When Queen Elizabeth fell ill in October, one of the royal commentators made a surprisingly astute observation: the institution of the monarchy was immensely prepared for QEII’s death, but they were not prepared at all for QEII to be ill and unable to function publicly for any amount of time. So much of what we’re seeing in recent months is a lack of preparation for a 95-year-old woman to be in poor health but not close to the end. There was a bonkers expectation that she would be able to keep up a public schedule forever, and we’re seeing the results of that miscalculation. The monarchy careens from one crisis to another, households are briefing against each other and it’s all a terrible, tacky soap opera. Of course, that’s not the point of People Royal’s latest quarterly cover story. Their cover story reads partially like an obituary and partially like Buckingham Palace’s damage control. Some highlights:
How the Queen copes with personal and public setbacks. “She keeps things a little separate between family and official issues because otherwise, it becomes overwhelming,” a close insider says.
Ingrid Seward says Liz compartmentalizes: Longstanding biographer of the Queen, Ingrid Seward, says that “her ability to compartmentalize has been extremely helpful in her life,” as she juggles family with her public role. “Fundamentally she puts things in a box and says ‘that can be dealt with on Thursday,’ for example. She won’t let things crowd in on her. She is mentally disciplined and that has helped her through these 70 years. It has enabled her to deal with all the things and not allow things to overwhelm her. It goes a long way towards explaining her ability to be able to still be working at this age.”
The Queen is frail in some ways: The close insider says that her outward frailties might show that she is slightly stooped (she was spotted recently using a cane) but “her face is clear and cheerful and wide-eyed — this is not someone who life is getting down. Her phlegmatic nature and her shock absorbers are such that she can take the setbacks.” The insider cites “her temperament and religious faith. It feels to me she can carry on for some time.”
Missing Philip: “She will be missing his companionship deeply,” says someone who knows the Sovereign well. “But she is a very stoic person.” Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, says, “The way he died, so very peacefully, there was a natural, organic way to how he left. And I am sure she had plenty of time to prepare for it.” But, she adds, “I don’t think anyone should underestimate that, however resilient, however faith-based and however strong she is, this is a confidant who is no longer there.”
“It feels to me she can carry on for some time.” Well…one of my late father’s favorite idioms was “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The Queen might be sharp as a tack mentally – I doubt it, but maybe – but she’s clearly physically frail and her health seems especially compromised over the past two months. I don’t get the royal fluff/PR about the Queen. Just acknowledge it, she’s a 95 year old woman. Demanding or expecting a frail 95-year-old woman to continue to be a public figure and hold her family together is too much.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, cover courtesy of People.
Faith-based, is that what we call pouring millions of dollars into the legal defense of her son who raped sex trafficked underage teenagers (I’m sure it was in the plural btw)? Is that her strong religious beliefs there? Her morality?
I just can’t with this hagiography of a deeply corrupt woman.
Her “faith” is in a denomination whose founding principle was essentially that women are disposable wombs, after all.
What about tax evasion?
What about siphoning off of the SG, diverting monies that were *supposed to be* spent on palace upkeep over the years to God knows where (off shore accounts anyone?), so that they had to come asking for more to do the much worse off work now?
What about condoning her husband’s, son’s, and grandson’s cheating?
“Faith based” my arse!
If what was said about her ability to compartmentalize is true, then it’s likely that her faith is just another box that she takes out from time to time, then puts away when she’s done with the contents. I can see someone like her going to church and hearing a sermon on sin and hurting others and nodding along: “Yes, that’s horrible.” And then standing up, leaving, greeting the rector at the church door, and walking off without a second thought about the sin of causing others pain and suffering.
This is indicative of similar churchgoers who have that hypocritical behavior where they believe that because they are in regular attendance, they’re absolved of all their sins they commit in between.
And just to add, of course I’m not saying that all churchgoers are like this, but a good portion certainly are.
She still sits back and watches the continued bashing of her own grandson and granddaughter in law. She allowed William to see off his brother and family. She ignores crises but is very selective on who she helps out.
