#Queen Elizabeth humour

[littlepawz]

A funny and true story about the Queen:

Around 2005, the Queen and her Personal Protection Officer, Dick Griffin, were walking alone one afternoon in the hills near the Scottish royal castle, Balmoral.

Two tourists approached them, and engaged in conversation. Griffin recalls:

"There were two hikers coming towards us, and the Queen would always stop and say hello.

"They were two Americans on a walking holiday.

"It was clear from the moment we stopped that they hadn't recognised the Queen, which was fine.

"The American gentleman was telling the Queen where they came from, where they were going next, and where they'd been in Britain.

"I could see it coming, and sure enough, he said to Her Majesty: 'And where do you live?'

"She replied: 'Well I live in London, but I've got a holiday home just the other side of the hills.'

"He said: 'How long have you been coming up here?'

"She replied: 'I've been coming up here ever since I was a little girl, so over 80 years.'

"You could see the cogs whirring, so he said: 'Well, if you've been coming up here for over 80 years, you must have met the Queen.'

"Quick as a flash, she said: 'I haven't, but Dick here meets her regularly.'

The hiker then asked Griffin what the monarch was like in person.

"Because I was with her a long time, and I knew I could pull her leg, I said: 'Oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she's got a lovely sense of humour.'

"The next thing I knew, this guy comes round, puts his arm around my shoulder, and before I could see what was happening, he gets his camera, GIVES IT TO THE QUEEN, and says: 'Can you take a picture of the two of us?'

"Then we swapped places, and I TOOK A PICTURE OF THEM WITH THE QUEEN.

"And we never let on, and we waved goodbye.

"Afterwards, Her Majesty said to me: 'I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to his friends in America, and hopefully someone tells him who I am'."

[mygoodqueenbess]

"In the evening had been plays, including an adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer's Knight's Tale, in which two knights, Palamon and Arcite, fight over the love of the beautiful Emily. Before the tournament which will decide her hand, Palamon prays to marry Emily, Arcite prays for victory, and Emily prays to remain unmarried. Arcite wins the tournament for her hand, but is thrown off his horse, dying, and Palamon marries Emily. In the end, all have their prayers answered, except for Emily, who wished to remain a maid. Elizabeth had given a generous gift to the boy who played the unfortunate Emily."

From House of Tudor by Joanne Paul, describing the visit of Elizabeth to Kenilworth in 1575.

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

In attempting to be funny while completing my history homework I believe I have managed to summarise a historical figure in six words.

You can add this to the conclusion of ANY section of his life! In conclusion, Essex made a tit of himself.

Ignoring Elizabeth’s express instructions, Essex made truce with the Irish rebels in a deal embarrassing to the crown. In conclusion, Essex made a tit of himself.

Striding into Elizabeth’s bedchamber unannounced, Essex, saw the Queen without her wig or make up. In conclusion, Essex made a tit of himself.

[tonywarcus]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

In words laden with affection and warmth, Prince Philip told the then Princess Elizabeth how he had fallen in love with her 'unreservedly.'

The letter, written in 1946 — a year before their wedding — was among several revealed in Philip Eade's 2011 book Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who has died aged 99, told the Princess how falling in love with her so 'completely' had made his personal troubles and even those of the world 'seem small and petty.'

He also found it difficult to put his feelings into words, describing in another message after they had spent time together how he felt incapable of 'showing you the gratitude that I feel.'

And he told the Queen Mother in the year of her daughter's wedding to him how 'Lilibet was the only thing in this world, which is absolutely real to me.'

Love letters

Philip served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and saw active service against German, Italian, and Japanese forces.

The Greek prince's early life was also marked by upheaval — he escaped his home country as a baby by being hidden in a makeshift cot made from an orange box.

So his words were filled with meaning when he told Princess Elizabeth in 1946 how his love for her made all his past struggle — and the horrors the world had just been through — seem trivial by comparison.

He wrote:

'To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and to re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty.'

Three years earlier, Philip had spent Christmas at Windsor Castle.

Princess Elizabeth was said to be animated in a way 'none of us had ever seen before,' her governess, Marion Crawford, wrote.

Writing to her after seeing her again in July, Philip wrote of the 'simple enjoyment of family pleasures and amusements and the feeling that I am welcome to share them.'

'I am afraid I am not capable of putting all this into the right words and I am certainly incapable of showing you the gratitude that I feel.'

The same year, he apologised for the 'monumental cheek' of turning up to Buckingham Palace uninvited.

'Yet however contrite I feel, there is always a small voice that keeps saying "Nothing ventured, nothing gained,"' he wrote.

'Well did I venture, and I gained a wonderful time.'

And in a letter to the Queen Mother two weeks after his wedding to Princess Elizabeth in November 1947, Philip expressed his vision for their time together.

He said:

'Lilibet is the only thing in this world, which is absolutely real to me, and my ambition is to wield the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good... Cherish Lilibet?'

'I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me. Does one cherish one's sense of humour or one's musical ear or one's eyes?

