BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!

Subject: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:46 AM

The equestrian event at Windsor was superb, and was thoroughly enjoyed by The Queen. I look forward to the rest of the celebrations for this remarkable lady.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:58 AM

Me too Bonzo! I've already looked out my collection of flags, which I'll attach to various parts of the front of my bungalow. And our village is having a Jubilee Picnic outside the village hall on the actual day. (Wonder if there'll be any crumpets?)
I think the dear Queen has shown such courage, a deep sense of duty and
complete integrity all her long life.
How hard it must be for her to surmount the sorrow of losing her adored husband.
God Save The Queen!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 22 - 06:06 AM

My sister in law told us they are having a street party where they live in Edenbridge, but our immediate neighbours have not mentioned it.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 May 22 - 06:42 AM

I don't know what's happening near me but I'll still thank God that I'm far enough away from the main villages to avoid any of this crap. I won't watch anything on tv either.

I can live and let live but wish I was spared the fawning.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 May 22 - 06:47 AM

We are going to Butlins with the grandsons! Lots of things happening near home and I suspect it will be all over Skeggy too.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 22 - 08:27 AM

She's remarkable all right. Her "work" consists of travelling in absolute luxury, never having to mix with the riffraff in shops, hospitals, etc., waving at adoring plastic-flag-waving crowds (behind barriers), making one speech per annum (written by somebody else), catching at least six colds per annum which get her off doing her duties, watching horses and soldiers from a very comfy seat, being cosseted by hordes of servants, patting people with a sword, shaking hands (gloved) with various fawning dignitaries, stroking her corgi (not a euphemism) and never having worry about her heating or food bills. Naturally, she does have to put up with her dysfunctional and idiotic family, but hey ho. We all have our crosses to bear, and like her, might even occasionally have to endure an anus horribilis...

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 22 - 08:30 AM

Two speeches of course, the poor dear. I forgot the State Opening.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 May 22 - 08:51 AM

While I shall enjoy the celebrations etc. I still feel that the monarchy is an anachronism and has run its course. I agree with Steve that the queen (and other members of the royal family) enjoy a remarkably luxurious, pampered and privileged life.
Once the queen has passed away, I'd be glad to see the whole structure dismantled and the end of royalty declared. But I still admire the lady for her faithfulness to her duty.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 22 - 09:11 AM

"Once the queen has passed away, I'd be glad to see the whole structure dismantled and the end of royalty declared."

Me too, Sen. Whilst I don't 'hate' the RF with the same degree of venom as Steve, I believe they are an anachronistic part of The Establishment, completely out-of-touch with the hoi-polloi, and serving very little purpose other than to appear as the 'public face' of the UK on ceremonial occasions, and to be used as a convenient distraction when this greedy, self-serving, and incompetent government is trying to cover up its own surreptitious activities.

My own preference would be for the UK to follow the Irish model by becoming a republic with an elected president whose function is purely ceremonial, and who holds no political power or even a political role.

Sadly, I don't expect that to happen within my lifetime.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 22 - 09:49 AM

No it will not happen thank goodness.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 22 - 10:23 AM

We Canadians quite enjoy the monarchy because it saves us the hassle of presidential politics as observed chez our neighbour to the south, and we don't have to pay for it.

We do have to stump up for the Governor-General, but Rideau Hall and all its trimmings (including the Occupant) would be cheap at twice the price compared to the alternative.

We are much too close to the United States in both geography and culture to manage conversion to an Irish-style non-political presidency, alas. Would that we were!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 22 - 10:43 AM

Yeah Charmion, but you’ve got…CANADA and CANADIANS, and it’s God’s Own Country! I love our trips to ON (visiting relatives), AB, and BC - heaven on Earth!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 22 - 11:48 AM

Yes, despite the winters, Canada is a great place to live and we like it. Oddly, Her Maj is part of all that; with the Crown at the top of the heap, we have a critical element in our power structure that isn't primarily focussed on grubbing for attention and grabbing control. It's relaxing.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 May 22 - 12:18 PM

Yes, I’ve gathered from my wife’s brother, just up the road from you in Burlington, that HMQ is still a big cog in the Canadian machine (he’s a huge royalist, being ex-armed forces (U.K.), ex-U.K. police, and a serving Tronno PD officer).

