The Queen and what we have learnt from her.

savingpennies

Did anyone listen to R4's You and Yours yesterday?

It was asking what we had/could learn from the Queen and her generation and what changes good/bad had occurred over their lifetime. Several contributors were of a similar age to her and talked about the changes they had witnessed over the years. There were a few contributors who mentioned thrift and learning to make do and mend.

It made me think of the OS board and what we could contribute to the debate. Any ideas?

honeythewitch

savingpennies wrote: »

Did anyone listen to R4's You and Yours yesterday?

It was asking what we had/could learn from the Queen and what changes good/bad had occurred over her lifetime. Several contributors were of a similar age to her and talked about the changes they had witnessed over the years. There were a few contributors who mentioned thrift and learning to make do and mend.

It made me think of the OS board and what we could contribute to the debate. Any ideas?

Well bred people are never ostentatious, but I am not sure if it is the same as being thrifty?

lessonlearned

Her Maj does have a reputation for being thrifty, something which Princess Anne also seems to have inherited.

Anne keeps some of her outfits for decades and brings them out for an airing on a regular basis.

I do the same, so I'm in good comoany.:rotfl:

"Money Talks, Wealth Whispers"..........

Ps Charles seems to be rather less thrifty, in fact quite the opposite. Andrew meanwhile seems to enjoy spending other people's money and likes getting lots of freebies.

Not sure about the "well bred" bit. By comparison they are upstarts and far more vulgar than the Dutch royal family. Diana's family go much further back.

The Queen maybe quite restrained but that's more than can be said for all the hangers on.

savingpennies

It was mentioned on the programme that she doesn't like waste, particularly food going to waste. It seems there are lots of Tupperware type boxes in Buck house. I think the programme was looking at what we can learn not so much from her but from her generation and how the way they lived could have lessons for us today.
I agree about the hangers on. I'm not a royalist far from it (long live the republic!) but I do quite admire a woman who is still working at 90 even though it is not from necessity but from her sense of duty and dedication.

lessonlearned

My mum was just a few months older than the Queen. Sadly she died last year.

But yes you are right that generation lived through times of great hardship - the depression, the war and then the austerity years of the 50s. My mum and my aunts all knew how to stretch the pennies and I think I must have just learnt my thrifty ways from them.

My dad was also a real handy man and nothing went to waste. If it could be reused, recycled or repurposed then it was kept. They recycled out of economic necessity not out of a sense of moral obligation or because it was trendy.

So much so that when we recently rehoused him it was a nightmare trying to clear out their house.

My dad still comes out in a cold sweat at the thought of having to pay for a taxi........:rotfl: he thinks it's the height of decadence and extravagance.

pigpen

times of hardship??? Are you for real??!!! They sponge up millions and millions of pounds of tax payers money.. they pay for their disgusting holidays and houses and transport (helicoptors!! seriously!) and the clothes on their back then we are told the poorest members of society, the old and sick and disabled are the drains on the public purse and a scourge on humanity!! Those are the people who would gladly give you the shirt from their back, they have nothing so give everything!

She wouldn't know hardship if it jumped up and bit her on the backside!!! When has she gone without a meal, eaten her pet rabbit because there was nothing else, left school to work because her family were destitute, seen siblings die of preventable illnesses because they couldn't afford medical care or illness due to terrible living conditions? Had holes in her shoes, worn clothes made from cut down ruined garments? had to sleep 6 to a bed for warmth or because there was no room for more beds? ... this was the reality for her generation, not her.. it wasn't nice, nor pretty but it turned out some utterly wonderful, kind, generous communities.

When you still have old folk who think a taxi is pure decadence as stated above it makes it all the more abhorrent that some other old woman is driven about at other peoples expense. I'd rather pay for his taxi than her chauffeur driven whatever it is! He has probably seen more hardship in an hour than she has her entire life! He has given his life and energy to create and provide for his family and country.. that is laudible, that is something amazing, that is something special.. not an inherited archaic monarchy funded by public money, when the sum total of her existence is to have the side of her head on a stamp or a coin!


Her generation.. we could learn amazing things from.. and we should have learned amazing things from.. they lived through the war, experienced things which should only be seen in nightmares, watched the birth of the NHS (and are now experiencing its destruction) Changes in society and music and dress and currency and income and standard of living and quality of life... all utterly amazing changes experienced by the every day normal beautiful person.. The queen herself.. nothing.. she has nothing that could be of any beneficial purpose to anyone.. how to have someone dress you, cook your food and do your cleaning.. while I would LOVE to learn those things I am not able to, sadly I have to do them all by myself!!