'I am not sure, but I know that I thank God for them and so, very humbly, I thank God for Lilibet and us.'

Public speeches

The pair's wedding, attended by an array of foreign kings and queens, captured the public imagination in the austere post-war days of November 1947.

The newly-weds were called the Fairy Princess and Prince Charming.

After honeymooning at Broadlands, Hampshire, home of Lord Mountbatten, and at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate in Scotland, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed at Buckingham Palace until renovation of their new home, nearby Clarence House, was completed in 1949.

And in the years since then, both Philip and the Queen have spoken of each other with affection in public.

In a 1997 toast during the couple's 50th wedding anniversary, he said:

'I think the main lesson that we have learned is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.

It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when the going gets difficult.

You can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.'

She said on the same evening that Philip had been her 'strength and stay all these years.'

'I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know,' she added.

In 2002, at her Golden Jubilee Speech, the monarch said of her consort:

'The Duke of Edinburgh has made an invaluable contribution to my life over these past fifty years, as he has to so many charities and organisations with which he has been involved.'

And, during her Diamond Jubilee address to Parliament in 2012, the Queen said to her husband:

'During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.

Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide.'

Private moments

Philip was there for the Queen when her father, King George VI, died in February 1952.

Only six days before her father's death, the then Princess and Philip had embarked on their tour of Australia via Kenya.

According to Eade in his book, Philip said of the days following the King's death that 'there were plenty of people telling me what not to do.'

He added:

'I had to try to support the Queen as best I could without getting in the way. The difficulty was to find things that might be useful.'

And according to an anecdote told by Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia, Philip is said to have told the Queen when recalling their first meeting in 1934 that — 'you were so shy. I could not get a word out of you.'

Mischievous Philip is also said to have joked to his wife on the day of her coronation in 1953 — when she was wearing the 17th-century St Edward's Crown — 'where did you get that hat.'

Elizabeth II (21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022)

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021)

[whencyclopedia]

Charles I of England

Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649) was a Stuart king who, like his father James I of England (r. 1603-1625), viewed himself as a monarch with absolute power and a divine right to rule. His lack of compromise with Parliament led to the English Civil Wars (1642-51), his execution, and the abolition of the monarchy in 1649.

King Charles grew tired of wrangles with Parliament over money and so decided to do without that institution for eleven years. Then between 1640 and 1642, Charles was obliged to call Parliament to raise cash for his campaigns against a Scottish army, which had occupied northern England, and a full-blown rebellion in Ireland, both fuelled by religious differences and the king’s high-handed policies. Parliament attempted to guarantee its own future, and when the king broke his promises of reform, war broke out. The English Civil War was largely fought between ‘Roundheads’ (Parliamentarians) and ‘Cavaliers’ (Royalists) in over 600 battles and sieges in England alone. Ultimately, the professional New Model Army won the day for Parliament and Charles I was tried and found guilty of treason to his own people and government. The king was executed on 30 January 1649. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) ruled the ‘commonwealth’ republic as Lord Protector, but his death was soon followed by the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The new king was Charles’ son, Charles II of England (r. 1660–1685).

Family & Early Life

Charles was born on 19 November 1600 in Dunfermline Palace, Scotland. His father was James I of England (who was also James VI of Scotland, r. 1567-1625), and his mother was Anne of Denmark (l. 1574-1619), the daughter of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway (r. 1559-1588). Charles’ grandmother was Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1542-1567). James I was of the royal Stuart line, and he had unified the thrones of Scotland and England after Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) left no heir. Charles was the second son of King James, but his elder brother Henry died of typhoid fever in 1612 and so he became the heir apparent. Charles’ elder sister Elizabeth (b. 1596) married the King of Bohemia, and her grandson would rule England as George I of England (r. 1714-1727), the first of the Hanoverian Dynasty.

Charles did not enjoy robust health as a child, he was shy - perhaps because of his stammer, and he always came second-best when compared to his more favoured brother Henry. Reaching maturity, Charles spent a lot of time with King James’ hated courtier George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. The duke was seen as a talentless social upstart who had enjoyed a meteoric rise only thanks to the king’s infatuation with him.

In 1624 it was arranged for Charles to marry Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), the young sister of Louis XIII of France (1610-1643). The French royal obviously did not mind the small stature of her betrothed - a mere 1.6 metres tall (5ft 4 in) or his reputation for being rather stubborn, dull-witted, and a complete stranger to a sense of humour. The couple went on to have nine children, the two eldest sons being Charles (b. 1630) and James (b. 1633), both of whom would one day become king.

Continue reading...

[thewales-family]

Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II -September 8th 2023.

One year ago (on September 8th 2022), The late Queen died around 3pm at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

There would be too many things to say about this amazing woman but we can all agree that we miss her so much. I would be lying if I would say nothing has changed since her death last year but I feel like there's something different because she is truly missed.

On a more positive note, I remember the incredible Queen she was for The United Kingdom and all the Commonwealth countries around. Everyone loved her and respected her because her dedication and commitment to her duty was remarkable. She almost never made a mistake and served people with pride.

