The Queen is Dead. Long live the King.

[belamyi]

^
Thanks. The fashion crowd has certainly come a long way since the time of Marie-Antoinette's milliner, Rose Bertin.

During her lifetime, the US press usually referred to the Alba woman as "the socialist" or "the communist" or even "the red" duchess.

In Spain, "The Red Duchess" was the LeZbian one

Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Essex Boy]

Charles has greeted his first prime minister, Rishi Sunak. I find it interesting that in the stills that have been released, both the King and the Prime Minister look to be bowing slightly to each other. I've read that Charles has plans to streamline and reform the monarchy. The first thing he should do is do away with the bows and curtsies. I like to think that Sunak did not bow when he entered the room,

See 00:19

It looks to me like Rishi is bowing and Charles is stooping slightly. He's nearly 74. The bow is more like a sort of deep nod. I think women do it too, except at grand occasions when they curtsey.

What really bothers me is that the king's pocket square seems to be the same colour as his tie. I hope I'm wrong! I read that he doesn't choose his clothes every day but has a valet to do that for him (nice work if you can get it) so it may not be entirely his fault. Even so, I hope this isn't the shape of things to come. The country's got enough problems already, we don't need the king making things worse.

 

[belamyi]

The bow is more like a sort of deep nod. I think women do it too, except at grand occasions when they curtsey.

That. In short.

 

[belamyi]

It looks to me like Rishi is bowing and Charles is stooping slightly.

The king is doing the usual "bow" in Spain: you usually keep your back straight, and it's the neck that works the "bowing" with the head, with a more or less light or deep nod.
If Latin meant bowing something like this,

he was totally right.

 

[Essex Boy]

I was stood a few feet from then Queen Beatrix for quite a while. Of course I did not stare, but I also took care not to turn my back on her.

Queen Beatrice actually touched me! Many years ago I saw her unveiling the Seven Dials "eyecatcher" in Covent Garden. There was a roped-off area, I was standing right up against it, and she walked backwards into me. She was wearing a hat with two brims, one on top of the other. It looked like she was wearing two hats.

 

[belamyi]

Queen Beatrice actually touched me!

And thus you were healed.

 

[Essex Boy]

^
Beatrix not Beatrice. Here she is. Can you see Essex Boy? Look for a young ginger bloke with a corpse-like complexion. I'm in there somewhere. I remember her wearing pink, but there's nobody in pink there. My old memory is playing tricks on me.

 

[belamyi]

^ OMG, it's the 1980s? when was that, before The Big Bang?

[... small research...]

Almost: June 29, 1989.

Maybe your memory is Polaroid technology.


Funny hat indeed... those funny Northern royals!

 

[belamyi]

Remember when times were "bad", but not "this bad"?

 

[rareboy]

They really are so dreary.

He is such a lummox. Petulant, uninspiring, aloof, self-absorbed. A thudding Hanoverian.

I don't know why Liz didn't drown him at birth.

 

[belamyi]

They really are so dreary.

He is such a lummox. Petulant, uninspiring, aloof, self-absorbed. A thudding Hanoverian.

I don't know why Liz didn't drown him at birth.

That was not duty-free.

 

[pornoboy]

Queen Somesort’s new cypher

​

 

[Latimer]

^
Quite graceful, Compliments to the designer. I wonder what Charles's cipher looks like.

 

[unloadonme]

^
Quite graceful, Compliments to the designer. I wonder what Charles's cipher looks like.

It looks like this:

 

[NotHardUp1]

They really are so dreary.

He is such a lummox. Petulant, uninspiring, aloof, self-absorbed. A thudding Hanoverian.

I don't know why Liz didn't drown him at birth.

I don't think you have to worry. Look at the king. That is not the face of a man who will he 90. He will go down with dementia within a decade.

 

[pornoboy]

King Charles Windsor turns 74 today, the old man and the tree...

​

 

[belamyi]

 

[Latimer]

@ belamyi "Oh, so you would bow to a commoner." I was speaking of Japan...

I'm in Japan now, five years after my last visit. People bow much less than in the past. I often see nothing more than a nod and even more often don't even see that.

 

[belamyi]

@ belamyi "Oh, so you would bow to a commoner." I was speaking of Japan...

I'm in Japan now, five years after my last visit.

 

[Essex Boy]

King Charles Windsor turns 74 today, the old man and the tree...

View attachment 1854989​

What a melancholy portrait. He looks like someone who's weary of life rather than looking to the future. The full picture is even worse. The greyish-brown tweed and the rolling acres of beige corduroy trouser are the same tone as the big dead tree that dominates the photo. He looks like he wants to die too and be dug into the ground as compost. I've a feeling that's how he'd like his remains to be disposed of.

When the Queen's funeral was over it felt like the start of a new era. Well that didn't last long. Now it feels like we're waiting for the end--in Matthew Arnold's words,
Wandering between two worlds, one dead,
The other powerless to be born.