I may have mentioned before that we visited the Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford ON, in 2015 to see their production of ‘Henry V’ - a nice theatre in lovely surroundings, a great day out.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: meself
Date: 19 May 22 - 12:29 PM

I don't know ... this latest royal visit - Charles and Camilla in Canada, that is - is finally putting me off the whole monarchy thing. I've been switching to American news the last few nights to avoid the stomach-churning sight of all the fawning and gushing. While I do like the ambiguity of our Constitutional Monarchy, the idea of having any future governmental figures or new citizens swearing loyalty to the Windsors seriously rubs me the wrong way. I'd like to maintain some kind of vague connection to the Crown, but as for the Royals - I've had quite enough of them, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: robomatic
Date: 19 May 22 - 12:32 PM

I think the world of Canada, but I suspect she is better off the less luv she gets from her neighbor to the south (and west).

As for the Queen, she gets my respect. My favorite picture of her was when she was a driver in the War.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 19 May 22 - 12:44 PM

The Governor General costs us less than CAD25 million per annum. The cost of royal visits to us is a comparatively small line item buried within the CAD191 million under "Heritage and Celebration" in the Votes of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

I share somewhat meself's reaction to the public's fawning over the presence of Charles and Camilla in Canada and I , too, switch channels, however, I view it as a problem with the audience, not the Prince and his consort.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 22 - 03:11 PM

Lacking a network TV hookup, and long unplugged from the cable system, I am limited in my consumption of royal visit advertising disguised as news to headlines in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Having clocked the headline, my eye immediately slithers away in search of something — anything! — of interest before settling on the editorial pages and the funnies.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:11 PM

You people need to be careful about abolishing your monarchy. Like her or not, Queen Elizabeth is a relatively benign personality. To the rest of the world, she is the human face of the United Kingdom.
Without her, Boris Johnson would be your "human face," and do you really like that? For four years recently, Donald Trump was the human face of the United States. THAT was an embarrassment.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:58 PM

Exactly!!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Raggytash
Date: 19 May 22 - 05:59 PM

No Joe, you are incorrect.

What people are suggesting is a President devoid of political powers, a mere figurehead of the country.... who can be replaced.

A benign person, male or female, gay or straight or LBGT to represent the country at events where a figurehead id susposedly required.

It would be a damned site cheaper than our present arrangement.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 22 - 08:17 PM

That is a rather romanticised view of our country, Joe. The reality is that the Queen and her hangers-on represent the summit of unearned and undeserved privilege. They are generally pretty impregnable to any attacks on their wealth. They give back only what their consciences, or fear for their public image, dictates. The Queen volunteered to pay tax after decades of not doing so. I wish I could do that. Amazon and Google have nothing on the royals when it comes to tax avoidance. The upshot is that they are fabulously wealthy, owning a number of palaces and country estates, the latter largely dedicated to keeping the land fit for brainless shooting parties, an unmitigated environmental disaster. Charles owns huge tracts of the Westcountry (where I live) and profits immensely from the efforts of those who work his land while he fiddles, making vacuous speeches about the environment and architecture and revelling in the fake joys of homeopathy. He cheated on Diana, conducting his affair with the charmless and personality-bereft Camilla right up to his wedding with Diana. And now this paragon is the man we are expected to embrace as our beloved King, God save him. The Queen is wise enough to keep her head down and her mouth shut, but for all her wealth and advantage she has managed to produce a family of entitled complete misfits who marry and occasionally divorce other misfits who will all, without doubt, continue to produce even more misfits. Naturally, our media treads carefully around them. If only the hordes of people who love the royals could see through the whole shebang. Nicholas Witchell and the Daily Mail will always see to it that they don't...