And what a character she was ! Everyone knew she was the Boss and even if her sense of humour was funny, she was also honest and had a very strong character.

It is also impossible to forget her iconic and colourful outfits which always made me a smile because when she wore them, she was like a sunshine and everyone was seeing her no matter whether they were.

Obviously, I wouldn't finish this text without remembering her as a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandchildren. Her love for Prince Philip and their strong marriage will always be an example : they were married for 73 years and I think that's because they respected each other a lot and support each other in good but also bad times. She was also a wonderful mum, grandma and great-grandma and I am sure they all have a thought for her today.

May she forever rest in peace.

To her children, her grandchildren and grandchildren and everyone who met her through her life.

Thank you for everything, Your (late) Majesty.

[ovwechoes]

Halloween Costumes: DPS Girls Headcanons (SFW) As Halloween approaches, I'll be writing more about it with the ovw characters. So, this post is about what the DPS girls would want to dress up as for Halloween (if they did at least). It's under the cut, enjoy!

Elizabeth Caledonia / Ashe: I can honestly imagine she likes to dress up, but not for the reason of trick or treating. For her, she likes to use Halloween as an excuse to dress up in a disguise on a robbery with her gang. So, some of her favourites in the past were of a saloon girl (she hated the dress but it worked well for seducing her way into the bank she planned to rob from) and as poison ivy from dc (she used it as a way to blend into the crowd of a Halloween carnival, making it perfect to escape from the police).

Mei Ling Zhou: Mei always likes to use Halloween as a bonding experience, enjoying co-ordinating her outfits with close friends and work colleagues such as Lena and Brigitte. So, some of her favourites were as a pirate (Lena was a parrot, with Brigitte as a wench) and as Velma from scooby doo (Brigitte was Scooby and Lena was Scrappy-doo, with other members taking the other main characters).

Fareeha Amari / Pharah: Fareeha used to despise Halloween as a child because she used to see families together, dressing up and taking their kids out to trick or treat, when she couldn't have the same experience. But, she's grown more light-hearted about it, especially dressing up for themed parties such as ‘hear me out’ costumes (dress up as your biggest hear me out character), and ‘sexual awakening’ costumes (dress up as your sexual awakening character). She doesn't have a favourite, but loves costumes that aren't serious and look poorly made, just because of how much more humorous they are to her.

Vivian Chase / Sojourn: You can't tell me that Vivian doesn't do trick or treating with her sister and niece every year - you know fine and well that Vivian's letting her niece pick the group costume each year, and following along with her ideas to make sure that she has the most enjoyable year possible. Vivian loves to let her take control and holds back her distaste for the costumes she picks, purely because she loves the family time she can have with them more so than the dressing up part. Her favourite group costumes that she's done, though, are Alice in Wonderland (Vivian and her sister were the card guards, with her niece being the Queen of Hearts), Cat in the Hat (Vivian and her sister were thing 1 and thing 2, with her niece being the cat), and Little Red Riding Hood (her niece was the grandma, her sister was little red, and she was the wolf). All in all, though, any Halloween costume will be her favourite if she knows her family had fun.

Olivia Colomar / Sombra: Honestly, I can't imagine Olivia's really been able to enjoy Halloween in her life, and doesn't have much interest in it in general. However, she does like to do group costumes with Amelie and Moira when going to clubs or bars, but only silly ones (similar to Fareeha). She'd definitely love to dress up as final girls from horror movies, animated movie characters (i.e. shrek, megamind, etc). If she can find humour in it, she loves it especially with her friends.

Amelie Lacroix / Widowmaker: Amelie used to do couples costumes with Gerald, finding it a genuinely fun time with him. So, now that he's passed away and gone from her life, it took her a while to warm up to the idea of dressing up again for Halloween. With the help of Moira and Olivia, she's found herself warming up to it but doesn't have specific preferences. She likes ones that are more clever than funny, though, but will go with what her friends would like to do (to an extent - if she hates an idea, she'll tell them of course). All in all, she can be picky but has good intentions, wanting to make sure that she and her friends are enjoying themselves wherever the night finds them. She doesn't have any pictures of her favourite costumes, though, because she'd rather keep them in place in her mind.

Lena Oxton / Tracer: Lena will always do costumes with her friends and take their family members with her trick or treating - Halloween is one of her favourite holidays in my opinion, and she loves to go all out for it. For example, with Brigitte and her family, she'll often accompany them and show just as much enthusiasm as the little sisters and brothers have for the events that night. Her favourite costumes are simple ones, ones she can wear and have fun with her friends in - whether that's cheap, silly or serious ones, she's happy and enjoying herself.

[thecrownnetflixuk]

Fond Farewells Mark the End of an Era for The Crown.

Pt 2 of Season 6 Accedes to the Next Generation – But Reigns Most Triumphant Saluting Its Sovereign.

