A quick run-through noting some snippets that perhaps had
escaped you regarding this genuine realist and pragmatist … who accepts the role as Her Majesty, the Queen, and gets on with the Challenges … even after 90
years of living, and over 64 years of reigning … a stupendous achievement.
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Her Majesty, The Queen (pre 2016) ... is that
her handsome Greek God husband - could be? |
The post is inevitably not short ... enjoy ...
1926 club – twenty
fellow members joined by their date of birth … were introduced to the Queen …
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The Queen greeting other
90 year olds marking their
birthday |
... one of their group mentioned ‘we were all born in a lovely vintage year’ … all
still going strong …
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Sir David Attenborough -
Broadcaster and Naturalist |
Part of that club is Sir David Frederick Attenborough, the
naturalist, who is counted as a national treasure … he turned 90 on 8 May 2016.
- Born in the silent movie era … and the Charleston dance era …
- Became Queen when butter was still rationed – 1951
- Now there are three Kings in waiting …
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| Hard Rock Cafe, London |
Born at the Hard Rock Café!! – when it was still 147
Piccadilly … where her parents lived, before her father became King …
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As Prince Charming with Princess
Margaret as Cinderella |
Acting … the
Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret, were always putting on plays, and
soirees for the Royal family … they were active children …
The Queen is a good mimic, has a good voice … but does not see
herself as a performer – she is herself …
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Prince Charles with appropriate number plate,
being 'admired' by his very blonde sister: Princess Anne |
Princess
Anne
with her mother … she’s taken a pivotal role within the Royal Family; she was so blonde as a child … platinum
blonde …
Ballet
lessons – she had these as a child – which has helped hugely with her
posture, and health during her reign with all its demands …
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| Baby Pink Chyrsanthemum |
Baby-pink
flower– The Princess Charlotte chrysanthemum, which is a delicate
shade of pink with green tips … all sales by Waitrose will be donated to the
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices …
Bonfires … as beacons lit around the country for her
birthday … bunting abounded … landmarks,
towns, seaside haunts - all celebrated …
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| Nadiya Hussain with her cake for the Queen |
Cake – Orange
Madeira drizzle cake – ten years ago the ‘easy to cut’ Women’s Institute Fruit
Cake didn’t cut - the same mistake was not made this time – but I’d rather have
a slice of fruit cake!
Nadiya Hussain had won the BBC British Bake Off … and so was
asked to make a cake to celebrate … the blade sank comfortably and enticingly
into the orange-packed lower tier … with a marmalade and butter cream filling …
Church
bells rang out all around the shires of Great Britain …
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| The bond between mother and daughter |
During
the Diana crisis … the Queen would escape to Princess Anne’s flat –
where Anne would cook her mother’s favourite supper … Cheese Soufflé. Anne has a unique closeness with her mother …
forged during those difficult years.
E for
Ebullient … the Queen Mother was full of fun … inherited from
her large Bowes-Lyon family – and from which George VI learnt to relax and
appreciate being part of a large family, not the stuffy Royalty of George V …
… thus became a family man … passing on that trait to their
eldest child, Elizabeth … destined to become Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II … an exuberant,
ebullient happy upbringing for the future Queen …
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| Camera in hand ... |
Family
Film (A Family Tribute) … ever since her father, George VI, gave her a
Box Brownie before WW2, a camera has been as indispensable a part of the
Queen’s life as her famous handbag …
… then she moved on to a cine camera, and became a proficient
user … as we can see from the relaxed film made available to those interested
to see (The Queen at 90) … the home movies she has shot span the generations of her family …
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Sorry - not a very good photo I took from a paper:
James, Viscount Severn, Lady Louise, Mia Tindall,
Her Majesty holding Princess Charlotte, Savannah Phillips
Prince George and Isla Phillips |
G for
Great Granny – seven of the youngest in the Queen’s family were
in one of the three official photos, by Annie Leibovitz, for her 90th
…
H is for
Horses - experts in the field … acknowledge the Queen could easily have
earnt her living from equine pursuits … and she still rides regularly, while
Prince Philip rides his carriages ... so they are very active … which is good
for their health. They have a love of
dogs – well certainly the Queen does …
King George inherited the Royal Stables … he wasn’t
interested, but kept them for the employment they gave and obviously the Queen
has, I’m sure, enhanced their reputation, while creating a thriving horse
business … she knows everything about her animals … absolutely everything, and
corrects people if they get something wrong!
H is for
History … she is living our history for us …. our heritage and then the
fairy tale that has followed her journey … from the Depression, to the War, her
wedding and then the Coronation, been through the Beatles era, Football World
Cup, fall of the Berlin Wall, Mandela being released, London Olympics, and so
it goes on …
I for
Icon
… an overused word perhaps – but one so appropriate here for her Majesty … in
this age of modernity … it is her old-fashioned values and steadfastness that
have made her someone to be admired …
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| Joey - when he appeared at the Jubilee |
Joey the
War Horse … paid his respects to the Queen during her birthday
celebrations outside the Castle on her walkabout … the puppet has always
entranced the Queen and Prince Philip …
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King Edward VII statue in
Kings Lynn |
King’s
Lynn – King Edward VII Academy in Kings Lynn, near Sandringham, the
Queen’s home in Norfolk … the top student each year has an audience with the
Queen …
… in 2015 it was Hannah Hodges, who was presented with the
Queen’s Gold Medal … after a gap year in France, putting her language skills
into practice … she will go to Oxford later this year.
