God Save The King

[Barrister]

In Sweden the full old-style royal ceremonies fell out of use in the 20th century. For instance, the latest Swedish king to have a coronation was Oscar II in 1873. And the latest Swedish king to be buried in the traditional Riddarholm Church was Gustaf V in 1950.

What's the point of having a monarch if you aren't going to have old-style royal ceremonies?

She's now 40, married mother of three living in London.

[The Brain]

She's now 40, married mother of three living in London.

Stop drooling.

[Sheilbh]

Here's an honest question. IF the Queen died at the height of COVID, during the lockdowns...would there still be a state funeral, and all this pomp and ceremony?

No. I think it'd probably be like Philip's funeral - with everyone watching online. Not least because the Queen's message during covid has been talked about a lot in the last week so that'd almost lock us in, I think, even more.

An official ceremony and then post-covid a big state memorial service for heads of state etc.

[mongers]

This really is the Briitish at their best, no not the pomp and ceremony, but the queueing, it's magnificent.

I notice the two women interviewed on the news last night, who were at the head of the then unofficial queue, were indeed the first two people to pass by the coffin; no one had attempted to jump the queue. :Brit:

[Caliga]

She's now 40, married mother of three living in London.

Stop drooling.

Not that this is Victoria, but I always wondered what could have been had Prince William married Princess Victoria of Sweden.  Could their kid legitimately have inherited both the thrones of Sweden and the UK, as used to happen in the olden days, or would the modern UK/Swedish governments have tried to block that?

[The Brain]

She's now 40, married mother of three living in London.

Stop drooling.

Not that this is Victoria, but I always wondered what could have been had Prince William married Princess Victoria of Sweden.  Could their kid legitimately have inherited both the thrones of Sweden and the UK, as used to happen in the olden days, or would the modern UK/Swedish governments have tried to block that?

Well, I read what the Swedish constitution has to say on it. I suggest you go read the Br... OH SNAP

The Swedish constitution says that a royal prince or princess needs the approval of both the Monarch and the Riksdag to become head of state of a foreign country. I couldn't see any requirement for the Monarch to get permission from the Riksdag. Worth noting is that the Swedish Monarch has to be of the Evangelical faith as described in the Augsburg Confession and the Uppsala Synod. Also, royal princes and princesses must be raised in this faith, and raised in Sweden. So, basically, from the Swedish perspective it's certainly possible AFAICT.

[Sheilbh]

There was a change in 2013 and my understanding is that any marriage is allowed (six down in the line of succession) with the monarch's consent - obviously monarch's consent with a foreign royal would probably involve the civil service and the cabinet as well as the palace.

If the monarch doesn't consent then the marriage is still allowed and perfectly valid, but they're removed from the line of succession.

The monarch has to be head of the Church of England. But weirdly there's no requirement that they're actually Anglican themselves - only that they're not Catholic

[OttoVonBismarck]

Something I'm noticing is that King Charles stands out way less in official events than Liz did. All of the trappings of these state affairs are heavily masculine, Charles is always in either black morning dress or some form of ceremonial military uniform and he really just kinda...blends in with the various other elderly royals and high ranking military leaders etc.

The Queen occasionally was in military regalia, but not frequently that I saw, and she was very often dressed in brightly colored dresses that stood out pretty dramatically.

[Grey Fox]

Quite impress that the Emperor of Japan will go to the funeral. When's the last time the Japanese emperor left Japan?

[Tamas]

Queuing in Britain is indeed magnificent and possibly the greatest cultural invention of the island. When nobody jumps the queue, everyone can stay calm and relaxed, you can just sort of reduce your brain activity in to a zen-like state while waiting.

Getting used to that and then queuing in Eastern Europe puts you at an immediate disadvantage 

[Josquius]

Quite impress that the Emperor of Japan will go to the funeral. When's the last time the Japanese emperor left Japan?