Review & gifs by L.L @The Crown TV

I wasn't sure what to expect from the final 6 preview episodes of The Crown. Part 1 gifted us with a season-defining performance from Elizabeth Debicki, but such intense focus on the tragedy of Diana and Dodi's deaths was heavy-going. How to move forward?

Not many TV shows stick the landing, but I believe The Crown does, mostly by putting Queen Elizabeth front and centre. In four different ways! But Part 2 takes a while to forge ahead and reign triumphant.

Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy make shy William and swotty Kate believable as a young couple who meet at university – or earlier, as per a flashback with (not Ghost!) Diana. I still found it hard to invest in their will-they-won't-they relationship (we already know they do.) 

Instead, it’s sisters Elizabeth and Margaret who have long been the emotional heart of this show; at every stage of their lives.

Former Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville (alongside Queen Imelda Staunton) is truly magnificent in Ep 8 as Princess Margaret, though it's painful watching this vibrant lady struggle as her health worsens.

Memories of the 1940's are a delight. However, I wish we'd seen more of wide-eyed teen Lilibet let loose (Viola Prettejohn) and carefree Marg (Beau Gadsdon) before older Margaret says her final goodbye.

Staunton saves her best for last, bringing dry humour, vulnerability as well as leadership to Ep 10. The 70+ min epic finale 'Sleep, Dearie Sleep' has its shaky moments, but beautifully completes Queen Elizabeth's story when it counts, bringing near-perfect closure. That alone elevates Season 6 beyond Season 5.

Warning - MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. This is my final *EVER* review (might be extra long!)

S6 is NOW ON NETFLIX - WATCH THE EPISODES before reading.

Images: courtesy of Netflix

Starting with less good news; the first couple of episodes of Part 2 were my least favourite. Ep 5, 'Willsmania', feels transitional, and a little stuck in the past. Following his mother's death, Prince William (Ed McVey; taking over from younger actor Rufus Kampa) turns inward as he struggles to cope with public attention and grief.

It's an understandable reaction to losing a parent, but Part 1 already spent nearly half a season on Dodi and Diana. It felt like we grieved in real time. As a result, whenever the subject of Diana crops up again in Part 2, it tends to weigh down both pace and narrative.

Ep 6 brings a welcome change of topic. This being The Crown, I'm sure there are critics poised to be offended by Queen Elizabeth's nightmare about Prime Minister Tony Blair being crowned king, but to me, his 'coronation' was hilarious, as was the choir boy singing Blair's cheesy Labour pop anthem.

It felt like deliberate tongue-in-cheek humour, an absurd reminder why monarchy might still be better than populist elected leaders.

I really wanted this episode to work, but it didn't go anywhere, and themes like tradition-vs-modernity were covered more effectively in episodes such as 'Marionettes.' Bertie Carvel has Tony Blair's voice down but suffers from comparisons with Michael Sheen, who was uncanny as the Prime Minister in 3 earlier Peter Morgan projects.

^ PM Tony Blair. The Women's Institute weren't fans of his grandstanding.

The Crown: The Next Generation fully arrives during Ep's 7, 9 & 10. Some will love it. Those who prefer more historical episodes with broader scope may be disappointed, as the show follows William and Kate through University life in the early 2000's.

The newcomers do bring fresh energy to the show. It helps that they cast Ed McVey and Meg Bellamy, who make a sweet couple as Will and Kate, even if William sometimes comes across as petulant.

Unlike Ed McVey as William, Luther Ford doesn't bear much physical resemblance to Prince Harry, other than red hair. Ford does however put in a good performance as Harry becomes increasingly reckless.

The Crown doesn't hide either Harry or William's bad behaviour. The brothers seem to get on well at the start, but it later seems like they're more at odds. Underneath a lot – a LOT – of boozing, both boys appear quietly screwed-up over their mother's death. Neither of them seem to enjoy playing happy families with Charles, either.

The show mostly concentrates on William and Kate, but there aren't many episodes left to develop a genuine romance. They have potential, but it feels fairly surface level. Suddenly, they rush to move into a house share together when we've barely seen them kiss. They (and we) needed more screen time to really get to know each other.

There's a bigger issue here with Kate's mother, Carole Middleton (Eve Best.) Pushy parent Carole is keen to play matchmaker between her 'commoner' daughter and the young eligible Prince, keeping tabs on William. Carole isn't as conniving, but ... didn't we just watch a similar storyline with Mohamed Al-Fayed/Dodi/Diana in Part 1?

^ Kate 'n' Will. Her Mum would frame this picture.

Ep 8 'Ritz' plays like a standalone film. Margaret's final story is touching, but upsetting, at times; I was a fan of Diana, yet sobbed as much for Margaret as the credits rolled, even though her eventual death isn't shown. In fact, her final goodbye is sensitively done and stands as a fitting tribute to the princess, as well as to the Queen.

Lesley Manville makes Margaret's predicament so real as her health slowly breaks down. She bounces back from one stroke, then another hits. How awful too for Elizabeth to watch a much-loved sister deteriorate, though it was wonderful to see Lilibet read Margaret a bedtime story. It brought out the warmer side of Staunton's Queen.