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 May 22 - 11:57 PM

The Queen is a tourist attraction, and a very popular tourist attraction at that. I would venture to guess that she costs a lot less and earns a lot more for the UK than Disney World does for Florida.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 20 May 22 - 01:32 AM

Ireland seems to manage perfectly well without a monarch, but with the kind of non-political, ceremonial Presidential arrangement recommended by Raggytash and myself. And I doubt it costs Ireland even a tiny fraction of the cost of the royal family to the UK, or the POTUS to the US for that matter.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: The Sandman
Date: 20 May 22 - 02:11 AM

i agree with Jon Freeman, thank god i live in ireland

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 20 May 22 - 02:27 AM

I well remember my mother telling me "The King is dead!" and then watching the ensuing Coronation on a tiny little black-and-white (of course!) TV at a neighbour's house, together with lots of TV-less neighbours.
And I've met Prince Philip at Edinburgh University (an arrogant prat!). My father had to meet Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace to arrange telephone systems, and she was appallingly frosty, rude and arrogant too. He refused to bow (hee hee) and when she tried to 'inform' him about how to set up telephone systems he cheekily asked her why she'd summoned him (West London Area Manager for the GPO) if she already knew all about it.
It's this entitlement which irks me. Nobody is 'above' anyone else in that sense, just because of their birth. It's wrong. Never would I curtsy to another human being.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 20 May 22 - 02:31 AM

By the way, I absolutely adored the Canadians I met in 1967 (I went over for Expo 67 in Montreal, then stayed with my Irish auntie & uncle in London Ontario). The Canadians were charming, friendly, kind, and invited me to their lakeside cabins for short stays etc. (I've swum in every one of the Great Lakes!)
I'll never forget my visit to Niagara Falls. Wow! What a spectacular sight!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 20 May 22 - 03:00 AM

”I'll never forget my visit to Niagara Falls. Wow! What a spectacular sight!”

My B-i-L and his family live about half-an-hour’s drive from Niagara. They’re bored to tears by the Falls after almost twenty years of living so close, but Mrs Backwoodsperson and I love them, and we insist on driving over to gaze in wonder at them every time we’re over in ON. Absolutely gob-smacking, and we never get tired of Niagara Falls.

We never get tired of lunch at the Niagara Hard Rock Café either! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 May 22 - 04:04 AM

Seems to me, Joe, that the argument that the royals are a big tourist draw pops up in most threads about them. It simply isn't true and I won't recycle the facts all over again here. Suffice to say that few if any of the top tourist attractions have any direct link with the royals ("league tables" are available), and the truly historical monuments such as the Tower of London and Hampton Court wouldn't suffer as tourist draws even if the royals were disbanded.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: robomatic
Date: 20 May 22 - 01:01 PM

I look upon the existing 'Royal' institution in the same kind of way I look upon Roe V. Wade. However we got here, it was through a great deal of trouble and tribulation. Changes WILL have unforeseen consequences. Not that we don't consider them, but we should consider the history as one of our guides.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 May 22 - 05:41 PM

Well the history is, as with all disgustingly rich people (except for lottery winners), that they got their wealth, and still do, by exploiting ordinary people. By hiring armies of accountants to avoid tax. By putting their wealth offshore. By exploiting extremely indulgent inheritance arrangements. By making sure that politicians are in their pockets. If history is to be any guide, it should guide us firmly towards a much fairer society. It won't, of course, because history always favours the winners. Our royals represent the pinnacle of that.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Donuel
Date: 21 May 22 - 04:17 PM

a platinum jubilee is a unique one of a kind likely never to happen again affair. Enjoy

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 21 May 22 - 04:19 PM

They can't, they prefer to whinge!!!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Donuel
Date: 21 May 22 - 04:39 PM

btw Canada has one of the best gardens in the entire world.
Also their national anthem is one of the best.
I'm surprised they have not found more novel ways to tame snow and ice besides chains and plows.

If Crimea was in Canadian hands instead of the Russkis it would be a happier place but Canada would probably hand it over to Ukraine straight away.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 May 22 - 07:45 PM

Well, I saw the Queen at the Highland Games at Braemar. It was cool.
When the Queen reached 70 years on the throne on February 6, 2022, she became the first British monarch ever to make it to a Platinum Jubilee.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 May 22 - 08:39 PM

Well she won't remember you, that's for sure. Your affection for her is very touching. I trust you have enough for both of us, as I haven't got any...

