Over the Christmas holiday, someone asked me if the Queen always pre-records her Christmas speech. The answer is yes – she always records her Christmas message days, even weeks, before Christmas. Of course, this year, the pre-recorded message has added more fuel to the Weekend at Bernie’s vibe of the British monarchy. Buckingham Palace released the annual pre-Christmas photo of QEII and a lot of people were talking about how she wasn’t wearing a bra, and how she doesn’t look particularly well. The photo was taken when the video was done, about two or three weeks before Christmas.
The Queen’s speech was mostly a tribute to her late husband, and the only photo on her desk was of her and Philip, from their 2007 diamond wedding anniversary. She also wore the same sapphire brooch she wore on her honeymoon in 1947. She referenced Philip multiple times in her speech too:
“But for me, in the months since the death of my beloved Philip, I have drawn great comfort from the warmth and affection of the many tributes to his life and work – from around the country, the Commonwealth and the world. His sense of service, intellectual curiosity and capacity to squeeze fun out of any situation – were all irrepressible. That mischievous, enquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him. But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings; and as much as I and my family miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas.”
She also mentioned the births of her four new great-grandchildren this year, although she didn’t name them: August Brooksbank, Lucas Tindall, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor and Sienna Mapelli Mozzi. She didn’t mention Meghan and Harry by name or title, nor did she include any reference to Prince Andrew. She did name-check Charles, William, Camilla and Kate though, saying: “I am proud beyond words that [Philip’s] pioneering work has been taken on and magnified by our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William – admirably supported by Camilla and Catherine – most recently at the COP climate change summit in Glasgow.” How embarrassing – Kate and William barely did a g–damn thing at the Glasgow conference. Kate looked half in the bag for most of it.
Photo courtesy of Buckingham Palace/Avalon Red.
Her bra area! How did Angela Kelly allow this?
Comparing this video with last year’s, she lost weight, first off. She’s also seated in a padded comfie chair (that I bet has rollers), whereas last year she was on wooden, highback chair.
If she’s currently using a wheelchair, that would make sense: she was able to seat herself and pull up last year’s chair, while this year, she needed to be moved over from her wheelchair over to another chair, and then rolled up to the desk for filming.
If you can’t stand up and yoink your dress down, you get…. that. A dress that is bunched up around the waist, pushing up the back and front, so the entire garment just doesn’t lie correctly.
Again, comparing this year’s and last, similar style of dress (just red instead of purple), but last year’s is lying just fine, while this year’s is definitely not.
I am sure that she is not using a wheelchair.
Eh, I’m not wearing a bra at 95, either.
@BeanieBean
I’m 64 and can barely be bothered to wear one NOW, should I live to be 95 the girls will definitely be free, even if I have to hike them up to get around 😆
My mom definitely didn’t wear a bra at 95, but neither was she giving a TV address to the entire nation.😉 At such an advanced age, you’d have to cut her some slack since it’s so constricting to have anything on their skin, encircling their body and compressing the girls.
When I am 95, I will very reluctantly wear a bra for all my televised events and at no other time!
my guess is that her “strained back” was several compression fractures in her thoracic spine. She has that hunched appearance that accompanies a “dowager’s hump” which has been developing for years. I am sure wearing a bra is quite difficult for her at this point. In my experience the vast majority of very old women don’t. camisoles will do.
Why the need to comment on the bra of someone who is 95?
Eugenie did more at the COP than K&W. Does she get a mention? Anne & Ed have environmental patronages. If the Queen can’t be bothered to acknowledge them then what value are the patronages to the charities? All she can be bothered with is something actually created by/for the next two heirs. It’s toxic as a family dynamic and a disservice to other charities with royal patrons who aren’t FK or FFK. She also didn’t bother to try giving encouragement during a long-lived pandemic or praising anybody outside Phil, C&C and K&W. I guess K’s concert was supposed to be enough praise for the peasants.
It is appalling that the direct heirs alone get praised for what they did, or purportedly did, while the rest of the family is ignored. It could be, though, that it’s the queen’s speechwriters & not she herself who are directly responsible for this & she merely complies by reading what they’ve written for her. They’re helping ensuring perpetuation of the institution.