The scene where Margaret scalds her feet in the bath is genuinely horrifying. I've suffered from ill health and loss of control myself and this was so much worse. I could feel her pain. That poor woman.

Human moments are where The Crown excels; through this episode, this working-class lass from a council house could somehow relate to a Princess in a palace. Peter Morgan has surely done more to humanise the royal family than any P.R team ever could.

^ Fans of Margaret (and Lesley Manville) prepare yourselves for her sad final journey.

Onto the big reveal: when I mentioned at the start there are FOUR ways Queen Elizabeth appears – this is what I meant:-

^ Newcomer Viola Prettejohn plays teenage Princess Elizabeth.

^ & there's Olivia Colman & Claire Foy alongside older Queen Imelda Staunton.

Satisfyingly, all 3 of The Crown's leading ladies return to close the show. Olivia Colman and Claire Foy each have an additional scene, too (I won't spoil the entire finale, as it covers a lot of ground in over 70 mins, but Olivia and Claire aren't back as 'ghosts.')

As we get older, the ghosts who speak loudest are our own; the former versions of us we berate ourselves with. Not everyone may warm to the Queen (sort of) talking to herself, but personally, I was thrilled to see these talented actors on screen together.

Foy's scene with Staunton is particularly effective, as the younger Queen gives her older self an old-fashioned dutiful talking to. It's somehow also credible that they're aspects of the same person.

It reminded me of Peter Morgan’s 2013 (extraordinary) play, ‘The Audience', which inspired this series, and included scenes where Helen Mirren shared the stage with young Elizabeth. That play is also why this theatre-fan started watching The Crown to begin with, and later went on to create this website.

When Ep 10 finished playing, my Netflix returned itself to Season 1. 60 episodes over 7 years! I will miss the grand scale of The Crown, but appreciate the legacy which remains. Now feels like the right time for this story to end. A full-circle moment in more ways than one.

**Majestic thanks for reading, and to every person who has liked, reblogged, messaged, supported The Crown TV for all these years.

💎♕You each deserve a Crown of your own!♕💎**

N.B: These are my humble opinions at this point in time. No offence is intended. Agreement = lovely; not compulsory. Disagreement = happens; kindly coexist. Ta!

[celticcrossanon]

Such a lovely 51 minute video of Arthur Edwards and QE2’s royal protection officer telling funny and poignant stories about their personal interactions with the Queen over the course of so many years. The title of the video is misleading as Harry is only mentioned very briefly at the beginning of the video before it all thankfully becomes about AE and the royal protection officer’s recollections of the Queen.I also found this video short of Queen Elizabeth II joking with stationary military guards with how they keep their berets on to be endearingly funny: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7keXPFH2SVE Stationary soldiers aren’t supposed to talk or move, but you’re supposed to address the Queen if she addresses you and it was hilarious to see that sweet young man glance at his colleagues to see if it was okay to talk to the Queen, lol. She definitely enjoyed throwing these soldiers “off guard,” lol.

*

Hi TeaWithBooks,

What a lovely idea for a video. I will enjoy watching this. The Late Queen was known to have a mischievous sense of humour afaik. 

Link to video in ask:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7keXPFH2SVE

[tiny-librarian]

The 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony was a spectacle to remember. After seeing the Queen appear as perhaps the ultimate Bond girl, who could ever doubt her sense of humour?

Director Danny Boyle later revealed they had wanted to find a different way to introduce the monarch and national anthem and came up with the idea of the Bond sketch. They had fully expected to cast an actress to play the part of the Queen and wrote to the Palace, as protocol dictates, to ask for permission. To their surprise, Danny Boyle explained, “They came back and said “We’re delighted for you to do it, and Her Majesty would like to be in it herself,” and the surreal thing, “she would like to play herself”.”

When it came to filming, it was the Queen who suggested she should say something and who came up with the lines. “We started shooting and she turned round and she said her lines beautifully.”

The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II - Karen Dolby

[americanbrffan]

On September 8, 2022, the world lost a beacon of light. And while sad for our loss, her earlier words were a reminder of those she was reuniting with, and who could be sad at that.

On this first anniversary, I'll be reflecting on her legacy. I'm pasting the text of her 2020 speech because so many facets of it are just as important today. And how amazing is it that she mentions the NHS rainbows in her speech, when the universe marked her own passing with a double rainbow, which appeared before any public announcement had been made. [I still believe the second rainbow was Philip welcoming her.] 💕 💕

“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.

“I want to thank everyone on the NHS (National Health Service) front line, as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all. I am sure the nation will join me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times.

“I also want to thank those of you who are staying at home, thereby helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones. Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.

“I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country. The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.

“The moments when the United Kingdom has come together to applaud its care and essential workers will be remembered as an expression of our national spirit; and its symbol will be the rainbows drawn by children.

“Across the Commonwealth and around the world, we have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others, be it through delivering food parcels and medicines, checking on neighbours, or converting businesses to help the relief effort.