Subject: ADD: Her Majesty (Lennon McCartney)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 May 22 - 12:21 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh1hKt5kQ_4

A song for you, Steve.

HER MAJESTY
(Lennon-McCartney)

Her Majesty is a pretty nice girl
But she doesn't have a lot to say
Her Majesty is a pretty nice girl
But she changes from day to day

I wanna tell her that I love her a lot
But I gotta get a belly full of wine
Her Majesty is a pretty nice girl
Someday I'm gonna make her mine, oh yeah
Someday I'm gonna make her mine

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 May 22 - 03:50 AM

Yes, Joe, on a level with McCartney's bloody frog one and that awful Christmas one of his...

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: BobL
Date: 24 May 22 - 04:23 AM

Just a reminder that we tried getting rid of the monarchy once before, and it didn't work. But then, look at the replacement.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 22 - 07:03 AM

The Jubilee was a mass monkey Pox spreader event?

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 24 May 22 - 07:20 AM

Was a mass Monkey Pox spreader? It hasn’t happened yet.

https://www.royal.uk/platinum-jubilee-central-weekend

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 24 May 22 - 08:14 AM

Who cares the Elizabeth Line went over budget and over time, it's is an incredible feat of engineering and invaluable infrastructure, and great to have it named after Her Majesty The Queen!!

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 May 22 - 08:33 AM

Yep. Billions of quids to London. The Tories call it levelling up...

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion
Date: 24 May 22 - 11:03 AM

In anglophone Canada, the Spring statutory holiday is called Victoria Day (once Empire Day), and scheduled for the Monday next before 24 May, the birthday of Queen Victoria. In Quebec, the same holiday is called Le jour des patriotes in honour of the rebels of 1837-38.

Across the country, whatever language is spoken or culture perpetuated, that holiday is *actually* the official start of Fun Outdoors, observed by mobbing all garden centres, opening summer cottages, camps and cabins, and drinking beer on the porch, the patio, the deck, the front steps, the back steps, or any other external spot not forbidden by liquor licensing legislation or neighbourhood opinion.

May I suggest such a Canadian compromise for our overseas brethren and sistren with respect to the Platinum Jubilee?

Consider it an Official Day Off and do with it as you like.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 24 May 22 - 01:39 PM

The government of Quebec and the sovereigntists call the Monday next before 25 May "la Fète des Patriotes," but large swathes of the populace still call it "la Fête de la Reine."

So, bon anniversaire à la Reine, even if that Reine is Her Majesty's great-great-grandmother.

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 May 22 - 03:06 AM

I've just heard that at our Village Jubilee Picnic (in the grounds of the village hall) there will be a 'decorated wheelbarrow competition'! You decorate your wheelbarrow with some sort of patriotic and colourful creations, and everyone will join a 'wheelbarrow parade' around the venue. Sounds like great fun to me. I've got a wheelbarrow, and I'm thinking about how I could decorate it effectively. (Not to win exactly, but to join in the fun)
My much-loved husband came to visit me last weekend, and we are starting to reconcile. I might persuade him to come with me to the Jubilee Picnic. Could I sit him in the wheelbarrow and push him along? :)

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 May 22 - 03:25 AM

Could I sit him in the wheelbarrow and push him along? :) if you ae trying to reconcile with him best of luck ,but discuss[ the wheel barrow it with him] not us, first

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 May 22 - 03:41 AM

Hee hee Sandman! Here in Norfolk, being such a traditional. agricultural region, we often have 'scarecrow' displays in the front gardens, on post boxes and street corners of the villages. I wouldn't be surprised if some village near here has a 'Jubilee Scarecrow' competition. Now, if that was put on in our village ...

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 May 22 - 10:08 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6yAmrHFlio

Subject: RE: BS: HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee!
From: meself
Date: 25 May 22 - 03:21 PM

"the Spring statutory holiday is called Victoria Day" - but more widely known as "May 2-4", in honour of the number of beers in a flat, which most see more relevant to their lives nowadays than memories of the glory days of the Empire ... !