Have you ever read someone’s Wiki because you know who they are vaguely but you just want to double-check? And then when you read their page, you’re like “holy sh-t, this person’s life is bonkers”? So it was for me as I read Conrad Black’s Wiki page. He was a newspaper publisher in the UK, Canada, US and Israel, but he sold off most of those holdings over the years. In 2007, he was convicted for fraud in American court, and eventually his conviction was pardoned… by Donald Trump. Seriously, this man’s Wiki is crazy. Anyway, this story is about Conrad Black and his thoughts on Queen Elizabeth, which he shared because he’s, like, a columnist and writer now. Black was a Canadian, but he gave up his Canadian citizenship to become a British peer. He sort of knows the Queen… and he is not impressed with her whatsoever.
Disgraced media mogul Conrad Black has form for criticising the Queen. And even now, as the nation prepares to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, the former jailbird has targeted the 95-year-old by saying she ‘lacks charm’, is ‘not a spectacular monarch’ and ‘not a riveting public speaker’, nor a ‘great innovator’.
Lord Black, 77, even likened her legacy to a departing big top act. ‘Though she has not been a spectacular monarch, this Queen’s achievement will be like that of a great circus performer whose talents are best appreciated after departing the stage,’ says Black.
Despite praising the Queen’s seven-decade tenure as ‘one of selfless and unpretentious duty’, he says she has lacked charm. ‘The Queen is not a riveting public speaker and has not been a great innovator,’ he writes in an article for Canada’s National Post.
This is not the first time that Canadian-born Black, who was released from a U.S. jail in 2012 after serving three years for fraud, has turned his opprobrium on the Queen. As disclosed in this column a few weeks ago, he vented his disapproval of her ‘abandonment’ of Prince Andrew after it was announced that her son would fight his sexual assault charges as a private citizen. Black declared that he thought it was a ‘disgrace’ for the monarch ‘to have withdrawn from him all the dignities exercised ex-official for centuries by the second son of the reigning monarch’.
The former Telegraph owner, who was pardoned by President Trump in 2019, balanced his critique of Her Majesty with glowing praise. He wrote: ‘She was never a swashbuckling, rabble-rousing or otherwise proselytising monarchist, but she has steadily surmounted all the ostensible demotions and trivialisations of the monarchy over the past 70 years.’
I’m assuming, given Conrad Black’s age and general smarminess, that he probably partied with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein regularly back in the day and that’s why he was so upset that Andrew had his big shiny military medals taken away for rape and human trafficking. But what he says about the Queen is… interesting. I truly wonder if, when all is said and done on Liz’s reign, the more general read on it will be that she was a grim, tone-deaf, charmless woman who raised a family of back-stabbers, abusers and petty-ass soap opera characters. There are definitely going to be some “the emperor has no clothes” takes on this, I think.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and Getty.
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- London, United Kingdom. State Opening of Parliament. Royal Gallery. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Charles, walks through the Royal Gallery before delivering her speech at the State Opening of Parliament.,Image: 539313887, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Queen Elizabeth II ahead of the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lord’s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England.,Image: 610288342, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- The Queen stands with President Biden and the first lady Jill as they view the ranks of a Guard of Honour formed of The Queen’s Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards during a visit to Windsor castle.,Image: 615497630, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: RICHARD POHLE / Avalon
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Patron, attends a Service of Thanksgiving to mark the Centenary of the Royal British Legion at Westminster Abbey, in London, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021.,Image: 637732700, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA SOLO POOL. AP+PA+AFP+REUTERS+GETTY+IPA+CPNA IN, Model Release: no, Credit line: Frank Augstein / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II records her annual Christmas broadcast in the White Drawing Room in Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Issue date: Thursday December 23, 2021 The photograph on the desk is of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, taken in 2007 at Broadlands, Hampshire, to mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.,Image: 649254904, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659601877, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659602010, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II leaves Sandringham House, which is the Queen’s Norfolk residence, after a reception with representatives from local community groups to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee. The Queen came to the throne 70 years ago this Sunday when, on February 6 1952, the ailing King George VI – who had lung cancer – died at Sandringham in the early hours.,Image: 659635986, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Giddens / Avalon
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- 113995, Kristy Swanson attends the 5th Annual QVC Red Carpet Style held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday February, 13, 2014. Photograph: © Pacific Coast News. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419 London Office: +44 208.090.4079 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 529333430, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
I think I would say it’s the opposite. He praises her “devotion” to duty but says she lacks charm – but as we’ve seen with things like the Paddington video and other jokes, she’s got tons of charm when she lets it out – but as for attention to actual work and duty beyond a smokescreen and PR fluff I would say no.
