The Queen is Dead -- Long Live the Queen

Obituary: Queen Elizabeth II Obituary: Queen Elizabeth II

Unsure if this was posted or not, but I can only imagine the honor it would be at the BBC to contribute to this.

 

I’d be fascinated to know the last time she made a decision about … anything.

RIP and all respect to the institution, but her actual accomplishments are certainly not the least bit extraordinary.

 

You don't think getting those Corgis lined up properly was a challenge?

 

My error isn’t as egregious as you make it out to be. She still is head of state and still made the rounds to appease the lands and was at least given the chance to offer an opinion. It was still her legacy.

 

The weekly meeting with the Prime Minister can’t be overlooked. She lived through a near-century of war and peace. Her advice carried weight.

 

She was Queen for 28 percent of the USA’s existence?

 

The only president she didn't meet during her reign was ... LBJ.

 

The Guardian ran a series of articles late last year about how she carved a whole bunch of exemptions under the law for herself. From tax stuff to green laws and everything in between. (But I suspect they won't be reprinting it this week.)

Revealed: Queen’s sweeping immunity from more than 160 laws

 

British law is, to put it simply, a hot mess. There is no codified constitution like we have here. It's based on a hodgepodge of acts of Parliament, the Magna Carta, court cases, ancient treaties and unwritten principles. I'd hate to see their bar exam.

 

I doubt Charles will do much with the title - though I am curious what William's reign will be like. I have to think he had a few conversations with the queen about the future of the Royals.
Unrelated, but I was thinking of the opening paragraph of The Guns of August.
"So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep back gasps of admiration. In scarlet and blue and green and purple, three by three the sovereigns rode through the palace gates, with plumed helmets, gold braid, crimson sashes, and jeweled orders flashing in the sun. After them came five heirs apparent, forty more imperial or royal highnesses, seven queens–four dowager and three regnant–and a scattering of special ambassadors from uncrowned countries. Together they represented seventy nations in the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last. The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again."