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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132231
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 6:06am | IP Logged | 1
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Queen Elizabeth II of England is 92 today.
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Jeff Scott
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 November 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 238
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 7:41am | IP Logged | 2
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I bet she has the best medical care.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 8:09am | IP Logged | 3
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With all due respect to her, the Monarchy does feel outdated. The idea of a hereditary head of state does not sit well with me in 2018.
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John Young
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3145
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 11:43am | IP Logged | 4
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She also comes from a line of long lived people.
Happy Birthday!
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Matthew Wilkie
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 March 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1139
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 1:57pm | IP Logged | 5
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Forgive me for not getting too excited about this.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | 6
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Prediction: Britain will be a republic by 2040.
Anyone?
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Steven Brake
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 January 2016
Posts: 562
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 2:26pm | IP Logged | 7
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Robbie Parry wrote:
Prediction: Britain will be a republic by 2040.
---------------------------------------------------------
I see your national aspiration, and I trump it by predicting World War III by 2025.
I'm not sure how I feel about the monarchy, but it will feel strange when the queen is gone, as I've only ever known her. I think it'll be a bit like when Pope John Paul II died - I'm not Catholic, but, again, to me he simply WAS the pope, and I was surprised by how much his death affected me.
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 2:51pm | IP Logged | 8
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I can understand, Steven. Like you, I am not Catholic, but if it's all someone has known, well...
It will feel odd when the Queen is gone. I mean, here we have QCs (Queen's Counsel), senior lawyers who try many cases. When the Queen is gone, we'll be referring to them as King's Counsel (KCs). And it'll be King Charles III's head on postage stamps. That'll feel weird.
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Joe S. Walker
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 605
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 5:04pm | IP Logged | 9
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Some years ago it was suggested that Charles might choose to be known as George VII when he becomes king.
If Edward VIII had never abdicated he would still have been king when I was a kid. (Though lord alone knows what would have happened to the monarchy in the intervening years.)
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Bob Simko
Byrne Robotics Security
Negative Mod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 5982
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | 10
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Long story, but one of my favorite possessions is a non-form letter I received
via one of her secretaries. Wishing her the best.
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15775
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| Posted: 21 April 2018 at 6:47pm | IP Logged | 11
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Prediction: Britain will be a republic by 2040.
Anyone? ---------------------------------- Not a chance.
That's 22 years from now. i.e. within a small chunk of the lives of all the folk living today. Is there a groundswell of dissent against the royals amongst any age group the in UK right now?
The monarchy is indeed a strange, feudal and outdated concept. But, curiously, there also tends to be a correlation between countries that don't have a monarchy and coups. The head of state grants legitimacy to a government and royals tend to grant the most legitimacy. If the UK ditches the royal family, who becomes head of state? Some Joe Schmoe who's voted in. I don't see some Joe Schmoe as being more valid as head of state than someone who's been brought up their whole life to do the job.
The governing party has the political power in the UK. The head of state is largely ceremonial... and the head of the royal family has done the job proud for the last couple of centuries. I'm not particularly a royalist -- and logically if we were starting from scratch a Republic would make sense -- but I don't see the gain to be made from ditching the royals.
Edited by Peter Martin on 21 April 2018 at 6:48pm
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Joe S. Walker
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 605
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| Posted: 22 April 2018 at 5:52am | IP Logged | 12
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I wouldn't expect it either. To get rid of the monarchy would take a profound shift in public feeling and politics that's not likely to happen in the present Queen's lifetime, and she could live for another ten years or more - possibly outliving Charles. When she goes it's quite likely to be in the midst of massive nationwide uncertainty about Britain's place in the world, but that could push people towards ideas of tradition and continuity rather than change.
To go back to what I said above Edward VIII, I think the monarchy might not have survived if he'd been king during the war. As it was they made him governor of the Bahamas, which was putting him as far out of the way as possible.
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