Oh yes I agree. And she didn’t even mention that they were her great grand children. All she said was: “…through the eyes of our young children, of whom we were delighted to welcome four more this year,”
The Queen doesn’t write her speeches which are done by her advisers. They adopt a line and at the moment it is to promote Charles and Billy. Climate change is the big topic now and it has been decided that the royals should be on the right side of it. All this is reflected in her speech.
I really think the Queen loved Philip until the end, I just don’t think he had the same feelings for her. But she stayed in the marriage as a dutiful aristo wife does. I think that’s why she couldn’t understand Diana’s refusal to accept Charles’ adultery.
I think he respected her position and respected her as his official wife, in the aristo way, of course. But I think he did move on decades ago tho and I believe Penny was his love for at least 40 years. Had he not been a royal, I’m sure he would have happily divorced, married his Penny, and lived openly as a family with their alleged love child.
Love child? Details?
Apparently in the royal gossip world, it’s long been rumored that Penny’s daughter, Alexandra, is Philip’s. She looks like a LOT William. Like, if he was a random guy and someone told me that she was his twin, I’d believe it.
Interesting, but that could be just a coincidence, given that Penny’s husband is Philip’s cousin. I have some distant cousins that look like me. We look like our common ancestors.
I just looked at a photo of her leaning over a metal railing and she looks like a female version of TOBB! 😮
Here it is:https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2020051289627/baby-joy-royal-family-alexandra-knatchbull/
Hmmm. As Lauren said, cousins sometimes look alike and it shows up at unexpected times. My first cousin and I look so much alike people would often think we were twins. Our parents are siblings (brother and sister) but we don’t even look like them, but rather like our mutual paternal grandmother. Sort of. There’s so much intermarriage in royal and aristo circles, I don’t read too much into the resemblance there. Not to say she’s NOT Philip’s kid, just that she could easily be his and look nothing like him too. Or just look like one of Queen Victoria’s descendants.
Unlike Diana, the Queen was in charge as monarch like Queen Victoria (Albert and Philip were responsible for the running of their respective households). Diana was consort and not in a secure place. Elizabeth would never have divorced Philip. She probably remembered the early days with him and was sentimental about the marriage.
@Amy Bee l agree with you. I think the Queen remembers the man she fell in love with and not necessarily the man who he became. Some of his affairs must have caused her so much distress because she knew what was going on but couldn’t say anything. She tolerated his last mistress who more or less lived with him in his last decades.
Arch Desmond Tutu passed away and people all over the world, from journalists, politicians, activists and even those without any public profile talked about his influence; he was a man who took risks to change society, social justice, racism, etc…..this woman as well as her husband have never done anything that changes society.
So what legacy do they really have? cuttings ribbons, signing papers drafted by others, dodging laws that affect peasants; what have they done that has changed the course of humanity or history? what injustice have they ever fought against? I am sure when she passes, she will get the “duty” stuffs but compared to a Tutu or a Mandela or MLK and John Lewis or Toni Morrison or Maya Angelou or Barack Obama or Gandhi or Muhammad Ali or Stacey Abrams and thousands of others, they are as useless as they come
Anyway, it is not my country paying for her and her family. To each their own as always
Happy Holidays!
As bad a husband and father as Charles is, I will say The Prince’s Trust has helped a number of people with things like starting businesses and job training.
Charles despite his many many limitations as a human being has done some good work….hence why I never really understand why he could have been jealous of his very OWN wife! it does not make sense to me! isn’t the success of your wife or spouse in general something to be proud of?
Perhaps some people should never marry each other, not even for money or status….no amount of money in the world can compensate for loneliness or misery.
It was even more amazing that he was jealous of her when she was a teen and then just out of her teens after they got married. She wanted to please Charles and the public took to her. I saw an old issue of People Magazine and the signs of trouble were already there. When they were together on a walk about after the engagement, he was quoted as saying “I guess I’ll have to get used to the backs of photographers when she is around.” and she was a teen then.
vs: Nailed it. Absolutely nailed it.
I mean, she talked about the direct line of succession, which makes sense. Her husband died, she’s had some health issues, so this was a good opportunity to remind people that the line of succession is intact and ready to continue the monarchy. Unfortunately.
