I wish everyone in Scotland and Ireland a happy Monday, September 19, 2022 for no reason in particular.

I find it interesting how so many people celebrate Queen Elizabeth's death, naming her a racist, bigoted, colonising, murderer, etc when she was not actually responsible, or even had a say, in the majority of devastating world and personal events that happened during her reign.

As someone who has intensely studied the monarchy, and yes coincidentally, I'm not promonachist so don't come at me 🙄; her authority and power to practically influence the political events in countries she was queen over was incredibly minimal. I.e. New Zealand and Australia specifically as an example

I also find it interesting that the same people who scream and shout over the fact she was a figurehead and therefore useless and should be thrown out: are also the ones that have now turned around and are just as hysterical over her alleged inaction.

I should also add that we must not forget that she was also a highly flawed, highly normal, human being. She made very bad mistakes. She admitted her mistakes, especially in the case of her family. We have this unspoken assumption in especially the western world today that any ruler or public figure, whether they be a monarch or celebrity, has to live up to Our expectation - either providing us with endless drama and hype and terrible life decisions, or being endlessly perfect. Otherwise somehow we feel entitled to scream hate at them.

I've watched this especially in recent years- John Mulaney comes to mind.

Anyway, I guess my final take is maybe stop projecting our pain onto people and actually do research before we form opinions. Oh and also stop calling people bigoted for other peoples actions, that'd be great.

No handshakes for women!

Behbeh

The committal service for Queen Elizabeth II in St George's Chapel

all of you on tumblr play such a big game about walking 'like you're at the funeral of someone you got away with killing', but when i, liz truss

hold on...

zoom in

enhance

IS THAT HARRIET JONES, FORMER PRIME MINISTER?!

I can't stop obsessing over the Queen's hearse! Those gigantic windows along with the sunroof, that maroon glint in the sunlight- I'm in love.

My mom asked me why they kept playing My Country Tis of Thee at the queen's funeral, and I had to tell her that it was the UK national anthem God Save the Queen (well, I guess now it's called God Save the King)

The man couldn't even tidy his hair for the queen's funeral...

Farewell 💔

You did just write Llorones 💀 now I don’t know Spanish but I did watch La Llorona and have an idea of what this word means

In all seriousness though, do you see the great-grandchildren attending any public events?

ahaha well, it's a bit different in the context in which I used the word. Ahh I love Spanish. La llorona' is a famous story, legend, myth in Latin America, I think it started in Mexico but you can hear stories everywhere in Latin America, I could tell you stories of people who have actually seen her in my country. It's WILD. But that's different from how I used the word; when I called them 'Llorones' I was telling them "cry babies"/whining ahahahaha

I don't know. I feel the children are very young, even Savannah who is 11 years old. The events will be long and too formal, plus it's a painful time and the emotion may get the better of some of them, they are kids after all. It would make a bit of sense to see George because of the position he occupies now but his presence would cause more interest than any of the other children, so his parents may decide it would be best if he didn't attend any events or services, I think we all know how sensitive William and Catherine are when it comes to their children. Another thing is that reading everything that will happen this week, I don't see an event where it is more or less appropriate for a child. But we can only wait and see. I doubt anything will be confirmed in advance, so we will have to wait for each event or service.

Prince Edward thanks the Northumbrian mounted police who led the Queen's funeral cortege in the final procession to Windsor Castle.

Rest in peace Elizabeth, you brought so much to this chaotic world, you were a sunshine ♥️ so proud to call myself a British and being alive in your times 🇬🇧

In life Elizabeth II inspired admiration in the world’s most powerful people with almost mysterious ease. In death, under a sunny London sky, she managed the feat one last time. Rarely has one place felt so filled with status and so empty of malice as Westminster Abbey did on Monday. That much was confirmed a little after 10am when Joe Biden and his wife Jill arrived to take their seats at the state funeral. The US president had insisted on arriving by car, rather than the suggested bus. Once at the Great West Door, however, even he accepted that his privileges ran short: his path was checked by a procession of men and women granted medals for bravery and chivalry. Biden had to wait his turn, and he did so, with gracious smiles. 

Around two thousand congregants had come from across the British establishment, the Commonwealth and the world. And they came not to show themselves off, but to submit themselves to the Queen’s memory. For all their medals and titles, many seemed as deferential to the late monarch as the members of the public who had queued for hours to see her body lying in state.If anyone doubted that the funeral would be anything other than British majesty at its finest, their minds were surely soon convinced. There was the sombre spectacle of the Queen’s coffin being carried along the nave, laden with the imperial state crown twinkling under the stained glass windows. There was the brass-imbued finale of the first hymn, ‘The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended’. 

The grandeur was everywhere, and it was irresistible. It felt natural that the Queen’s journey should approach its end at Westminster Abbey. It was here where she was married in 1947 and crowned in 1953. It was also where she was photographed on the black-and-white tiled floor, leading to the affectionate chess meme: ‘Beware, she can move in any direction’. 

The abbey inspires humility. Its narrow 13th-century transepts, cluttered with the statues of prime ministers and the tombs of poets, push one’s gaze upwards to the arches and roofs. (On Monday a hawk had been deployed to ensure there were no stray pigeons in the rafters.) The congregants had filtered in from 8am, three hours before the service started. They found their way among chairs with such labels as “Governor General + 1”. The invitation had offered a choice of morning dress, lounge suit, day dress or “full ceremonial day dress (NO SWORDS)”. All options were on display.

[Financial Times]