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The Queen and what we have learnt from her.
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I would never describe myself as a 'royalist', BUT, I do admire her sense of duty and her obvious love of family. apart from that - well, she seems a very nice lady who has kept her mouth shut on any important matters in order not to offend anyone. bit like my nan really!0
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I'm pretty sure this thread isn't going how the OP intended it to go.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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I'm pretty sure this thread isn't going how the OP intended it to go.
You are right Judi, it's not quite what I expected. It might well be I didn't focus my message more clearly: what can we learn from people of her generation.
My own grandfather fought in the war and left behind his wife and lots of small children. Gran got a telegram at one point saying he was missing presumed dead. He turned up later after being at Dunkirk and they went on to have a large family of 10. Sadly the war ruined him, as it did so many others: he became an alcoholic and violent. We would now call it post traumatic stress disorder. My grandmother is someone I admired hugely, holding down three jobs to feed the kids in a tiny terrace and taking in other people's kids when their parents didn't look after them. She never complained about her situation, she always said it was a waste of time and it was better to save your ammunition for something that really mattered.
What I learned from her? Getting on with it, the importance of family, work hard, don't borrow, have a budget (hers was all managed by having several purses and jam jars); all girls should have their own jobs and have some independence ('just in case the husband doesn't turn out as expected'), make do and mend and enjoy yourself.
My daughters have the benefit of a close relationships with their grandmother, who remembers the war as a child. In particular she remembers rationing, being dressed from the jumble sale and being sent to the market at the end of the day to get the fruit and veg the stall holders were throwing out.
Austerity is nothing new to the older generation who have seen it all before but it is how you deal with it that will help you through it.
I'll leave it there and hope everyone has a good day.Books - the original virtual reality.
Tilly Tidying:0 -
Kate has turned into a baby-making heir and spare machine as did her late Ma-in-law.
Not sure about the Queen having to be on her best behaviour all the time, if she does it under sufferance it's to maintain her own charade, no-one else's.
I've just heard DC's tribute, not yet had a cup of tea but think I'm gonna be sick.Value-for-money-for-me-puhleeze!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!
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Enjoying catch-up You and Yours atm.
Whatever you say about the Queen, there aren't many 89 year olds brave enough to ride a horse!Value-for-money-for-me-puhleeze!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!
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It's the PR and the sycophancy which gets up my nose.
An old lady on Breakfast this morning was just talking about how they both served in the ATS as motor mechanics! Oh, yes, indeed!
Even her 'annus horribilis', where one of her many houses was damaged showed how unconnected with the lives of most people they are. The tax payers, us, were initially expected to pay for repairs.
As for having to look perfect every day - that's only for functions and someone organises her clothes, hair, make up, gets her there etc.
I don't wish the queen any ill, but please, no more worshipping.Member #14 of SKI-ers club
Words, words, they're all we have to go by!.
(Pity they are mangled by this autocorrect!)0 -
My dad rode a horse recently for the first time ever - he's 90. He loved it and said he wished he done it years ago.
Saving pennies - now that you have worded it differently it makes this a different kind of thread.......
What have I learned from the Queens generation.
Well I think the people of the Queens generation are not called the "heroic generation" for nothing.
They made huge sacrifices for us - some the ultimate sacrifice - paying with their lives. Those who survived certainly paid with their health and as you say many who served in the military came home from the war with a host of mental problems. We now know this is post traumatic stress but this wasn't understood then. They got no help.
My dad came back a changed man and suffered from nightmares and flashbacks for years. Sadly as he is now 90 and slowly slipping into dementia he has started to relive some of those awful memories. A double whammy.
My parents and all the aunts and uncles taught me all about quiet courage and dignity, about being independent and standing on your own two feet, about having pride and self respect, about staying power and endurance.
They also taught me how to live well on a small budget, how to make the best of a bad situation and how to look forward to a bright future.
I learned the value of family and friendship, the need to cherish my loved ones.
But the biggest lesson of all was how to forgive and forget the past, how to live in the moment and enjoy the present and how to face whatever the future holds with optimism and hope.
Not a bad legacy and hopefully one I can pass onto my children and my children's children.0 -
Just my view but I think the Queen should have given the throne to Charles long ago. He has always been a bit of a pathetic figure of a man with no job, certainly since he has been in his forties.
I can`t learn much from someone who is so privilaged but learn a lot from that generation ( my parents) about work ethic and making do.
Kate is so traditional she seems quite old for her age but who really cares.Make £2 a day challenge - doing well so far.0 -
I feel I ought to explain that I'm not sycophantic or worshipful of the Monarchy, I'm of a generation that has been brought up to understand my responsibilities as a Citizen of the UK. The Queen is Head of State, Head of the Church of England and Head of the Royal Family and I am one of her subjects and as such I am responsible for my own actions and feelings and have been taught that I as a citizen owe respect, loyalty and to uphold the laws of the land and British Constitution as part of MY duty. The Royal family IS a privileged one, and yes they are rich and have all the help that is needed to present the 'product' to the world but I don't for one second think that being a royal is an easy job or an easy ride. I'm from very humble origins, was born and brought up in a 2 up 2 down terrace on my parents VERY low wage so I have no experience of privileged lives but I as a citizen of this country owe a loyalty to the Sovereign of that country no matter who that may be.0
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Ok - here's my position......:rotfl:
I'm not a rabid revolutionary, I'm not bothered whether or not we become a republic. I'm quite happy with the status quo as it stands.
We are an advanced democracy - with all the advantages and problems that comes with the package. I am a perfectly law abiding citizen.
For me the key word is citizen. I do not care to be anyone's "subject".
Ok maybe a very subtle distinction but one that I feel is important.
Whilst I think the queen has done a sterling job for over what has been a somewhat turbulent half century or so I do think it's time the Royal Family was scaled down. It doesn't need to be abolished but it is too large and unwieldy and we don't need quite so many people riding on their coat tails. All those courtiers, private secretaries, ladies in waiting, butlers, PR advisors (well they aren't doing a very good job).
And we don't need to support second and third tiers of offspring. They should be allowed to live privately and independently, away from the public gaze. They should not be a drain on the public purse. If the Queen wishes to help support them then that's her prerogative but the money should come out of the family's private funds.
We should not be funding Andrews golf holidays and helicopter usage.
I see no reason why the whole shebang can't be cut back to something along the lines of Holland or Belguim. They manage well enough with their scaled down monarchies. Then we could have the best of both worlds. Monarchy and democracy working hand in hand.
As for Head of State also being the Head of the English Church I think that given we are now largely a secular country this is now an anachronism - the State and the Church should not be entwined. I think even Charles has begun to question this.
I too would have liked to see Charles been given more of a role - he does cut a sorry figure at times. Whilst he annoys me with his constant whinging I can see his point at times. I think he is not without ability and he has some interesting ideas.
I think being King in Waiting for so long has been very difficult for him, it's made him sour, bitter, disallushioned and unhappy.
If he had been given more of a chance to prove his worth he might have been a very different man. WIth a proper sense of purpose and worth, he might even have managed to grow out of his infatuation with Camilla and manage to make a successful and lasting marriage.
How different history might have been.0
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