Except for the bra thing (which, I can’t believe she would allow it, could it possibly be just a really badly fitting dress?), I think she looks and sounds pretty good for her age
If she did indeed injure her back or has disc or crumbling vertebrae issues, wearing a heavy duty bra would be painful. Also, as you get old, wearing hydraulic uplift, underwire bras gets REALLY uncomfortable. I’ve switched to soft cup bras as I’ve aged. I think the poor thing has lost enough weight and is in frail enough condition that when she’s seated she sort of *crumples* and her boobs end up on her lap.
Who cares to comment about the bra of a 95 year old? Really?
I never would have if it hadn’t already been brought up!
Its time for petty Betty to step down, full stop. Enough already.
Terrible fit in the dress but could it be bunched up on top because of sitting down and substantial weight loss combined? Maybe it looks just fine while standing up. She is usually so impeccable.
google “dowager’s hump”. explains the problem.
She is 95 for heaven’s sake.
I don’t know why it’s a big deal that she didn’t mention Harry and Meghan. The only child and grandchild mentioned were Charles and William. Usually TQ only prioritize the direct line. It was a nice speech.
@louise177
I believe harry was a Eco warrior before willy, lets not make excuses for for petty behavior, no matter who does it. To only compliment Charlie, and willy, still does not make it a good look. Don’t be proud of global warming heros, if you only mention charlie, well okay, but willy come lately, without mentioning harry is pettiness, and hypocrisy, plain and simple. Sorry but Betty needs to ride off into the sunset, imho.
?? Recollections may vary ??
I don’t want her to mention Harry and Meghan. They are gone. CC and WK is all she has left. Let her try bolster them….
They are in the US and the Queen Did say they were family. The Queen has other family members including Anne and Edward.
TQ’s comment about ‘roles being handed down to the next generation’ sometimes being updated for modern times and it gives her great happiness.
I think the “roles being updated for modern times” IS a shoutout to the Sussexes and that they are part of what bring her great happiness. I was touched she’d go there in an official address. After the initial shock and rough transition, I think Elizabeth clearly enjoys that Harry & Meghan are continuing a life of service. And I wonder if they zoomed sometime over the holidays…we call out her flaws but H&M love her.
She focuses on the direct heirs.
She mentioned the births of four great grandchildren this year. I knew that whilst talking about the passing of her husband she would mention the birth of new members to the family.
I don’t think I have ever seen her with this much makeup on before. Of course I could be wrong
My guess is the queen is wearing some kind of sports-bra, which doesn’t provide a LOT of support, but is super comfortable.
She is very much thinner than last year. Her speaking is different too. At some points she seems breathless and the ‘h’ is missing from ‘him’ and ‘his’. It comes out as ‘im’ and ‘is’ .
I thought it was a good speech and a good tribute to her husband. She spoke of the first time she set eyes on him. She was 13 and he was 18. They began writing to each other and it was accepted that they were ‘sweethearts’. She had his photo by her bed. When she was 15 they were seen holding hands while walking around the grounds of Windsor Castle. Those were more innocent times.
And that’s why she doesn’t think Andrew committed a crime.
This has nothing to do with Andrew’s behaviour. When the Queen was growing up people married at a much younger age. Teenage brides were not unusual. It was also a much more innocent time when holding hands was about as far as it went at 15. Her relationship with Philip was accepted as a teenage romance and gently monitored by her parents and governess. There was no exploitation.
@anotherlily Sorry but it greatly sounds like “grooming”.
@anotherlily
Mountbatten was raping children all over the Commonwealth at the time (and later), so spare me the “it was an innocent time” thing. It was accepted by society, but it was morally wrong. And everyone knew that.
Mountbatten was a match maker. He urged Philip to court her when she came of age. Elizabeth was attracted to Philip when she was 13, they wrote to each other but did not date. When she came of age, they had the formal courtship. Her parents told them to wait another year to get engaged. So they married in 1947 instead of 1946
She was 21 when she married. 21 was the legal coming of age. She ‘dated’ several young men in her later teens. Her parents encouraged her in getting to know other young men as well as Philip and she participated fully in the debutante scene. By the time she was 20 Philip had made his intentions clear and had been asked to wait a year before a formal engagement.
