Lizzie.
Her Maj. Or, Queen Elizabeth (Alexandra Mary) II is an interesting
person. This is not a biography of her life, you can look that up on
your own if you like.
This is a
few fascinating facts and happenings that involve HM and people
around her.
Did you
know HM is the only person in Great Britain who can legally drive
without a drivers license? It's true, she could if she wanted too,
issue one to herself, but chooses not to. Despite that, she is in
fact a keen driver. She learned to drive during WWII when she was a
second subaltern in the Woman’s Auxiliary Territorial Service,
working as a truck driver.
In 1998,
she hosted Saudi Prince Abdullah at her estate, Balmoral in Scotland.
One day she asked if the prince would like a tour of the estate and
to his shock she jumped behind the wheel of her Land Rover. She then
proceeded to drive fast across bumpy terrain while pointing out
features. Eventually, the shell-shocked prince had to ask (through
his interpreter) her to please stop, as the ride had terrified him.
It could have been the speed and terrain, or it could have been a
female driver. After all it was only in June this year that Saudi
women were allowed to drive.
Back in
the day, HM and Mrs. Thatcher disagreed on many things. Thatchers
tendency to arrive early irritated the Queen a great deal and she was
overheard on many an occasion referring to the Prime Minister as
'that woman'.
One time,
Thatcher suggested that they could both coordinate their outfits for
an occasion. Buckingham Palace responded: “The Queen does not
notice what other people are wearing.” Ouch.
Eventually,
HM decided to attend Mrs. Thatchers funeral, even though it was not
her duty to do so.
When Diana
died in 1997, the people were bereaved. Diana was very popular and
well loved by the nation. This grief turned to anger when the flag on
Buckingham Palace wasn't lowered to half mast. Despite the outrage,
this was correct. The Queen's flag, the Royal Standard is never flown
at half mast, as it represents the monarchy. As Terry Pratchett once
wrote: “Monarchy is the only thing that is faster than light. The
instant one monarch dies, the first in line of succession is
automatically the new monarch. Light is slow in comparison.”
The other
flag on Buckingham Palace is the Union Jack, but that is only lowered
if the deceased is an HRH. Diana lost her HRH status when she and
Charles were divorced.
Out of
respect for the feelings of her people, HM did order the Union Jack
lowered on Diana's funeral until midnight.
In 1979
HM's cousin, Lord Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb. Elizabeth
was very close to her cousin so it must have been awkward for former
IRA leader Martin McGuinness to meet the Queen in 2012. You see, at
this point Martin had been appointed deputy first minister of
Northern Ireland. In 2016 they met again, and he asked her how she
was. Her reply, “Well, I'm still alive.”
Lizzie
likes them sick burns...
That's
that. I wish you all a Merry X-mas, a Happy Holiday etc. Have a
wonderful week and join me again on the very last day of 2018.
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