I feel the Queen is from a generation where charm and spontaneity had to be stifled down in favour of duty and ‘stiff upper lip’.
She’s done Paddington, she also did a cute Olympics skit with James Bond (which she hadn’t told her family about), back in the day the Invictus thing with the Obamas.
There are quite a few stories coming out of her playing pranks and liking rude jokes etc.
I think she’s been frozen in time by her staff, who still live in Donwton Abbey times.
Black wife was younger and a relentless social climber. I think he tried to buy them into peerage and it went to shambles after he was sued and lost sour grapes.
^^ Right @C and @HandforthParish, the Queen’s lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek charming side comes out sometimes, but not often. One of those times was the promotional video she consented to do with Harry and The Obamas, to promote the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando. It was quite funny and quite a blast. And it’s also a perfect example of what the Windsors lost in Harry, and what the Queen likely privately mourns. Seemingly, the Queen felt she was too old to substantially intervene in the media’s attacks against Meghan, or to ferret out the insider perpetrators. Particularly as she has purposely tried never to become too deeply involved in family squabbles.
That’s not making any excuses for the Queen though, as both Chuck and Betty made the mistake of not reining in incandescent Will’s spoiled, petulant, aggressive behavior behind-the-scenes much sooner.
Can anyone define what that DUTY really is? what has she really accomplished that’s worth talking about? waving and opening buildings already opened, unveiling plaques and pushing kids out are all considered work? the con this family has been able to pull is just amazing! thank you gosh we rejected their nonsense!
Anyway, sad state of affairs in the US right now…..no way, I will agree to a head of state who gets there because they come out of the right uterus! position is most likely biased as I wasn’t born in a country with a king/queen
This this this.
I hear how she’s “head of state” but what does she DO, exactly, in terms of contributing to government? Best I can tell, literally nothing of value.
Nothing. It’s just a smokescreen to justify the existence of monarchy. She could actually do things governmental if she wanted, but they don’t want to risk Parliament turning a focus on them and limiting their income/power even more by taking any strong stances. They coast along and talk about “duty” for cutting ribbons and blather about “constitutional crisis” when things really get difficult to explain why they don’t really lead.
She makes sure her wealth remains protected and untaxed. That’s what she does. She is also a repository of White Greatness and English Power.
Nothing to add,perfect summary of who she is:her and her family are just the number one grifters of Britain but instead their right wing government want to blame or guilt people receiving benefits who,them, really need it contrary to her.
This is rich coming from The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour. QE2 gave him a peerage. He and his wife both suck. (I’m Canadian and he was from
Here)
Their failure to evolve has made them irrelevant. Their horrible antics and illegal/shady doings make it worse.
Also wtf is the benefit of the common wealth? Some Impoverished nations in their commonwealth and the can only offer the odd smile. I hope this whole thing implodes. Anyone have a pool going on the date?
Every country has people who get where they are because of their parents and the connections their family has, you’re not immune. Kennedys, anyone? Trump?
@Ange – oh believe me, none of us Americans are under any delusion that we are perfect. However, comparing elected officials (like them or not, Trump and the Kennedys who held office were elected at the very least) to a hereditary monarchy that literally does nothing as “head of state” is not a valid comparison.
@Colby
Duties of the head of state that come to mind:
– Receive the credentials of foreign diplomats accredited to the UK.
– Approve/sign acts of Parliament.
– Appointment of the Prime Minister and their cabinet ministers.
– Open each session of Parliament.
– Receive and host visiting heads of state invited to UK on official business (i.e. hosting Trump and his entire *unelected* extended family).
– In the UK context, convention is for weekly meetings with the Prime Minister.
– Representing UK abroad at request of the government.
Someone with greater knowledge of constitutional law/convention is welcome to step in here!