She wasn’t ‘groomed’ by Philip or anyone else. It didn’t involve sex.
Philip was still seeing other women before Elizabeth came of age.
Elizabeth was seeing other men. Lord Porchester was a particular favourite and remained a friend until his death. Some of Philip’s pre-marriage liaisons might have involved sex but it’s highly unlikely that any of Elizabeth’s did.
Their union grew from their first meeting, which was engineered by Lord Mountbatten. Elizabeth was smitten and with Mountbatten’s encouragement they wrote to each other. That Philip dated other women doesn’t alter the fact that his intention was to marry Elizabeth.
I don’t think she was breathless, l think she could be having a few problems with her teeth and dentures, which explains the hissing sound. I notice a new gap in her teeth.
Relatedly, one of my favorite (completely non-royal) podcasts was cracking jokes about how the Weekend at Bernie’s stuff.
Always interesting when people who are otherwise oblivious to Royal crap pick up on the shenanigans.
A very nice speech. Of course she is wearing a bra. My guess is she is not going to mention Harry and Meghan because she feels they abandoned her and everything she holds dear.
They stepped away from royal duties and that’s everything to TQ, so I can understand why they weren’t included. I’m sure they’re heartbroken in their $15 million dollar mansion with 14 bathrooms and their lovely babies sipping mojitos under the trees…
They did not step away they were pushed out.
Abandoned? I think she must be feeling stupid because when the only two stars in that family told her they were willing to stay and work for free so long as they didn’t have to engage the tabloids, her dumb ass chose the tabloids and told Harry and Meghan “ok, bye then”.
@NYRO She really should have agreed to whatever they wanted. They were indeed stars. Fans were so excited by their marriage and looking forward to seeing them out and about looking glamourous and being charming. The Queen probably resents them for harming the monarchy, in her eyes anyway.
She didn’t choose the tabloids over them. That was Charles and William. The Queen wanted them to slow down and stop being stars. Their job was to represent the monarchy and the UK. All the charity work is supposed to be secondary to that.
She is partially to blame. She let William call the shots. A word from her would have stopped him from the moment he told Harry to “take things slow.” She is the only one who can officially approve royal marriages. She probably just ignored the situation and it got out of control.
@TESSA Probably.
She has not choice but to let William call the shots because her main concern is the survival of the monarchy so Billy must be kept happy at all costs.
LOL if she felt they abandoned her, she wouldn’t have driven straight to see Harry when he was last in the UK. But if that’s what you’d like to think.
No, she doesn’t feel abandoned by them. She is Team Sussex. If they are happier out of the UK, that’s what she wants.
She is? I thought otherwise with the whole “recollections may vary” bit.
I am so glad M&H left that cesspool, and I don’t want Liz or any of her ugly direct heirs to mention them in public again. It’s best that M&H are as far away from the Brits as possible, especially since Maxwell’s trial is going to heat up soon.
Fot anyone interested Cosmopolitan has an accurate timeline of their relationship , ‘Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Timeline of their relationship’ 8 April 2021.
It confirms they first met in the sense of being at the same event when Elizabeth was 8 and they both attended the wedding of Princess Marina. The second meeting, engineered by Mountbatten, took place at Dartmouth Naval College wheh Elizabeth was 13 and this is the “when I first set eyes on him” moment. They began writing to each other from that time. They had a few meetings during the war years ( which is when they were seen holding hands during a walk together when Elizabeth was 15. )
By the time Elizabeth was 19 at the end of the war they were dating regularly. Philip had a sports car and would take her out in it. When she was 20 he asked the King’s permission to marry her and the King asked that they wait a year before announcing their engagement.
Mountbatten encouraged the relationship and Philip was certainly aware that the intention was for him to marry Princess Elizabeth. He clearly had no problem with this. He wasn’t a reluctant bridegroom.
It’s sometimes hard to reconcile the fact that a sweet old lady represents such a horrible institution. I truly hope the monarchy ends with her. It’s time.
I like the fact that the Queen refered to Bill as Charles eldest son. Subtle but duly noted.