UKC

Very sad news.

It is sad. Despite my republican views she seemed a decent person.

Incredibly sad and if the dislikers are celebrating,  have a long look in the mirror.

Perhaps turn off the buttons for this thread.

Sad news indeed. A remarkable reign, and she represented so many positive personal qualities as well as the country itself. Does feel like the end of an era, personally has got me a bit emotional. 

+1 for turning the buttons off.

T.

Yes Mods treat this as an RIP thread.

It's very sad I had a lot of respect for Liz. 

I am at heart a republican, but Queenie was a good lady. 

I am currently on Toulouse prior to flying home tomorrow. I was having a meal in a restaurant when I saw the news. The waiter sensed my sadness and gave me a consoling pat on my shoulder. Later he came and asked "ca va?"

The voting has now been removed on this thread, but please keep posting respectful - irrespective of your views on the monarchy.

Just rewatched the jubilee sketch she did with Paddington. A lovely reminder she was as human as the next person. 

RIP Liz. 

And in Number Two spot

youtube.com/watch?v=xW5abat5NEU&

I never met the Queen however I have met quite a few who have been in her company and they all said one thing, which she was a happy person who put everybody at ease.

Well done for turning voting off.  

T.

Probably the last great royal we will ever have.

Rest in peace Liz, you deserve some time off. 

Yes.

As a republican and Scottish separatist, I'll be doing something tonight which I've never done: toasting her. RIP to The Queen.

An incredible life of humanity, dignity and commitment to a role she was born into, which many other leaders would do well to note. A profoundly significant world moment whatever one's views on the monarchy, she has been with us for all of our lives. I'm quite surprised at how bereft I feel, and the dark and lashing rain seems appropriate for this evening.

Being in the military our paths crossed, yeah whilst I wouldn't say she was grounded like average joe, but she was extremely well briefed, learnt it and good when out on the ground meeting people. Far far better than some of the side show hanger on royals who generally haven't a clue about the real world.

To echo Dax's comment, she deserves the rest, working until 2 days ago aged 96! 

RIP

It was a shame that your last comment was deleted, because I was trying to reply to you. I too am glad that Boris was not the PM when the Queen died. I do not want to bring this thread into politics however I genuinely thought that our new PM showed genuine empathy for such a solemn occasion.

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My wife and I have just done something out of character; raised a glass to toast the Queen, then raised it again to toast the King.

And it felt like exactly the right thing to do.

T.

Same here. 

I think it's probably quite thoughtful knowing you're one of the last few people she met and were there with her just a day prior. It's bound to have an impact on anyone with a soul.

 I was listening to Radio 6 when it stopped and they made the announcement. I turned the radio up for the anthem and had a reflective couple of minute listening to it. Thought of my own long gone grandmother who adored the royals.

RIP.

Have raised a glass (of whisky) to the Queen. She seemed a decent down to earth person.

Rip Elizabeth.

I guess we are no longer Elizabethans.

We're now (or soon to be) Charlesions (no idea what the equivalent term is)

I will join you

Sad indeed. I despise the institution of royalty, but the Queen was a shining example of how a country 's leader should behave. I don't think we'll see her equal again, at least not in my lifetime.

Very Sad.

By pure coincidence my Dad beat her by 16.5 hours (2.00 am this morning) I don't think he saw it as a competiton though.

I like Charles.

Thoughts to you as well. Santé.

Sorry to hear that Duncan.

Condolences. 

Sorry to hear that, Duncan as I'm also sorry to hear of the queen's passing.

Though of course I didn't know her except via media, Elizabeth may well have been personally and solely responsible for keeping respect for the institution of monarchy alive in the UK in recent times. She played a blinder, and deserves every accolade going.

Yes, very sad day I think; shakes our foundations a bit at a very unstable time. I think she was a good un. 

Indeed she did

I am truly sorry for your loss

In reply to MarkVinnette:

Mm.  You've not really read the room there.

T.

Sorry for your loss Duncan....

The Queen.....I never met her but she did walk past me and look at me on parade once. She has been a great example of duty....... seeing her sat alone, as an old lady in her 90's at the funeral of her husband showed great leadership and dignity at a time when others in power were abusing their position and will be the most prominent memory I have of her....RIP Elizabeth ..

Charletons?!

I'm finding this news much harder to deal with than I expected. She was always there. Rest in peace

I was born 3 weeks before she came to the throne, she's gone; that's got to mean something.

"God Save the Queen"  just came on the News. I stood, for the last time.

God Save the King.

In Scotland so we raised a dram. RIP

69 years of service in a job you didn’t ask for, but did to the best of your ability? I’m no monarchist, but I certainly respect and admire her for her dignity, sense of duty and loyalty. If ever there was a gilded cage, she was definitely a lifetime occupant. 