Sure, there is absolutely an agreement in place that TQ and PM will overlook the failings of the other and not cause ‘difficulties’. I would hope that she raked BoJo over the coals re: COVID parties and advised him to tender his resignation, but I’m virtually certain this is just my wishful thinking!
In the case of TQ, I know The Crown is a work of fiction, but I think the early seasons contain the arc with Elizabeth ‘intervening’ and taking a more activist approach, and that backfiring whereby she is burnt, just like Queen Victoria before her, and backs off… See also unwelcome activism/interference by David… I recall references to Edward VII as an effective head of state? E.G. apparently his language and people skills did a lot to strengthen Franco-British relations? Personality wise, he seems to have more in common with Harry than TQ or TOBB.
People proclaim the merits of a US presidential style system of government – yet some of us in Commonwealth countries are happy with a dual HoS/PM model as a check/balance against too much power vesting in one individual… even if the HoS power to overrule is rarely exercised, it’s an added emergency mechanism against total corruption of the leader of government. And thankfully, for most of us, it’s so far not been put to the test in a Dec 6 scenario.
Most of those aren’t “duties” per se, theyre just things that is expected the monarch does. And the monarch is always going to do them, so they end up being meaningless. For example – appointing the PM. Can you imagine if Betty refused to appoint the PM? LOL. Talk about a crisis!
She’s a figurehead, nothing more, and that’s okay if British people are okay with it. But let’s not act like “receiving ambassadors” means she deserves the life she has had.
And on January 6 (not December) our separation of powers held. Our checks and balances held.
@JaneBee: “See also unwelcome activism/ interference by David…”
I agree that it’s important to take every dramatized portrayal in The Crown with a grain of salt. In fact, the producers were overly soft in their portrayal of David, Duke of Windsor (uncrowned Edward VIII). Even though well-educated, he was selfish, self-centered, spoiled, irresponsible, traitorous and completely unsuited to be king. If he was ever an ‘activist,’ it was purely on his own behalf. His father knew it, and the British government knew it. That’s why after George V’s death, the government plotted to use David’s obsession with Wallis Simpson to get him to abdicate.
There’s much more drama and treachery to the story of David’s contact with Hitler during WWII than the monarchy wants us to know. David and Wallis were exiled to the Bahamas for many reasons. Several books have been written on the topic. After David’s death, the royal firm made sure to destroy all of his correspondence in order to sweep his treasonous acts under the rug and to protect the House of Windsor. Even the mysterious death of George Duke of Kent during WWII may have some connection to his brother David’s intrigue with Hitler.
@JaneBee, regarding your comments on Edward VII, I don’t know much about his diplomatic skills. AFAIK, Edward VII inherited prosperity, status, entitlement and extreme wealth in the waning days of opulent empire. Everything he inherited was unearned and undeserved. He’s mostly remembered for simply being monarch during an opulent and racist age to which he gave his name. He adored and sanctified his wife, even while forcing her to accept the social presence of his mistresses. He was a terrible father due to his own lack of having nurturing parents. This failing has been sadly passed down and continues to impact the British royal family to this day.
Harry having much of anything in common with his ancestor, Edward VII, I seriously doubt. Possibly other than ‘people skills,’ they are completely different men from different eras. Edward VII inherited unearned wealth and he was king during a racist era. Harry takes after his mother’s personality and empathy, despite having grown up in a racist institution.
@Becks1 I’m not from the States, but the outside view was that the US system held on by a thread on 6 Jan. And with the Supreme Court effectively compromised and precedent being shredded, the thread now looks even weaker.
I absolutely agree that the head of state duties do not justify the insane privilege accorded to the British monarch! In Commonwealth countries, the role of Governor General is normally filled by a senior public figure (e.g. a judge, former head of Army, etc.) that the average citizen wouldn’t recognize.
Rather, I’m highlighting there are definitely sufficient head of state duties that this is a *job*. TQ does the diplomatic accreditations every other week, and for me that would be work. Is the main qualification managing impersonal small talk, avoiding offensive gaffes and coming across as dignified? Yes.
