I wasn’t going to cover any of the photos from Baroness Margarget Thatcher’s funeral yesterday, but then I saw these photos of Queen Elizabeth and I changed my mind. Please don’t think that I was merely picking and choosing the odd moments when the Queen happened to be greeting someone she liked – this was her expression in nearly every photo. I swear to God, the Queen was practically giddy. She was super-jazzed to be attending a funeral. I’m not trying to be mean or call her out or anything – God knows, the Queen can do whatever she likes. I just thought it was funny. Margaret Thatcher was such a controversial figure (and we don’t really need to get into WHY she was so controversial… yes, her policies were divisive and at times God-awful, but the woman is still dead, you know?), and here we have the monarch, the head of state, Her Majesty the Queen, smiling up a storm at Thatcher’s big state funeral. Here’s a tad more about the Queen’s appearance:
The Queen made a rare appearance at the funeral of a so-called commoner today as she attended the service held in honour of Baroness Thatcher at St Paul’s cathedral. Baroness Thatcher was the Queen’s eighth and longest serving prime minister and the former PM’s friends and allies were said to be delighted the monarch decided to attend.
Traditionally the Queen does not attend funerals of so-called commoners. The only other time she has broken with tradition was in 1965 when she attended the funeral of Winston Churchill.
The Queen, wearing black wool coat and hat with a triple string of pearls at her neck, sat with Prince Philip at her side as she listened to the heartfelt tributes paid to Britain’s first female prime minister.
The decision for the Queen to attend was made last week at a top-level Government meeting to discuss plans for the farewell to the Iron Lady. Palace officials then confirmed the monarch would join mourners at St Paul’s Cathedral.
As reported by the Daily Mail’s Royal Correspondent Rebecca English, the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, born six months apart, were two women very much making their mark in a man’s world. But, Rebecca says, the Queen is often said to have had a less than easy relationship with Margaret Thatcher, her eighth – and longest-serving – prime minister.
‘Always mindful of her constitutional role and cordial to the last, the monarch is nevertheless said to have personally disagreed with some of Mrs Thatcher’s more divisive policies and privately expressed her alarm over issues such as unemployment and the miners’ strike.’
I’ve heard that too, in reading various royal biographies. Thatcher was a monarchist, of course, but the Queen was not (and is not?) a flat-out Tory. When Thatcher was serving as prime minister, some even described her relationship with the Queen as “icy”. The Queen allegedly thought Thatcher was a big phony too. Maybe that’s why Ol’ Liz looks so thrilled? No, probably not. She probably looks so happy because nearly everyone at the funeral is her age and she knows all of these old farts. You can see more photos from the funeral here – there were lots of pearls and fascinators!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I love The Queen!
I also love the Queen! She is the only one in that dysfunctional family that knows the meaning of work (she worked as a mechanic during WW2) and having class (no photos of her acting inappropriately, like William, Kate, Harry, Charles, etc). I believe she takes her unique position seriously.
I do not believe there is anyone that could replicate the phenomenal manner in which she has executed her job. I hope the monarchy ends when she dies…at least it would end on a high note!
I would add Prince Phillip (served in WW2)/ the Princess Royal to the list of those in that family that know the meaning of work as well as a lot of the Queen’s cousins around the same age as her like the Duke of Kent who has been in and out of the hospital lately but still managing to keep up hundreds of engagements by all accounts. Even Charles who gets a bad rap actually does do a lot of hard work for the family. it’s the newer generation of Will and Kate that seem to be having trouble with doing the work that is required of them in this family. They aren’t asked to do much and yet they are perfectly content to continue on still doing so little.
Augh, but Phil’s such a DICK!
Me too, the whole British Royal family fascinates me!
I love her too and I always love how she has a shiny purse on hand.
I had a dream the Queen invited me and my husband for Christmas last night. Truth. (She was really nice.)
The queen and her Consort are 80-something years old. They can do whatever they want. I hope I’m as healthy as they are if I manage to live this long.