“And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation.

“It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made, in 1940, helped by my sister. We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do. While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.

“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.

“But for now, I send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all.”

- Queen Elizabeth, April 5, 2020

[meraki-yao]

The Princess and the Frog Thoughts 🐸🤍

Alright I'm done and here's a list of miscellaneous thoughts

Tiana is best girl, holy shit this is the type of person I should strive to be like

Her parents are just... so good? This is such a healthy family

Is the implication that her dad served and died in the war? :(

Lottie is best girl, seriously, I really hope she gets her own happily ever soon

I really appreciate the depiction of Lottie and her dad: yeah they're the rich white people, but they're not the white saviours, and they're generous and friendly, and also not racist. Like, take notes, fucking billionaires of the world.

Dr Facilier scares me, and then I think "This is the same voice of Husker from Hazbin Hotel, who I like" and then I feel better lol (when I was little I couldn't watch this or the Little Mermaid because the villains scared me too much)

Naveen is charming, but I like seeing him grow up and decide to get jobs for Tiana.

Okay so I guess my favourite trope is enemies-to-lovers, see Tiana x Naveen, Firstprince, Elizabeth x Darcy, and Beauty and the Beast

Is the central message love is more important than working hard for your dreams? Cause that... doesn't sit quite right?

Holy shit Evangeline is Neverland, the second star to the right

Their swamp wedding outfit, absolutely gorgeous

I miss this style of animation from Disney

The songs are great, but I also somehow get why for this one only "Almost there", "Friends on the Other Side" and "Dig a Little Deeper" are well-known

There is a lot of... butt humour

How does the ending work, Naveen is the eldest son of the King, therefore Naveen is the heir of Maldonia, Tiana you're gone be the queen, how is that gonna work lmfao

Kinda wish the moment Lottie's dog Stella recognized the frog as Tiana amounted to something since from their limited interactions it shows that they have a bond

I wanna try those Beignets

I don't recognise most of the food mentioned 😅 Culture gap really said fuck you in my face

Kinda wish there was more of Dr Facilier? Like, somehow as charismatic as he is, I feel like he's a less compelling villain than say Ursala or Scar. Maybe that's because the cruelest thing we see him do is turn Naveen into a frog and almost kill Lottie's Dad. We don't see him completing any evil deeds the way Scar kills his brother or the way Ursala turned Triton into the shrimp thing (that was what made me terrified of her as a kid)

Lottie why are you calling your father "*Big* Daddy" that sounds really... really... weird, why not just "daddy", is this a culture thing

I was watching while doing my freaking duolingo Spanish and I fucked up and shouted "bloody hell" in my best imitation of Tiana's accent because that kinda something I do, and then I just couldn't speak proper English for like a minute lmfao

Tiana's busy but she still has friends! Like, yeah she's working for tips and stuff but she knows a lot of her customers, and her friendship with Lottie lasted throughout their whole life!

When they made a mention of her being outbid and then the two guys saying "a woman of your background" I went "are we finally explicitly acknowledging racism!?" but that was it lol

What language is Naveen speaking when he's not speaking English?

TZP, there are two Disney princes that suit you. Disney, I hate what you're doing with your live actions, but I will relent a little if you give him one of those two princes

Anyways, seriously, 9/10, I wish more people talked about Tiana because oh, my God, she is such a wonderful character

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

US Weekly has a story about the publicist of the late Caroline Flack, who just posted on IG about Harry revealing private details about Caroline, who dated Harry in 2009. She was a TV presenter who throughout her life dealt with mental health issues and had a very difficult time with the public criticism that came with fame, and she died by suicide in 2020. 

Here's the US Weekly story,

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/caroline-flacks-former-publicist-slams-prince-harrys-book/

and here's the IG post,

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnF6J6wtWLb

It’s absolutely gross for Prince Harry to reveal such private details about Caroline Flack. The way in which the press spoke about her at that time and the reason they split are both very sad and it’s disgusting he’s brought up old long forgotten slurs she had to suffer in full view of the public around the world.

Of course Caroline reacted to them with humour and grace but privately she was deeply hurt; just the first of many injustices she didn’t deserve.

Harry’s decision to remind all of the terrible things said about her to help sell his appalling book is grotesque.

Moreover, and perhaps worst of all, he writes as if he has any idea why Carrie took her own life, parroting media reports as if they’re reality. Blaming the press because that’s what he read about it. He knows nothing.

Perhaps he should be considering how he and Meghan Markle might have caused Queen Elizabeth II pain just as she lost her husband of 70 years and while she was on the path to her final goodbye.

The Royal Family need to strip him of all titles immediately.