Longest
reigning monarch at over 64 years – she would rather not have this accolade … so sad
because her father, aged 56, died so early and unexpectedly …
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A fun take on the Seal of
Approval for Marmite -
the Corgi's quarding |
Marmite – finally
gets the Royal Seal of Approval … interestingly it was issued to British
soldiers in WW1 to stave off the illness beriberi. It is rich in B vitamins … and was a
by-product of the beer brewing process.
Personally - I love it!
Number of
Engagements: 350 a year … but now delegating some … Investitures and
Overseas Visits …
… she’s seen off 11 Prime Ministers … with David Cameron as
her present Prime Minister …
Obamas … who was
more surprised Michelle or Barack as they were driven away by the Duke of
Edinburgh to lunch with the Queen … the chauffeur was ‘normal’: elderly chap,
raincoat, looking vaguely familiar … driving his wife, Her Majesty, with their
guests to lunch!
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Remember that jump? - Olympic Games Opening
Ceremony 2012: Daniel Craig, James Bond,
escorting Her Majesty to her jump |
Olympic parachute
jump … to open the 2012 London Olympic Games … we will all remember
that historic moment …
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Yes - even a gas meter ... draw a Poet Laureate
in to write an ode ... |
Poet
Laureate – to the Tower of London … Carol Ann Duffy refused to
write a birthday verse for Her Majesty … instead
she wrote an ode to gas meters … for her labours she gets £5,750 per annum,
plus a ‘butt of sherry’ in a tradition going back to the 17th
century – that’s 720 bottles …
Queenmobile
–
a new Range Rover … with more standing room and an electric motor to allow it
to cruise silently and slowly without exhaust fumes ….
Rabbit
Fur
… the Duke felt the fur on a Councillor’s robe and said “I can smell the mothballs!” … he’s got such a wonderful sense of
humour …
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| Spring-Grass Green outfit |
Spring-Grass
Green coat and hat - was the colour of her outfit … sparkling in the
sun …
Side of
road - the Queen walks one side, while the Duke of Edinburgh does the
other side of the road – ensuring the crowds don’t feel left out …
T for
Thrifty – still using the same tea-cups as her father used before the
War.
Tea on Windsor Castle Terrace … her father, the Queen Mother, the
two Princesses … all hid under the tea table … until President Eisenhower with
his visitors … had disappeared on their guided presidential tour!!
Tribute –
the
Queen’s cousin, Margaret Rhodes, who fought back tears as she says of the Queen’s
much adored father, George VI: “I hope
you know how proud the King would be of you if he was able to tell you. Because I think you have carried out your
duties as Queen, as to be beyond belief.”
United
Kingdom general strike of 1926 … this lasted 9 days, starting 2
weeks after the Queen was born …
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St Crispin pub - the patron saint of Cobblers ....
appropriate as Waymarker 22 on the Windsor Walkway |
Visitors visited … they
came from around the world to stand and stare ... but also importantly to be
there … some had met and become friends, re-met up at this their next royal
gathering …
Walkabout
in Windsor … it was the Queen and Prince Philip in New Zealand in 1970,
who initiated the royal walkabouts … they continued thereafter … relaxing ...
leaving the Palace old guard aghast at the idea of the Queen talking to people …
House of
Windsor – 2016 marks 100 years of its creation …
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| One of the new Waymarkers |
Windsor
Walkway … similar to the Jubilee Walkway ... historical panels in 63
places around Windsor – one for each year of her reign … (see link below)
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Prince Charles and
Princess Anne at the beach
in Norfolk (photo by me!) |
X is for
lots of love is shown by the royals to each other … they respect each other’s
needs – the Queen realises Prince William and Catherine need their
space and time – as it was something that she did not have with her young
children once her father died and she acceded to the throne in early 1952.
Your
Majesty … the Queen wears the Crown, the Duke of Edinburgh wears the
trousers … but as his birthday comes around (95 in June) … his wife has to
rummage in her drawer for another ‘honour’!
They have what looks like a good marriage … I’m sure Your Majesty is used in jest … I gather
there’s lots of laughter and giggles …
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As Queen of the
Commonwealth |
Zambia –
a member of the Commonwealth of Nations – as the old Commonwealth is now
called … which her Majesty heads up the 53 countries in the Commonwealth … and
which means much to the Queen …
… Z for the Zee End
nearly … the Commonwealth has kept her alive and given them status in the
world …
Her greatest attribute is however to be curious … forever interested in others … her pattern of life may
not change, but the family changes, the country changes, the world changes …
her life is rich in knowledge …
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This booklet is a tribute for Her Majesty's birthday
that I spotted ... they are not for re-sale, but come
in packs of 10 ... so can be given out: which I've done.
It has been issued by the Bible Society. |
But most importantly – she is The Servant Queen and the King
she serves … she knows just how much she relies on her faith to guide her
through the good times and the bad. Each
day is a new beginning.
… Zoots -
Shakespeare shall have the last word:
from Antony and Cleopatra, 1606:
“Age
cannot wither her, nor custom stale …”
... adding to that - having just listened to some of The Queen's Speech (18 May 2016) at The Opening of Parliament ... she read it clearly, no lurching through, no problems with her eyesight ... also to do that with the Crown on her head - that's one heavy headgear! She appears in rude health.
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