Prince Phillip is 91, actually. I can’t believe he can even still walk, sometimes. 😀
It wasnt a sad funeral where the deceased was young, most people were smiling because it was a celebration of Thatchers life. It reminds me of my grandpas funeral actually.
I love this.
Very true. I doubt the Queen has time for pettiness. I have read these two had a good relationship and that they had respect for each other. I mean she took the time to talk to Margaret’s family and all.
As they say, it’s rubbish. I’m sure they had disagreements but doubt they hated each other.
You should have seen Fergie Sarah Duchess of York she was downright giddy to be there. Plenty of pictures of her grinning and pulling faces in the church. Generally reminding everyone how lucky they are she is out of the Royal Family. I think it was a celebration of life and really she was never close to Thatcher and neither were most at the church.
I saw those pics at the daily mail. Fergie was working that crowd like it was a networking event. There’s a line between celebrating life, and being totally inappropriate and she was def in the later column.
Additional: I recommend the documentary “Windsor Castle”. Life behind the scenes. It’s really good. It features the people that keep Windsor running, and how genuinely nice Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are.
Well, it would.
It might have been pleasant for her to see all these people from 30 years ago – and as others have noted, Margaret Thatcher was almost 90 and had been in poor health for several years. Also she and her husband weren’t attending officially, it wasn’t a state funeral, so there wasn’t as much pomp and circumstance.
Ever since her mother passed away in 2002, Queen Elizabeth has been smiling a lot more in public – nice, genuine smiles. It’s almost like she can finally relax…
Following on from her mother death, i’ve heard throughout her early reign that her mother couldn’t make the queen relax and to smile more. The queen mother was always jumping or picking up on something the queen did or something and nick-picking and so on.
she’s having the last laugh?
or showing off new dentures?
I’m still pissed off at how much that shit show cost. AUSTERITY.
I agree the cost of this funeral was ridiculous and completely undeserved. By no stretch of imagination Thacher deserved the same treatment as Churchill. I hope Tony Blair will not be portrayed as a saint and peace preacher who did so much for the middle east when he dies but after setting her image being white washed I am not holding my breath.
Definitely agree she was not in the same league as Churchill.
@Angelic20- you and I disagree about Thatcher, but to say she’s been whitewashed is to take your hatred too far. There are too much video/photos/books from friends/foes/interested/disinterested parties for a whitewash to be possible. Perhaps you don’t want to accept that she wasn’t the witchy she was thought to be by her detractors.
It’s very naïve of you to think that Churchill hasn’t received a whitewash. and I say that as an admirer. His one towering achievement of WW2 in his second stint as PM has been used to put aside his poor record in the first stint as PM. So when we talk about him, we only mention the war. Perhaps touch lightly on afew of his other triumphant moments, and never, ever mention the negatives.
Thatcher has received the opposite of Churchill where we only talk about her negatives and never, ever mention her positives and if you do, you must have clouded judgement.
She looks happier here than she did presiding over the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
At the London Olympics she was probably nervous about having to jump out of a flying helocopter. 🙂
Lol I was also surprised by how much she was smiling. I don’t think she does anything by accident though. Like publicly calling Waity’s wedding dress display “horrid,” “horrible” and saying “I didn’t approve of this at all” as she walked into see it. I was really shocked by her use of such emotionally-laden negative terms in that context.
This reminds me of how Waity and Sophie laughed all through that memorial day service a few years back, except no one will give the Queen any grief.
She’s always been a major bitch. I imagine funerals are her absolute favorite occasions
I just can’t get enough Queenie ever since the Jubilee summer, I love her style too! I watched some funeral coverage yesterday nd the saddest thing ws thinking that we’ll have to watch HRH’s funeral soon 🙁 (not too soon i hope!)
I figured she was smiling because it was a celebration of life also, and because she knew so many people. Lets face it–this event was right up her alley.
But I was still kind of sad that she smiled more at this event than at William’s wedding and the Olympics COMBINED.
God save the Queen! 🙂
….and Blair and Brown did a better job than Thatcher?! Not! It was a celebration of a very long full life,hence the smiles.