[gellavonhamster]

13 books meme

Tagged by @littlestsnicket (thank you ❤)

1) The Last book I read: One Piece Novel Heroines by Jun Esaka, which I've already been posting about enough not to elaborate here

2) A book I recommend: can I copy your homework plagiarize the answer to this from the person who tagged me? Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I know a lot of people find it too long or just not their cup of tea, but it's one of my all-time favourites, one of those books that feel like they were written for me specifically, and I cannot help recommending it to others :)

3) A book that I couldn’t put down: I remember reading TFOTA #2 and #3 (The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black) in a single day. I was feeling unwell, and it was cold outside anyway, so I just spent most of the day reading in bed. I recall being surprised by how engrossed I was - the first book of this series didn't grow on me until well into its second half.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more): I have this sideblog on Twitter where I post a quote from Dracula per day (yes, manually, I don't know how to make bots lol). I just move down the text and skim it and pick sentences that catch my eye, and when I reach the end, I start from the beginning again. So, in a way, I am constantly in the process of rereading Dracula

5) A book on my TBR: Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval and a bunch of its continuations, Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

6) A book I’ve put down: the thing is, if I don't really enjoy a book but still can find a good thing or two about it, I will keep reading and hoping it will improve eventually, and if I don't enjoy a book at all, I forget about it as soon as I put it down. Out of sight, out of mind - unless I particularly hate it. When I try to think of any books of the latter kind, the first to come to my mind usually is A Discovery of Witches. I found the worldbuilding really interesting, but damn, the protagonists were so annoying that I wasn't going to struggle through that brick of a book for it.

7) A book on my wish list: I need to get a copy of The Bad Beginning, The Wide Window, and The Hostile Hospital, and then I'll have the entire ASOUE collected! Would also love to get any other Snicketverse books; I only have Poison for Breakfast - bought it literally last weekend. I could buy them online, of course, but: 1) I prefer to avoid online shopping if there is realistic possibility for me to come across that item offline; 2) accidentally stumbling onto these books in bookshops (especially second-hand ones) when I least expect them feels like such a right experience for this series that I am inclined to continue acquiring them that way.

8) A favorite book from childhood: Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner... truly formative shit, responsible for at least 50% of my sense of humour

9) A book you would give to a friend: I was at my friend's place recently and noticed she had the exact same copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury as I do. When I told her about it, she told me it was I who gave her that book (I forgot 🤦‍♀️) and that she loves it and rereads it almost every autumn :') So this one has definitely passed the test.

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own: I have a whole shelf full of poetry books, in fact. At least half of them weren't bought by me, but by my family members long before I was born, but presently all of them are considered mine :D Those that I bought myself include collections of poems by Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, and Marina Tsvetaeva, among other things. And Useless Magic by Florence Welch!

11) A nonfiction book you own: I stumbled upon The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard in the same second-hand bookshop where I bought all the parts of ASOUE I currently have and couldn't believe my luck - I really wanted to read it after watching Black Sails! It's great.

12) What are you currently reading: Tristan and Isolde. Restoring Palamede by John Erskine. Really enjoying it so far; it sort of demystifies/disenchants Arthuriana but without excessive cynicism, with the narrator being understanding, perhaps even compassionate, when describing the characters' very realistic, human flaws. Technically I'm also reading E. W. Hornung's short stories about Raffles and Bunny through the Letters from Bunny Substack, but it's more like "desperately trying to catch up and failing". The stories themselves are delightful, but I was right to suspect that this way of reading books is not for me.

13) What are you planning on reading next? Dracula in Istanbul (the Turkish translation/adaptation of Dracula), courtesy of @seawilde <3

tagging @afoxnamedmulder, @seawilde, @lefresne, @uupiic, and @snckt; as always, feel free to ignore if you don't want to answer :)

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen: ‘I find it very hard to accept actors playing Welsh characters when they aren’t Welsh’

Has he taken the concept of authentic casting to a whole new level? Ahead of his latest BBC drama Best Interests, the star explains all

Michael Sheen has had it with the Prince of Wales. Not the man, but the title. “I think it’s ridiculous,” he says. “It’s just silly. I see no reason why the title should continue. Certainly not with someone who’s not Welsh.” 

“That’s not the majority view,” he adds, with resignation. “So, whatever the majority of people want, I’m sure will continue.” 

The star of Frost/Nixon and proud son of Port Talbot is chatting via video from a bucolic spot close to his hometown (a deer has just wandered into view), but even at a distance, it’s not hard to see that Sheen is a man ofstrong convictions.

He has spoken in the past about the opportunity to retire the title after the death of Elizabeth II, as a gesture to “put some of the wrongs of the past right”. In 2020, he returned the OBE he was “honoured” to have received in 2009 when he felt it would make him a hypocrite to give a lecture about how the English king Edward I “put a stranglehold on Wales” at the turn of the 14th century. 

When we chat, he’s about to begin shooting his TV directing debut The Way – co-created with playwright James Graham and documentary-maker Adam Curtis, about a family caught in a civil uprising, set in and around Port Talbot. The BBC project is the first from the production company that he set up with Sherlock producer Bethan Jones to focus on telling Welsh stories because, “You can shout about how bad it is, but if you want to see something be different then do it, you know?”