Yet does everyone also criticise the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway and their systems of government to the same extent? The Dutch royal family is thought to hold more personal wealth than the British (also deriving from colonisation – see Suriname). They also own a bunch of castles, and some insane gold carriages. The head of state wears a similarly OTT costume for the opening of parliament and arrives in a gilded carriage after driving across the city in it. But, yes, personally, I find the Dutch royals far more tolerable. Similarly, the Danish royals.
Whether one is a republican or royalist, it remains that countries with constitutional monarchy models are some of the most stable, and with the happiest populations 🤷🏼♀️ If you check the index of ‘most democratic nations’, six out of the top ten are constitutional monarchies.
US style democracy isn’t necessarily the best or most effective democratic model out there. And how many taxpayer dollars were directly pocketed by Trump? Full secret service details for his entire family (hello, Andrew) including adult children. Then personal self enrichment by only staying at his own properties and charging secret service inflated accomodation? Highly questionable trade mark recognition worth millions granted to Ivanka in China. Jared’s Saudi Arabia arrangements. No system is perfect.
I don’t need a lecture on Trump or the issues currently happening in the US. Of course the US isn’t perfect.
Rather, my point was that your list of “duties” for the monarch are basically things that anyone associated with the government can do (which is why sometimes its charles, sometimes its William taking over those duties) and the British government would keep on turning as it is if someone else greeted the diplomats.
But at any rate, if we want to talk about government corruption, then the Queen is a good place to start. I guess I just don’t see how the Queen functions as a check on anything, considering she uses her position to enrich her own pocket and protect her position and make herself exempt from the laws.
No system of government is perfect and there are always issues, but I’m laughing that the defense of the Queen’s duties is that she is a social host.
Biggest difference between a monarch and US President is that the President can’t claim and control vast amounts of what belongs to the people just by being born or elected. The President would be more similar to the PM (even though Trump would appreciate being thought a monarch).
If anything in this day and age elected officials who can enact legislation are worse tbh.
I’m not a monarchist at all but I’m far more afraid of someone with legislative power and an axe to grind than an ageing queen who cuts a ribbon occasionally.
If you check twitter, there’s a video of someone describing the queen’s “cheeky” sense of humor, which consisted of describing a foreign diplomat as a “gorilla”
…
The presenters guffawed. Except for the one black man on the panel.
That’s who she is.
I saw that clip. It just underscores that they’re an awful and racist bunch; it’s so second nature they actually think it’s funny. No wonder they didn’t twitch an eye when Danny Baker compared Archie to a chimp.
Ugggh.
The only surprising thing is that Harry turned out as well as he did.
Yeah, there’s that too. “Charm” is a word that does a lot of heavy lifting with her.
Princess Margaret was a known bigot who called black prime ministers of Commonwealth,blackamoors…yes,they are all racist…no one will convince otherwise
@helonearth – I’m sorry but it does not matter whether the diplomat was white or black. The fact is that black people have had hurtful names like ‘gorilla’ flung at them, amongst many other abuses torpedoed their way. So calling anyone a gorilla does not fucking fly with me. My heart breaks for that black man in that room that day.
Black is an utter Berkeley Hunt. He should be ignored, just as one ignores the lunatic in the corner or Boris Johnson.
How Bozo has kept his job after such a disastrous count of “no confidence” within his own Torries baffles my mind!! Yet, Thatcher and May both resigned as they were expecting I think due to their gender. Yet Bozo Johnson refusing to resign is a showing of his incompetence, to say the least.
I used to work for one of his publications in Toronto. I remember his trial, lol. I doubt he hung around with Pedo, though, mostly because he once claimed Betty’s kids were a “Waste of Space”. No idea if he hung around with Epstein.
I remember watching a program about him which showed Andrew arriving for one of his parties in London. Dude’s a highly intelligent, singularly verbose pile of amoral narcissism. On his good days.
I worked for him too – at the National Post. He was a pompous, social-climbing, charmless, right-wing assh*le if ever there was one. His manner of speech – just filled to bursting with multisyllabic, unnecessarily grand and opulent language – was such an insight into the man. Desperate always to appear the intellectual superior of everyone in any room, in reality, he was virtually unintelligible… a shitty communicator; the complete opposite of genuinely brilliant communicators whose goal is to connect through language in meaningful ways.