Well, good for her. Lots of old friends around, a “b-tch” she didn’t like in a casket, and not having to be “on duty” and fielding questions as much as say the wedding of Will and Kate…and wearing a beautiful outfit!…Well that would be a good day for me too. God save the Queen, absolutely:)
We were hi-fiving as the camera panned through the attendants because we recognised so many politicians from the 80s. Margaret Thatcher had to be the Queen B!tch of all these super egoists. My friends and I concluded that politics were really engaging in the 80s, no matter which side of the divide one was on. They don’t make them like that any more. Kenneth Clarke (the only cabinet minister from Thatcherite era and in the current cabinet) seems really tame and defanged these days.
The Queen has been super smiley since her Jubilee year last year. It’s as though she can’t contain her joy anymore. Rarely do we see her blank face these days which tends to the sour when she is in repose. On a different note, I want her coat.
I will defend Fergie, though she’s an idiot and you could see she was texting in her lap. She’s very animated and restless in person. She pulls faces and guffaws and is super expressive. It translates really badly in media because she comes across as someone who can’t be serious or isn’t appreciating the gravity of her situation.
I read somewhere that she disliked Thatcher.
Don’t know about dislike, but they had a serious disagreement. Thatcher was against South African sanctions – in contrast to all Commonwealth leaders – and HMQ was concerned about the effect this was having. HMQ’s Press Secretary leaked this info, which was unprecedented as the Queen has always been careful not to express any political views, and he was fired, but the damage was done.
What Roberta said. They weren’t as cosy as her relationships with some PMs of the past, but it wasn’t dislike as many assume due to the leak of that particular disagreement.
A lot of negative mythology of Thatcher is exactly that. Myth. Unfortunately, people don’t want to hear the positives or the truth of the myths they believe to be true.
I am an anti-monarchist, and even I like the Queen.
That second photo is going to be my Bitch Please icon.
The Queen really pulls off the black outfit. Very smart looking.
I envy people who can wear black; I look good in it but I’ve got yellow labs and I’m never all black by the time I get out the door. I like to picture the Queen shooing the corgis away.
I’m sure there is a lint roller in her car, and the lady-in-waiting that dresses her has one permanently hanging around her neck.
Corgis have double coats and shed like crazy!!!!
I’m sure there is a lint roller in her car, and the lady-in-waiting that dresses her has one permanently hanging around her neck.
Corgis have double coats and shed like crazy!!!!
I thought exactly the same thing when I saw the pics! Queen was all “Suck it, Maggie, I outlived you, biatch!”
And as a total republican, I sincerely hope she lives on for many, many years, because the last thing we want is her son, King Fruitbat the 1st and his wife, The Swamp Thing, replacing her & Philip.
The Queen looks very smart in black. It’s a pity the royal family only wears black for mourning.
She and the Duke are pretty perky for their ages and their recent bouts of ill health.
I am not a big fan of the queen nor the monarchy is Britain, what i hate the most is that she is even considered the queen in Canada >_>… plzzz…she looks evil..
how verrrrrrrrrrry dare you. The Queen is fabulous old bird. You should be honoured we let you keep her.
I saw The Audience in London with Helen Mirren playing the Queen meeting with ministers through the years (including Margaret Thatcher). It was a great night of theatre, even if a little twee about the royal family, but I have had more affection for the real Queen since seeing it, oddly enough!
She looks great in black, her hair really pops. Love that shade of grey. She’s so lovely. A shame they don’t wear black unless someone died, because it looks nice.
I love the Queen. I hope she lives til at least a hundred.
Queen Liz is the greatest, love her to bits. She’s the main reason I’m still a monarchist.
The Queen looked just lovely at Margaret Thatcher’s funeral – she was low keyed which I found very tasteful, so that Mrs. Thatcher was not upstaged in the least. Their relationship might have been a little difficult but, in the end, I think they had a fondness for each other as well as respect. Maggie invited Her Majesty to her eightieth birthdy party and the Queen said she would attend Maggie’s funeral as soon as she learned of her death. I found it quite touching.