John Pickup wrote: ↑08 Sep 2022, 20:39
When I and two friends were walking back to our car after watching the Euro 96 Cup Final at Wembley between Germany and Czech Republic, her motorcade passed us on the journey back to the Palace.
I gave her a cheeky wave and she waved back!
That's a lovely story John - thank you so much for sharing it. It really made me smile and cheered me up.
Best Wishes
Pete
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Well, Pete, I never imagined that I'd hear such sad news for the first time on the Enid Blyton website. The queen and I go back a long way - since being taken from my Infant school to see her on her first Royal Tour to Australia in 1954 I have been a life long admirer of this astounding woman. How lucky we were to have such a Head of State.
Within 55 hours we changed Prime Minister and Head of State.
There were no riots, no shots fired and (other than BoJo's ego), no-one was hurt.
This is remarkable, because when thinking about 10,000 generations of human history, it is not normal!
This is a Constitutional Monarchy in action, and that we had a Queen so dutiful that she got up off her death-bed to appoint the new Prime Minister shows how Great she was.
If you were to design a country from scratch, it is highly unlikely that you would give it a monarchy. Yet somehow it works, and I'm grateful.
Incredibly sad news. I was having a tea break yesterday evening while on shift at the care home when I work when a friend (colleague as well, but away at the moment) texted me soon after it was announced. I was just sort of numb and stunned. I think a lot of people still are.
I can say I once saw the Queen in person, very briefly — in Edinburgh in July 2012, being driven up the Royal Mile for an investiture for Prince William with a Scottish honour (Order of the Thistle, I think). The Royal Rolls Royces passed between the crowds lining the road and the Queen was waving with the most beautiful smile. I had stumbled off the overnight bus from London just an hour or two earlier and I was absolutely thrilled!!
What an incredible life of service and dedication and what a great force for good she has been in the world. RIP Your Majesty.
Viv of Ginger Pop wrote: ↑09 Sep 2022, 09:45
If you were to design a country from scratch, it is highly unlikely that you would give it a monarchy. Yet somehow it works, and I'm grateful.
And Viv, I couldn't agree more with this and everything else you said!!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It really dates one or two of the books when they talk about the king (IIRC one of them is “Five Go Off in a Caravan”). Maybe this will not be the case now, until they realise it is not the present king they are talking about.
I heard the sad news at about 3.40 a.m., Eastern Australian time (up well into the night, as is my tendency), nearly 24 hours ago as I write this. Since then, I've been listening to some of the wall-to-wall coverage we are getting on A.B.C. radio here in Australia, and I am impressed by the wide range of people who have such high regard for the Queen. There must surely be few world leaders who can compare with her in the admiration and fond regard they attract. And it seems that she is much admired and loved within Australia, too.
I felt some sadness upon learning of the Queen's death, coming so suddenly as it did. Since I was born in 1954, my life coincides almost exactly with what I have sometimes called the second Elizabethan era - a description I had never heard, and thought I had invented, but which I have now within the last 24 hours heard said by two Prime Ministers and several journalists. With my life so nearly coinciding with that era, the Queen has always been there in the background of my life, and it now feels a bit strange to realize she is no longer there. But of course I accept that our new King, Charles III, will now fill that role.
And yes, Viv and Courtenay, I do agree with both of you that, while you might not deliberately design an ideal country with a hereditary monarchy, in this case, it clearly does work well anyway. While I recognize that the time will come one day for Australia to become a republic, I am in no hurry for that to happen, and I am perfectly happy for Australia to continue as a monarchy. I also value Australia's historical, cultural, and linguistic links with Britain, and I believe the monarchy common to both nations symbolizes those links and strengthens them. In such a troubled, discordant world, I think links between us of a benevolent nature should be nurtured, not minimized as I feel some try to do at times.
I just heard the first speech of King Charles, and was most impressed. I wish him well as he becomes King of the Realms of the Commonwealth, including my own country of Australia.
Very sad to lose this wonderful lady, like Judith, I also remember, our class lining the street in Adelaide to see the Queen wave to us in 1954. Most classes from most Adelaide schools there. It was such a wonderful event and never forgotten.
How lucky we were, that she lived to such a great age and still contributing so much right to the end. She will be missed.
After getting over the initial shock, it has been very interesting to watch all the historic proceedings on BBC World service tv channel which carried the same as your BBC 1. A lot of traditional ceremonies are followed.
I was watching the service from St Paul's yesterday and I'm fairly sure I saw the girl who plays Jean in the Malory Towers series in the audience.
Today is not as planned for many of us since the passing yesterday of our Queen, Elizabeth IInd in the afternoon at Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, Scotland which was by no means expected as much as she had in recent years become more frail and indeed had only been working on the Tuesday receiving the resignation of our last Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and appointing his Successor, Liz Truss.
For many of us Her Majesty was a constant whatever Prime Ministers and Presidents were in office, seeing many changes form the transfer from Empire to Commonwealth of Nations, seeing the Space Race, the advances in communication and indeed with the latter embracing them.
We grew up with her family, sharing that story as children, learning about them, yea even meeting them.
Her dedication to duty and service as Queen was beyond reproach even as in later years her health declined placing increasing restrictions serving our country and the wider Commonwealth of Nations.
That is what we remember and no doubt miss at this sad time.
pete9012S wrote: ↑10 Sep 2022, 19:26
It was heart-warming to see the Queen's grandchildren William and Harry together earlier.
I'm sure the Queen would have been delighted about that.
Indeed most touching.
All involved in those issues need to find a way through them that better aids the ability of all to move forward with the loss of their mother and grand mother and their changed various roles.
Some people get wrapped up in all that constitutional stuff and as Head of State she has some important roles in the same way in the Anglican Church she does as its head but at heart of it all is a family and a mother.
A family we grew up with in our lives, cutting out pictures, following their lives, people that you may of met.
They were the Nations family and as the constitutional things pan out with our new King, Charles III proclaimed yesterday with a Coronation due at some point it is time to give thanks for what she did, the causes and organizations like scouting she supported so well.
The only monarch most of us in the Commonwealth have ever known.
Funnily enough, it was reading a Blyton book that alerted me to the fact there had previously been a King. It would have been one of the Adventure series that 5 or 6 yo me had borrowed from the library and it must have been an early edition as Kiki screamed 'God Save The King'.
My only close contact (I guess she would have been 10-20m away from me) was about 20 years ago on one of her Royal Tours. I was near the airport and had (stupidly) ran out of fuel. As I pulled over and got out of the car, I thought 'that's strange - all the traffic has disappeared'. And then the police-escorted royal procession went past. I shook my fist in the air and yelled 'you could have given me a bloody ride'.