So he did the thing all the truly shallow rich snobs with high society aspirations do: moved to England, bought expensive properties, sucked up to power, bought their connections and influence, and denigrated those who saw right through them. Black and his wife (Barbara Amiel) were considered a bit of a sad joke by the people they most wanted to befriend, because their obvious motives and general lack of any genuine friendliness was seen for what it was.
When you’re in permanent hock to a monster like Trump, and build yourself up by being condescending about the Queen… well. You’re Conrad Black.
Sounds like he was making perfect company with Drumpf. A couple of sexist, misogynistic narcissistic men. Who are both completely lacking any type of intellect who are truly the most egregious pair who believe in their own hype.
@Jane Wilson
You’re absolutely right, he was DEFINITELY all those things. I was at work when I commented, so I had to keep it short 🙁
Jane, vicious and every word appears accurate. The two of them are the laughingstock of many here in Toronto, living in their mansion on the Bridle Path that used to belong to Black but was sold to pay debts to some benefactor that then lent it to them for some unknown period (life?). Barbara now looks like she’s been caught in a wind tunnel. I guess when you are broke you find an inexpensive cosmetic surgeon.
Schadenfreude is real.
Most Canadians dislike this felonious ex Canadian. He always wanted to be British but wasn’t powerful enough to stay there so he controlled the Canadian right wing media and still posts dumb opinions to this day.
Conrad black is a smarter version of trump. He came from a rich family and was caught cheating at Upper Canada College, the bastion of rich boys in canada. And of course he got away with it and failed upward.
His use of multi syllabic words is to hide his pedestrian bigotry and general right wing conservative attitudes (but no so much social conservative )
Sure he got a lordship, but that was because he was part of the British media establishment. It was glorious when PM Jean Chrétien told him he had to give us being a Canadian if he wanted to the in the House of Lords. And even more glorious when he was charged with insider trading (video of him destroying evidence and all) but since he was no longer Canadian, he could not benefit from the US agreement regarding the treatment of Canadians in the US Justice system.
So it was no surprise that he praised Trump. They are basically the same person, except Black isn’t as stupid.
Conrad Black is in Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous “little black book” (Vanity Fair mentions that in a 2019 article on Epstein’s billionaire buddies). So yes, he was hanging out with that whole crowd.
I missed that article. I went back and read it, and you’re definitely right.
Well, somebody had to say it.
Of course, she lacks charm – she was raised in a family and in circumstances where such attributes were removed from her. Unlike Margaret, who despite her sad later years, was quite charming and risque.
Here she is, in her bathtub, presumably wearing only a tiara, Mick Jagger was in the room, too.
https://twitter.com/myroyalcanadian/status/857705712541196288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Compare to the Spanish Royal Family. Despite their financial scandals during the old King’s reign, both Juan Carlos and Felipe have “done things.” When the fascists tried a coup d’é·tat, Juan Carlos went on television, calmed the nation, faced down the coup, and restored order. It was touch and go, his life was in danger.
When Putin was trying to divide Spain by inciting ethnic chauvinism to proclaim Catalonia’s independence, Felipe appeared on television holding some “ceremonial club” belonging to Charles the V (admired Renaissance monarch) stating that Spain’s unification was a closed issue and he would approve the army stopping its devolvement into independent statelets. Interestingly, with a concurrent campaign showing Putin’s involvement, Catalonia’s independence movement petered out.
I won’t get into how well-educated Felipe’s and Letizia’s girls are, or how intelligent they turned out to be. Not props at all.
So, yeah, what is the BM purpose? They don’t show a clear head, rally the nation during times of crisis, and appear as protectors of the people.
Almost spat out my tea seeing Conrad Black’s name in a Celebitchy headline. This is supposed to be a safe space for Canadians! 🙂
@Margot
Right?
That was one name I NEVER thought I’d see here, lol
Right??
hahah yes to this!! frigging Conrad Black, didn’t he give up his Canadian citizenship so he could become a Baron in the UK? I remember his trial, and I despise his wife’s journalism – let’s please not give him any air space here?
He gave up Canadian citizenship to be a lord, can’t be Canadian with one. Then when he got in hot water he tried to become a Canadian again and they said no. Lol. Conrad is merde.