I think that is going to apply in a national sense. The end of an era if ever there was one.

We've just raised plastic mugs with a dram of Laphraoig on Islay to her.

Can't fault her dedication to her duty.

... Time to clock off shift Ma'am.

Right bunch of charlies?

The reign of Charles I was known as the Caroline era apparently. Derived from Carolus, the Latin for Charles. Be interesting to see if that is reused.

My earliest memory is of the Coronation, standing in front of a shop with a very small flickering b&w screen on New Street in Birmingham, on a very wet day. 

My stamp collection was mainly George VI however, and only had a Coronation stamp of the Queen. New stamps now required.

RIP Elizabeth. God save the King.

How interesting. I like it.

I thought it might have been Carolingian but apparently that was for Charlemagne rather than  King Charles  I & II

Much respect for her, especially when she cut through the stifling protocols and conventions to appear with James Bond and Paddington. 

Really. I’ve been reflecting on how I feel about the death of people who have reached a great age and have led a full life. I mean people that I have been close to such as grandparents, rather than someone like the Queen, who like most people I don’t personally know.

I didn’t have huge amounts of sadness when my grandmothers died at similar ages to the Queen, much less for example than when a grandfather died at a much younger age.  No less love for the two grandmothers. To me at least, some of the outpouring grief seems odd.

I’m not a royalist, so intend to largely ignore it. If you are in to such things, a quiet raised glass, as mentioned by a few on here, is probably an appropriate response.

I always knew her death was inevitable due to her age. However it still came as a blow.

The Queen and her doctors most likely knew how gravely ill she was when the Queen performed her last royal duties seeing out and in new Prime Ministers.

Irrespective of being a Royalist or Republican, Queen Elizabeth showed our nation how a person with gravitas, dignity and devotion to her duties that people such as our last PM should hang their heads in shame.

A thing the BBC has done right in the last 24 hours. RIP

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61605149

Good post. A person has died and there is an outpouring of media coverage of the death. None of us asked for this but we cannot help but have a reaction to it. If my mother had died yesterday. I would feel very differently today to how I actually feel. 

I felt much more emotion when Mandela, another person that I did not know, died at a similar age to the Queen. Not grief, since he was 95 and at that age your time is up, but a kind of joy in what he had done with his life.

Well she's served in an institution and role I'd prefer did not exist but she appears to have done so with dignity, decency and dedication to her last days. When we have sorely lacked those traits in our elected leaders they have remained, quietly, on display in the background, a reminder that better is still possible. In a role and at a time where respect could still simply have been assumed or demanded she earned it anyway time and again. A job well done.

Since we're stuck with him I hope I may say the same of Charles when his time comes.

jk

The mood seems to be largely "Ask not for whom the Bell tolls, It tolls for thee..."

As my life is almost exactly contiguous with her reign, that certainly is my mood. It's like a screen flickering through the memories of a whole lifetime. Hers and mine. I have a photo of me at three with my hair combed like Prince Charles's and a double buttoned little woollen coat on. Just like his. I'm standing next to my sister and she looks like Princess Anne... 

où sont les neiges d'antan?

Rather a nice tribute here from Theresa May.  youtube.com/watch?v=zSxpbWpiXCM&

Maybe I’m more in sync with the populous than I thought. I passed through St Anne’s Square in Manchester at lunchtime, it’s the official spot in the city to leave flowers, the Leader of the Council and Lord Mayor did so this morning. There were perhaps 100 bunches of flowers and a few people hanging about. After the Arena Bombing, at the same spot, you had to queue for half an hour to leave some flowers and the number bunches would have to be measured in the tens of thousands. I know it’s different, but still as loved and respected as she undoubtedly was by many, the communal grief is very different to that of an event as tragic as the Arena Bomb.

Well that was lovely. 

A very fitting tribute indeed. 

I am against the institution of the monarchy but I don't think it is possible to deny that The late Queen adhered to the oaths that she made in a way that most politicians ignore 

That seems like a lazy remark to me. In respect of 'most politicians', to which oaths are you referring?

Apologies

I guess I meant generally in the promises that are made in order to achieve whatever office they are aspiring to

The Queen wasn't presented with much of a choice but stuck to her word 

Indeed. She swore she would serve until she could serve no more. She did exactly that, with the dignity of a thousand politicians. 

I'm luke warm on The Royals but am incredibly sad of her passing. One of her last pictures from just days ago; she was incredibly frail, purple hands with a massive beaming smile, still doing the role she promised to fulfill, is both inspiring and sad at thesame time.

Consider her conduct over 70 years as monarch vs Boris' in three years.

He should be ashamed of what he has turned this country into and security should have told him to feck off when he arrived at the various shindigs over the last 48 hours, as her majesty's dieing wish.

Condolences and best wishes Duncan.