The Queen is Coming!
Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is coming to Virginia next month (Sorry if I mis-referenced her. Learning how to reference the Queen and to speak to her is not taught in schools here since we have no queen.) She's coming for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement. I saw a picture in the paper of her and Prince Phillip taken here in 1957 when she came for the 350th anniversary.
Anyway, the news around here is going nuts. They are trying to teach us what to call her should we speak to her, only to shake hands if she offers first, not to bow since we aren't her subjects, etc.
J, lost in Disney princess land, is very excited and told me she wanted to go see the Queen. I explained to her we aren't important enough to get to meet her or see her. I understand there is a lottery for 54 slots to watch her walk by outdoors near our state's capitol building. The day the lottery opened, there were 11,000 applicants.
I think it's pretty exciting, too, but I'm not making any plans. What I think is especially funny is that we (Americans) made such a point about getting rid of all royalty, nobility, and aristocracy when we formed the country, and yet today we are very, very enthusiastic about British royalty.
13 Comments:
How exciting, i love the quuen :)
even the queen, my spelling is terrible lately :)
I'm planning to watch the coverage of the queen on the local news. It's quite a big deal around here. Our head of state is our president. Is your head of state Queen Elizabeth?
I'm pretty sure that you got the Queens title exactly right although I'd be tempted to call her "Lizzie" if I met her!
"G'day Lizzie how the bl**dy h*ll are ya?" sounds about right to me.... lol
Lizzie is our (outdated) head of state. The Governor General is her representative here.
I would like to see Australia become a republic before I die. I think that the monarchy is irrelevant in modern Australia. AND I hate having to pay for her (or her family) to come and visit us. Is America paying the bill for her visit?
:) I'm the opposite of Brilly and last referendum we had voted against the republic, i do see that point of view but there is just something i like about all that history and i think the fact that mum was English, helps that. But i wouldn't be that upset really if it did happen, i think we still get to be in the commonwealth games don't we ? lol
Brilly,
I don't know who is paying for her visit, but I expect and hope that we are. Our Jamestown's 400th anniversary celebration has been in the works since I moved down here 10 years ago. It is supposed to be a huge tourist thing here, and having the Queen come and endorse it is fantastic--sort of like getting a rock band only much, much better.
Just while the Queen is here, lots of people will be out and about, hoping for a glimpse of the Queen, and spending money at local establishments. I would consider any money spent on the Queen's visit to be advertising money for the Jamestown events. We want as many people as possible to come to Virginia this spring and summer for the event and to spend money at local businesses while they are here.
Sarah,
I don't even know what the Commonwealth games are, but then, we aren't part of the Commonwealth.
While I love having the Queen visit, I certainly wouldn't wish to have her as our head of state. Our country went to war twice to assure she isn't (Revolutionary War and War of 1812). I love that our government stops with our constitution, and there is nothing higher.
I think if I were Canadian or Australian, I would like having the Queen as head of state, but it's really hard to say since I'm not in that situation and do not wish to change my citizenship.
On the other hand, I've told N and J to look at the Queen on TV, and to know that she's probably the richest welfare recipient in the world.
Not that I have any right to be since I'm not a subject of the crown, but while I am pleased with the Queen, I am often disgusted by her offspring and their offspring. Prince Andrew and Koo Stark was a disgrace. Prince Charles' adultery was another. Prince Harry ought to have better sense than to dress up as a Nazi. Prince Harry and Prince William both were reputed to be out on a drunken, womanizing spree recently. I think that to collect the grand welfare that royalty earns, they need to behave in a way that doesn't disgust the people paying it. One needs to look at their royalty with pride, so their behavior has to earn that pride.
I will add that Prince William is fortunate to get his looks from his mom (especially since I think royalty is tourism advertisement). He's a handsome guy, and combined with his role as King, a lot people will hope to get a glimpse of him when they come and spend their tourist dollars in the U.K. I imagine he's pretty hard to actually see, but I'm guessing parts of palaces are open to tourists at certain times.
Hopefully Prince William will soon learn to adjust his behavior to meet the task his birth has dealt him. I am also pleased he and his brother are serving in the military (once again, not that it's any of my business).
Let me add, I had no idea I'd hit upon a controversial subject when I announced my excitement about Queen Elizabeth's visit.
Just ignore me and MamaP :-)
I'm not keen on having the Queen as our head of state, she doesn't even live here yet has the power to dissolve our government.
People would still visit the castles and palaces in Britain even if their wasn't a monarchy. Scotland is a good example of this. They have lovely palaces and castles but haven't had a monarch for ages. The castles/palaces are still major tourist attractions.
I defiantly don't want Charles as King. Any man who wants to be re-incarnated as a tampon has serious mental issues. The Queen won't abdicate and Charles will be an old man by the time he becomes King. He'll be even more distanced from the common people than he is now.
The monarchy used to have some mystique surrounding them. Now we know that they are just as 'common' as common folk but earn a lot for it!
The smartest thing would be to skip Charles and make William next in line but that isn't going to happen.
I agree about Charles. He seems to be a moron. If he were our king, I'd consider fighting the Revolutionary War again. If it were Prince Charles or King Charles coming to Richmond, I don't think that many people would even care. It wouldn't have much tourism effect at all.
Is there a way Queen Elizabeth can choose to pass the crown to her grandson, bypassing her son (without his dying)? King William could certainly draw a huge tourism crowd from Americans. He looks like his mom, and she was adored by many Americans.
Sidenote about commonness:
I was excited when someone snitched on the Queen and I found out she uses Tupperware. I have a few pieces, and I think it's great.
Let me also add, that I don't think there is an American man who can figure out why he cheated on his beautiful, younger wife with Camellia.
What a horrid gossip I've become!
Elizabeth can't bypass Charles, the rules of succession mean that he'd have to be mentally incompetent or terminally ill.
Charles could abdicate but after waiting all his life to be King I doubt he would.
Charles always loved Camilla so he was cheating himself (and Diana) by not marrying Camilla in the first place. Love is a funny thing. Diana was young and pretty but it wasn't enough.
I meant to tell you about something that S said to D a long time ago.
He was looking at a coin and said "Lady" S said "That's not a lady, that's the Queen. She's got a son. His name is Prince Charming.... or something like that" :-)
How cute of S. I'd certainly got with the "something like that" and not the "charming."
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