I have great respect for the normal people, older generations.. they were little more than slaves.. but inherited titles and archaic principals of nobility which keep the poor as poor as they possibly can are utterly repugnant.

lessonlearned

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

I wasn't talking about the royal family experiencing hardship.......I meant most people of the Queens generation.... my mother and father's generation.

It was my dad I was talking about re the taxi and yes he did give 9 years of his life to the British Army and saw active service during WW2. I won't tell you about his war time experiences - they are too shocking. Nor will I go into details about my mother's exploits as part of the resistance movement .........;)

Suffice it to say I am very proud of my parents and my Belgian grandparents.

No I have very little time for the extravagances of the British Royal Family. And I will not be watching any tv programmes this week. I can't stand the sycophancy that surrounds them.

I can't stand Charles constantly whinging and whining. I abhor his morals and the way he cheated on Diana. I hate the way they all closed ranks on her and made her life hell.

I don't care for the way they seem determined to hold up Kate as some kind of imitation Diana. She couldn't even have an engagement ring of her own and as for that stunt copying the photocall at the Taj Mahal - what on earth was William thinking. Poor girl.

Prince Andrew is just a greedy f r e e l o a d e r. As for the next generation..... What purpose do they fulfill. William is as dull as ditchwater and seems like another whinger.

The Queen is always held up as a paragon and to be fair she seems to have a strong work ethic and sense of duty, but it has to be said, she made a mess of bringing up her children. They all seem dysfunctional.

I've nothing against them as individuals but if we are to maintain a monarchy then I would like to see it trimmed down. What we have is archaic and wasteful and just helps to perpetuate social injustice and unfairness.

Ps Pigpen - just spotted your signature about being debt free until you die.

Did you know that when the Queen Mother died her overdraft with Coutts Bank stood at £4m.

One rule for them, one for the rest of us.

I find our royal family, venal, vulgar and snobbish, most of them appear to be none too bright and in all honesty I can't see them as much of an asset.

pollypenny

What can we learn from the queen?

It's easy to live to 90 and live well if you don't have a worry in the world.

tessie_bear

pollypenny wrote: »

What can we learn from the queen?

It's easy to live to 90 and live well if you don't have a worry in the world.

and never done a days work in your life

lessonlearned

Very true.. My mum died two months before her 90th birthday. She was a wreck, her body worn out.

Who knows but I reckon if she had had half of the Queens advantages she would still be with us, hale and hearty.

missbiggles1

lessonlearned wrote: »

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

I wasn't talking about the royal family experiencing hardship.......I meant most people of the Queens generation.... my mother and father's generation.

It was my dad I was talking about re the taxi and yes he did give 9 years of his life to the British Army and saw active service during WW2. I won't tell you about his war time experiences - they are too shocking. Nor will I go into details about my mother's exploits as part of the resistance movement .........;)

Suffice it to say I am very proud of my parents and my Belgian grandparents.

No I have very little time for the extravagances of the British Royal Family. And I will not be watching any tv programmes this week. I can't stand the sycophancy that surrounds them.

I can't stand Charles constantly whinging and whining. I abhor his morals and the way he cheated on Diana. I hate the way they all closed ranks on her and made her life hell.

I don't care for the way they seem determined to hold up Kate as some kind of imitation Diana. She couldn't even have an engagement ring of her own and as for that stunt copying the photocall at the Taj Mahal - what on earth was William thinking. Poor girl.

Prince Andrew is just a greedy f r e e l o a d e r. As for the next generation..... What purpose do they fulfill. William is as dull as ditchwater and seems like another whinger.

The Queen is always held up as a paragon and to be fair she seems to have a strong work ethic and sense of duty, but it has to be said, she made a mess of bringing up her children. They all seem dysfunctional.

I've nothing against them as individuals but if we are to maintain a monarchy then I would like to see it trimmed down. What we have is archaic and wasteful and just helps to perpetuate social injustice and unfairness.

Ps Pigpen - just spotted your signature about being debt free until you die.

Did you know that when the Queen Mother died her overdraft with Coutts Bank stood at £4m.

One rule for them, one for the rest of us.

I find our royal family, venal, vulgar and snobbish, most of them appear to be none too bright and in all honesty I can't see them as much of an asset.

I don't think you can describe people as dysfunctional just for being boring, greedy and whining - otherwise that would apply to many of the rest of us as well.

Diana was the worst thing possible to happen to the royal family and had an awful effect on the country by encouraging people to admire a brainless clothes horse and air their emotions in public. The scenes at her funeral were nauseating and unforgivable - a truly odious woman.