Agreed. Conrad Black is like Canadian Trump with less journalistic integrity than Piers Morgan.
Yes, I remember Conrad Black and I’m not even Canadian. Lower than pond scum. I wouldn’t trust a word out of his mouth.
@Margot Bwahhaha
For anybody unwilling to do a deep dive into this POS, he’s a phony who will say anything about anyone he believes is to his own benefit.
The only “interesting” thing about his comment is he’s a lifelong conservative who spent much of his fortune angling for a peerage, even giving up his Canadian citizenship to become “Lord Black”. My guess is that this new anti-queen stance means he knows he’s not welcome back in the house of Lords after his release from prison. You love to see it.
I know right? Conrad Black? Barbara Amiel?
Not A fan of Royals. However it’s good to have a non-partisan head of state. We might have to look at alternate methods thanthe royal family though. Unsure of Betty having charm or not. Little back bone left though. Poor H & M.
QE2 is not a great orator, by any means. But it’s an inherited gig with very little prerequisites. I do think in the years and centuries after her death we will learn just how “Gansta” and “Mafioso” she truly was when it comes to protecting the Monarchy and those scheduled to sit on its throne.
Love that someone is finally a tiny bit critical towards her
^^ Interestingly, as dramatized in The Crown, the Queen was criticized in the 1960s by Lord Altrincham for her poor public speaking skills. Altrincham was famously slapped on the street by a man who was offended by his criticism of the Queen. It’s quite true of course that the Queen was never a very good public speaker. First off, she’s never written any of her speeches. She simply reads off what’s handed to her, but usually in a detached monotone voice, especially in her younger days. By now, she’s a bit more expert at the reading and giving better emphasis and intonation. LOL!
I don’t see where she has done anything spectacular, so she is good with paddington,, if that is one of her best acts, well, but then I am, and can be petty like betty.. I am old enough to make no apologies for it. Sorry I think betty is as racist, and back stabbing as her offsprings. Who taught them?.
Totally agree…She is so unimpressive to me:she helped perpetuate misogyny,racism or( didn’t do anything) …She hid her money on Jersey,inherited treasures she didn’t deserve,took gifts from shady countries(like horses and jewelry…)…all this privilege and she didn’t do anything to advance her gender at least and stayed married to her unfaithful husband until he died…But at least she lived long and taxpayers are still paying for her and all this fake pageantry when Britain children had to be fed by UNICEF or Marcus Rashford…Why Britain had to celebrate this family of grifters ?SMH
She did. Look what she did to Margaret and how they bullied her into leaving Peter Townsend by threatening to deny her all her royal privileges. A playbook they brought back out for Harry — approx 65 years later, against a man, with his own inheritance. Who was already married!
IMO, the BRF wanted Meghan to be token black, taking on low-profile duties and trotted whenever a blackface was needed. Unfortunately, Meghan was made of sterner stuff.
^^ Actually, the Queen wanted Margaret to be happy, and so the Queen tried to broker a deal, but it failed. Then of course, the Queen abandoned any attempt to overrule the wishes of the government. You gotta read newspapers of the time and also the recollections of Peter Townsend to get beyond some of the more recent spin and rewriting of history concerning Margaret’s love affair with Townsend, and the aftermath.
Once Townsend and Margaret died, slowly there began the rewriting, since they were no longer here to set the record straight. The British government had actually forced Margaret to write a letter insinuating that she wasn’t in love with Townsend, which was hidden away and later ‘rediscovered,’ in order to absolve the government of their active involvement in blocking her desire to marry Townsend.
Who cares what this conman has to say?
Who cares? The only person whose opinion matters to him: himself.
Exactly. He is full of sh*t. Her speeches were always well done. Thousands showed up to celebrate the Queen these last few days. She is quite charming and always has been. Her family did a great deal during WW2 and she herself put aside personal tragedy to push for the peace process in Northern Ireland.
How much charm can a person show when they’re so removed from the public as is a monarch? And I’d like to know who he thinks is a “spectacular monarch.” Elizabeth is the caretaker of a centuries-old tradition – there is no more empire. She’s not supposed to make speeches, except a few times a year, and it seems she’s done all the things that protocol demands. As for innovation – she tried that with approving H&M’s marriage, but the media didn’t want it, nor it seems did the rest of the Firm. At this point, the only innovation possible is getting rid of the monarchy altogether.