They do have high expectations for a frail 95 year old. I’ve heard that saying so many times as well that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. She may be queen but she’s still extremely old with medical issues and physical limitations, she’s declining and as much as her mind may still be alert, her body is saying otherwise at that age. As much as they’re floating the idea that she can still carry on, and as much as Elizabeth herself seems to believe it since of course it’s her God-given right to be on the throne until she dies, they all need to put that pipe dream to rest.
I think a huge part of the situation is, is that Elizabeth core belief is that she cling to the throne until her dying breath. They should have been preparing for a transition for the past 15 – 20 years instead of relying so heavily on her to keep The Firm together.
Yeah they kinda confirming that her physical health is declining but she’s still mentally sharp and I believe that. I don’t think her health issues are that alarming just a regular thing that occur with old people. She might have a few more years in her.
Lolol when has she ever been mentally sharp? Seriously, the Windsors are not super bright. She has been a horrible figurehead and the sooner the monarchy goes the better. She enabled a pedophile, assisted in the destruction of Diana and never intervened when MM was put up as a sacrificial lamb. She is nothing more than the embodiment of yt privilege and inbreeding.
So, you can’t really admit that the head of state is frail and mentally out to lunch when there is no real way to remove them from office. So, officially, she’s either going to be mentally fine or dead. There isn’t going to be an in between no matter what the truth is. The truth is that she should do her country a favor and step down. Harry let the cat out of the bag when he admitted that her staff are running the show without running anything past her. Not to mention that illegal shit show with shutting down parliament that proved she was no longer up to the job. She had options, but her courtiers threw her under the bus because they knew they’d get away with it.
She made a mistake decades ago she should have retired and let Charles be the head of state that way there will be a smooth transition and people will get used to king Charles. She’s rigid, old fashioned so are her advisors. These people are so out of touch to them it’s never been done before they are afraid to do it but times have changed Monarchs before didn’t live to this stage because poor health& medicine wasn’t as advanced then.. also they make her cling on because that speech in 1947.
There is a way to remove the Monarch from office and it has been used in the past. The Regency Act is a long established means of replacing the Monarch with a Regent. Prince Charles has been the designated Regent for his mother since he was 21. He has temporarily taken over her role when she has been ill and if she becomes completely unable to carry out her role there is a procedure to appoint Prince Charles as permanent Regent with the title Prince Regent.
I doubt Charles will be named Prince Regent, he has taken on many of her duties though but I doubt will adopt that name. And when Charles takes over, William will be designated Regent. Which is not a good thing.
“quite some time”… the longer she’s nominally on the throne, but unseen and not in charge of the family’s private affairs (and yet still theoretically capable to have the last word), the longer the Windsor will destroy each other in full public view. Let’s stock up on popcorn,we haven’t seen anything yet (and the ones we like are safely away and indipendent).
This is not the average 95 year old woman. She has been raised with the best health care available, and never suffered the stress and anxiety of working a full time job while raising children and doing the housework, laundry and cooking with no assistance. Let’s not forget bill paying, making ends meet and all those school functions and homework aid.
I think its a good point that the Firm was not prepared for *this.* They weren’t prepared for her to be….well, elderly. Maybe there is something seriously wrong with her, health-wise, but maybe she is just 95 years old. I feel like while she won’t retire, they’re going of rolling her into a soft retirement now anyway….a few public appearances a week, some of which are still on zoom (like meeting ambassadors), and even those appearances aren’t really “public,” they’re all taking place at Windsor. She probably spends the majority of her day in comfy clothes and talking to her corgis or Andrew (ahem.)
But the Firm is not prepared for that soft retirement and we’re seeing the results of that play out very publicly – from andrew to the H&M mess* to William making power plays every week in the press….its getting ugly. But maybe this is just a preview of Charles’ reign?
*H&M themselves aren’t messy, but the way the royal households are responding to H&M is very messy. I can’t imagine Jason Knauf going to the MoS lawyers with texts etc like he did if this was 5 or 6 years ago and Phillip was still running things….
The fact that they’ve clearly not prepared for the transition does seem like a tacit admission that no one has any faith in her heirs, doesn’t it?
Yup!