The 54-year-old is one of the actors of his generation, a stage star in his twenties (The Telegraph’s Charles Spencer called him “outrageously charismatic”) who went on to create unforgettable screen portraits of Tony Blair (The Queen, The Deal), Chris Tarrant (Quiz) and Brian Clough (The Damned United), alongside his David Frost in Peter Morgan’s play and film about the 1977 interviews that brought down the US president. Recently, Sheen has gained a whole new tranche of fans playing a very arch angel opposite David Tennant’s insouciant demon in Amazon’s Good Omens – not technically gay characters according to the Terry Pratchett-Neil Gaiman source novel, but seemingly in love.

Tennant and he have a natural chemistry on and off screen, Sheen says, adding that “he stops me being too grumpy”. He is a little on the grumpy side. In one exchange, in which I suggest he is a supporter of Welsh independence, he responds hotly: “Show me where it says that. I don’t believe I’ve ever said that.” Sam Mendes compared Sheen to fellow Welsh stars Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton – ���fiery, mercurial, unpredictable”. 

But he shares a warm screen chemistry with Sharon Horgan in Jack Thorne’s moving new four-part drama Best Interests. They play the parents of a child with cerebral palsy, the adorable Marnie (played by Dublin actor Niamh Moriarty), who suffers a seizure that leaves her without brain function. The couple find themselves on opposite sides of an unbearable decision: whether or not to switch off their daughter’s life support. Very few will make it through the drama without tears, but the issues it raises will be familiar to all who have followed recent legal battles over 12-year-old Archie Battersbee and baby Alfie Evans. 

Best Interests is “heartbreaking” at times, he admits, which makes the humour that he and Horgan bring to it all the more important. They hadn’t worked together before. “That relationship had to do a lot of heavy lifting. Sharon and I didn’t know each other very well … but straight from the off, we had a very similar sense of humour and made each other laugh.” Moriarty’s is a break-out performance – one scene involving make-up beautifully captures the parent-child relationship. She has cerebral palsy that affects her legs, a condition called spastic diplegia, but she’s not the only disabled actor in the piece. 

Bafta-winner Lenny Rush, 14, who in real-life has a condition that affects his growth, is brilliant as George, who sets his cap at Marnie. Mat Fraser, who plays a legal advocate in Best Interests and portrayed Shakespeare’s Richard III in 2017, has a thalidomide impairment, which likely gave him an insight into Richard’s sense of “my deformity”. 

Thorne, who experienced a chronic medical condition in his twenties, has said in the past that disabled people have been “utterly and totally” failed by the TV industry. In Best Interests, one parent of a child with a disability states baldly that people “hate” disabled people. “I think people can feel very uncomfortable around people with disabilities,” Sheen says. “A lot of the time it’s just to do with ignorance about, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t know, what should I do?’ It can make interaction quite awkward at times, and it can bring out people’s fears.”

The fact that there were several people with disabilities working on the project, he says, was striking because it brought home how rarely he had seen it before. It leads into a discussion of how far actors can credibly play identities they don’t personally inhabit. Sheen has thought about it: “You know, seeing people playing Welsh characters who are not Welsh, I find, it’s very hard for me to accept that. Not particularly on a point of principle, but just knowing that that’s not the case.

“That’s a very different end of the spectrum, but a part like Richard III is such a great character to play, it would be sad to think that that character, you know, is no longer available or appropriate for actors to play who don’t have disabilities, but that’s because I’m just not used to it yet, I suppose. Because I fully accept that I’m  not going to be playing Othello any time soon.

“Again, it’s not particularly a point of principle, but personally, I haven’t seen many actors who have come from quite privileged backgrounds being particularly compelling as people from working-class backgrounds. If you haven’t experienced something, you know, the extreme example is, well, if you haven’t murdered someone, can you play a murderer?”

In 2021, it was reported that Sheen intended to be a “not-for-profit” actor, after selling his own properties to ensure the Homeless World Cup that he had organised in Cardiff in 2019 went ahead when funders withdrew. So, what is a not-for-profit actor?

“There’s no such thing,” he says. “In that interview, I talked about how the ideal I was aiming towards was working like a not-for-profit company. When I put the money into the Homeless World Cup, since then I only owe money, so in terms of profits, there are no profits. I put as much of the money I make as I possibly can into either funding and supporting what other people are doing that I believe in, or starting up projects myself.” 

It’s a measure of Sheen’s confidence that he knows the parts will keep coming. He has become a father again in his 50s; he and his partner, 28-year-old Swedish actor Anna Lundberg, have two young daughters. “My knees creak a lot more,” he says. “It’s a lot harder to get up and down off the floor when you’re playing with the baby.” 

Sheen also has a grown-up daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, 24, from an earlier relationship with British actress Kate Beckinsale. “When my eldest daughter was born, I was still trying to make my way in my career and having to make harder choices about whether to work away from home and how much time to be away and all that stuff,” he says. “This time around, that’s not as difficult as I’m more established as an actor. Physically, it’s hard. But the one thing that is always the same is, you know, poo doesn’t smell any better.”