:29 UTC] No.32771658[source]▶
Exactly. Her silence/defence of Andrew is shameful. No moral compass there. Her distinguishing feature has been to give no public interviews and to entrench antidemocratic privilege as best we can.

Dangs top post irritated me because it felt like this has to be the time to remember the whole life - not just the fantasy we are typically sold.

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6. verisimi ◴[08 Sep 22 22:26 UTC] No.32772852[source]▶
An immoral authority. She paid no taxes, lived a lifestyle of luxury paid for by her so called subjects, has offshore accounts, no public accountability, etc. Very easy, paid for life. Nothing moral about it.
7. smegger001 ◴[09 Sep 22 00:34 UTC] No.32773915[source]▶
I think it would be safe to say she put on a stoic face to the world while fronting for what is possibly the most out of touch, dysfunctional, and entitled family in the world.
8. hackerlight ◴[09 Sep 22 04:15 UTC] No.32775222{3}[source]▶
Source on her trying to entrench antidemocratic privilege?
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9. bigfudge ◴[09 Sep 22 06:41 UTC] No.32776045{4}[source]▶
sustaining and not disbanding the Royal family for 70 years?
10. MichaelCollins ◴[09 Sep 22 08:04 UTC] No.32776619{4}[source]▶
Liberal exercise of it, to protect her family's interests: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vette...