This is an interesting approach for People/the Firm (bc they’re obviously in cahoots) to take. Usually, especially at this time of year, the spin is that the Cambridges are primed and ready to take over. Yet, they’ve been largely MIA since the summer. I wonder if that’s deliberate? And if so, why?
I still don’t buy she’s mentally okay honestly.
If anything, I expect that’s the biggest issu, because you could have her sitting down if necessary in a public appeareance as long as she’s of sound mind. But if there are other issues and she’s unpredictable, it makes harder to present her as still able to do the job.
Yep, her refusing a knife and holding that sword upside down while cutting the cake kind of did it for me.
Many of us have had family elders live to 95+. I tend to agree with you. My grandma zoomed until she was 100 and had a packed social calendar.
However, everyone came to her. Every day was a dance around her energy level. There would have been no way to plan big outings in advance. The very elderly can’t get too far from a bathroom, either. Idk, it might not really be so simple to wheel her out anymore even if she is of sound mind.
She has ostriched for many years. She made bad decisions even when she was a lot younger.
I imagine the courtiers “best” option was for HM to continue to do engagements like “normal” and then die peacefully overnight or something. There’s all sorts of plans in place for the immediate aftermath of her death and the days after it but no plan in place for when she would inevitably slow down due to age but still be alive.
Look, she maybe can carry on for some time? But should she?
Just let the woman drink her gin and play with her corgis in peace, she’s held on for long enough. There’s nothing else she can do to keep this institution from imploding.
Like everyone else in that family, (Montecito royals aside) she is greedy and grasping. She guards her power jealously and won’t give it up a second before she has to.
my great grandma was very independent and seemed mentally sharp up until mid-late 80s. By the time she was in her 90s the dementia kicks in and you’re not all there, it can happen rapidly too. The queen certainly has the best drs available but there is truly nothing they can do for old age. I would retire if I were her and live the rest of my life in my castle with my dogs drinking wine.
At what point is the Palace going to realise that the Queen can’t do it anymore? I think they should let her retire. However there is a great fear that if she steps down, the calls for the end of the monarchy would increase and that’s why the Palace refuses to let Charles totally takeover.
The Queen really made many mistakes and her son just repeated this pattern.
He truly bungled with William and Harry, allowing William to drive Harry away. I think the Queen realizes he is not all that popular. I am not thrilled with the next two monarchs. William will be champing at the big so to speak and he will put out blurbs about his own Coronation Plans. I can see that happening.
Are we going to have a “Weekend at Bernie’s” kind of situation to keep this pack of inbred ‘hillbilies with nice stolen jewels’ grifters sucking the UK dry??
That’s what I was thinking. Stuff her up with Christmas pudding, keep her in a cool dry place, wheel her out as necessary and hope the rigor keeps her standing.
When she had that saber to cut a cake, and the ffq, and fq, thought it was so funny, you knew then she wasn’t mentally sharp. She reminds me of my mother, who suffered from dementia, one moment their okay, then they fade out, as the queen has done.
There is no way her using a Saber to cut a cake is regal, with all the quote, unquote royal protocol. It is time she sits down, before she falls down, and really have a horrible year.
What is going on with People magazine? Do they realize they’re an American publication? Why is a foreign monarch on the cover all the time? I would much rather read a profile on our president, VP, or members of Congress.
People who want to read about the royals tend to buy the UK publications like Majesty. The People Royals is more about the Cambridges than any other royal. I don’t purchase it. Even the tribute to Diana featured page after page of Cambridge coverage.
To be “fair,” this is their “Royals” edition, which comes out once a quarter. But yeah, their coverage is a little over the top. I’ve stopped following them on Twitter because every time Kate steps foot outside the house they devote multiple fawning stories to it. Let the RRs do that for crying out loud People.
The magazine also known as Cambridge Quarterly, they seem to be featured a lot in every issue.
Oh, BTW, Americans: we FOUGHT A WAR to get out from under these same grifters. Please remember that Princess Diana is the ONLY reason we started giving a damn about the BRF again in any way, and act accordingly! Thank you for coming to my TedTalk!
Just Watch there will be the first 2022 issue of People Royals with 40 years of Kate. A Kate issue exclusively devoted to Kate. I wonder how many will be left on the newsstands.