Considering the Troopings and the big jubbly parties, how has she exhibited “unpretentious” duty. She just had the most pretentious party in the world. I think she is carefully stage-managed for most appearances and not allowed to let her sense of humor show. What has she done that is so spectacular though? I didn’t realize how much she is embiggened until the US media was making a big deal of her pushing a button to turn on some lights. Seriously, other people did all the actual work and she got the credit for pushing a button?
Lol exactly…Same in France ,they talked about this jubilee and when my husband saw it,he thought that British ppl were ridiculous and I have to tell her that is just a small portion of the population who are hardcore royalist,the vast majority don’t care about Royals
I’m hard-pressed to name one “spectacular” British monarch or politician. This is garden-variety misogyny. The system is not set up for the monarch to do anything spectacular. She did her job with many mistakes along the way, but she was no more or less capable than any other British monarch of the last 300 years minimum. I’m ready for all monarchies to be abolished, but this is just an old white man setting the stage to cut a woman down to size because she held a station he believes no woman should hold.
Did you know that the highest average life expectancy is 88 years and that, therefore, at 96, betty is in a tiny minority of “longest living persons on earth.”
The point is, the vast majority of people living today, if theyre aware of any monarch at all, are only aware of betty. Therefore, as loathsome and contemptible as conradblack is, his criticism of betty cannot be dismissed as pure misogyny. Because she’s the only living example any of us have to talk about.
Sure, it would be more useful for him to have saved his vitriol for borisjohnson, but its betty who is having a lavish, no-expense-spared party for herself at this time, with the hope and expectation that the world’s attention is on her.
So lets look at her.
Exactly what achievements has she accomplished? What has she done for others/what tangible value has she brought to the lives of the people of the UK during her long reign? In fact, if we examine the record and put in one column all that she has achieved to ensure the continuation of her line, and in another column we put all that she has achieved for the people of the UK, we all know which column will be almost empty.
But perhaps that is where we all miss the boat:……..perhaps by “achievement,” as far as betty and those whose job it is to ensure the continuation of the monarchy are concerned, “achievement” has a whole different meaning from what the rest of us understand it to mean.
This.
“Baron Black of Crossharbour” aka Conrad Black is arrogant and ignorant, and he considers the opinions of others totally beneath him. He’s been a long supporter of Drumph, and literally denies the genocide of First Nations peoples. After being released from a Florida prison he was somehow admitted back into Canada despite having renounced his citizenship in a huff because Canada doesn’t allow British honours for Canadian citizen (he gave up his Canadian citizenship in order to accept the title). He has consistently denied the criminal business dealings that were proven and landed him behind bars, and all things considered, he is a bloviating, pontificating, sanctimonious POS. And don’t get me started on his C-U-Next Tuesday of a wife, Barbara Amiel, who basically slept her way to the top. You should read Margaret Atwood’s book “The Robber Bride”, it’s clearly about Amiel.
OOhh thanks for the tip about The Robber Bride. I skimmed through most of Amiel’s recent autobiography after seeing her interviewed on Hard Talk. (got it from the library, would never buy it). Could not believe she published some of the things that she had done. Speechless.
OMG 1000% on all this about Black and Amiel. Quite the pair!
Well this is a positive bit of news for Betty. Her family has endured so much lately stepping on all those rakes, Lord Vainglorious’ approval might very well have been that final nail.
I do think she has charm and I think honestly if they had let people see more of her charm over the years, it would have endeared her to a lot of people.
She’s beloved bc she’s been on the throne for 70 years. For the majority of British people she’s the only monarch they’ve ever known. Also, she’s beloved bc of the circumstances of her accession to the throne – how many times over the past 6 months have we heard something like “she was never supposed to be queen” or whatever. The abdication, her father’s death, becoming queen at 25 – all that has gone a long way to endearing her to the public IMO.