Wasn't his dad at the Royal wedding a decade or so ago?
I'm sure they do leave Japan a fair bit in normal times. First time since covid certainly.
More pressing is the emperor going to a Christian funeral. That's weird. They normally don't go to funerals at all as it's impure.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah as I say despite my views on royalty here, I find it weirdly impressive that the Japanese Emperor is visiting 

[The Larch]

Queuing in Britain is indeed magnificent and possibly the greatest cultural invention of the island. When nobody jumps the queue, everyone can stay calm and relaxed, you can just sort of reduce your brain activity in to a zen-like state while waiting.

Getting used to that and then queuing in Eastern Europe puts you at an immediate disadvantage 

This Twitter thread on The Queue (capitalized) is magnificent. 

https://twitter.com/curiousiguana/status/1570067806028464128

Right, everyone. I need to be serious for a moment. Because the greatest thing that ever happened is happening right now.

I don't particularly care either way about the Queen. But the queue? The Queue is a triumph of Britishness. It's incredible.

Just to be clear: I don't mean the purpose of the queue. I don't mean the outpouring of emotion or collective gried or the event at the end and around the queue or the people in the queue. I mean, literally, the queue. The queue itself. It's like something from Douglas Adams.

It is the motherlode of queues. It is art. It is poetry. It is the queue to end all queues. It opened earlier today and is already 2.2 miles long. They will close it if it gets to FIVE MILES. That's a queue that would take TWO HOURS TO WALK at a brisk pace.

It is a queue that goes right through the entirety of London. It has toilets and water points and websites just for The Queue.

You cannot leave The Queue. You cannot get into The Queue further down. You cannot hold places in The Queue. There are wristbands for The Queue.

Once you join The Queue you can expect to be there for days. But you cannot have a chair and a sleeping bag. There is no sleeping in The Queue, for The Queue moves constantly and steadily, day and night. You will be shuffling along at 0.1 miles per hour for days.

There is a YouTube channel, Twitter feed and Instagram page, each giving frequent updates about The Queue. Because the back of The Queue, naturally, keeps moving. To join The Queue requires up to the minute knowledge of where The Queue is now.

The BBC has live coverage of The Queue on BBC One, and a Red Button service showing the front bit of The Queue.

NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD JOIN THE QUEUE AND YET STILL THEY COME. "Oh, it'll only be until 6am on Thursday, we can take soup".

And the end of the queue is a box. You will walk past the box, slowly, but for no more than a minute. Then you will exit into the London drizzle and make your way home.

Tell me this isn't the greatest bit of British performance art that has ever happened? I'm giddy with joy. It's fantastic. We are a deeply, deeply mad people with an absolutely unshakeable need to join a queue. It's utterly glorious.

[Josephus]

Something I'm noticing is that King Charles stands out way less in official events than Liz did. All of the trappings of these state affairs are heavily masculine, Charles is always in either black morning dress or some form of ceremonial military uniform and he really just kinda...blends in with the various other elderly royals and high ranking military leaders etc.

The Queen occasionally was in military regalia, but not frequently that I saw, and she was very often dressed in brightly colored dresses that stood out pretty dramatically.

I assure you Charles would stand out if he carried a handbag. 

[Sheilbh]

Something I'm noticing is that King Charles stands out way less in official events than Liz did. All of the trappings of these state affairs are heavily masculine, Charles is always in either black morning dress or some form of ceremonial military uniform and he really just kinda...blends in with the various other elderly royals and high ranking military leaders etc.

The Queen occasionally was in military regalia, but not frequently that I saw, and she was very often dressed in brightly colored dresses that stood out pretty dramatically.

Yeah she famously colour blocked so that she would stand out in the crowd. It was part of her general view that the monarchy needed to be seen to be believed.

Charles stands out less - but it is striking he's done a lot more "walkabouts" than the Queen every really did just in the last week. Like when he first arrived at the palace the car stopped outside the gates, he spent a few minutes with the crowd and then walked into the palace. I suspect there'll be a lot more of that from him while he's able.