Finally, world war II. I was thinking about this the other day when someone was talking about how Charles and William wanted to be loved and popular, its not enough to be the monarchy.. for the queen, she had a leg up on that love and popularity as it were because of her parents’ actions during the war, her own service, and then she got married and became queen relatively soon after the war, when patriotism was still flowing high (I’m assuming.) Charles doesn’t have a major event like that to “boost” him (I know it sounds gross to talk about war that way but bear with me.) Even now when people talk about her service it usually starts with the war.
I think those are all elements to her popularity that will fade with time, especially after she passes and after Charles passes. I think it will be a while though before we are able to look at her reign with objectivity. (we = general public, etc)
ITA – leaders are products of their times and they have the advantages and disadvantages. The thing with Charles and William is to live in their own time and try to add value for what is important today, instead of living off Elizabeth’s legacy. It might be too late for Charles, but at least he’s trying to do something for the environment. I think Meghan had the right idea for this era – to help individual neighborhoods and understand what the people want. It’s not political, but it needs empathy. I don’t think William or Catherine are up to it.
^^ Of course William and Khate aren’t up to anything involving leadership skills and empathy. Neither of them are built that way. It’s all about p.r. embiggening for them, and doing the least work they possibly can, while enjoying the most perks. And expecting people to bow down to them, while the courtiers, government, and BM enable them.
Liz is a prime candidate for a “The Emperor has No Clothes” biopic. Unfortunately, most of the people who know who and what she really is have died, and the ones still around probably suffer from the same mass delusion of their fellow Brits.
+1
I have a really sweet grandma she’s really kind always smiling has a kind word about everyone and I have a grumpy one, very short tempered the queen reminds me of that one.
The Queen herself has been known to remark that she never possessed the charm of her own mother. I suspect Elizabeth is most charming in private. Her claim has always been “to serve”. If you don’t find her service worthwhile is one thing but she has certainly done it unflaggingly for 70 years.
It’s pretty easy to “serve” when “serve” consists of sitting on the top of luxury, with the best medical care anyone can buy and every luxury, being able to bend the rules to your advantage, cover up every one of your flaws or mistakes with PR, and then unveil a couple of plaques to pretend you’re doing something.
😂 @C you described exactly what I think about her
Look up her service during WW2. She did her share like every other British citizen. She has earned the good will of the people. I think the next generations have no accumulated good will, and that will get them in trouble.
I don’t really think she did her part like every other Brit just by fixing some cars (and having the luxury of being promoted quickly, dining in the officer’s mess hall and going back to the Palace at the end of her shifts), taking a couple of pictures with gardening tools to encourage people to garden, and giving some radio addresses. Every other British citizen didn’t also have the luxury of an extra 200 fabric ration coupons from the government as a “gift” to supplement their immediate postwar wedding dresses. Nor did they have the luxury of their own working farms to provide produce, eggs, milk and butter during the war itself to supplement the strict rationing, the way she and her family did at Windsor.
It’s not that I think the ways she did participate were bad, but this concept of her “life of service” is massively overblown. The next generations also have the added effect of the internet increasing attention on what they really do.
I read in a book (no idea which one at this point) a description of what the royals ate on a daily basis during WWII…..and yeah they weren’t enduring the same rationing as the other Brits.
And maybe that’s fine, they’re the royal family, they served an important role during the war for morale……but let’s not act like their war time sacrifices were the same as everyone else’s.
I’m Canadian, too, and he is a disgrace. Here is a great article about the Queen’s charm: https://www.thestar.com/life/together/snapshot/2022/06/05/in-1978-queen-elizabeth-ii-met-some-young-canadian-admirers.html?utm_source=share-bar&utm_medium=user&utm_campaign=user-share
The Queen may not be the most charming person in public but we don’t know her private personality. She will always be beloved because of her service during the war and her refusal to leave London. Her being there was a huge morale booster.
“her being there was a huge morale booster.”
Her parents King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth were the morale boosters. T
I’ve never heard of Conrad Black but I tend to agree with him. The Queen is really only admired at the moment because of her longevity. In the 80s and 90s, she was barely tolerated by most of the British population with the exception of the diehard royalists.
The Queen’s biggest achievements are producing an heir and remaining on the throne for 70 years. She has made no major contributions to the UK or the Commonwealth.
Yup
Pretty much. I expect that after the initial stages of mourning (maybe a couple of years), there’s going to be some more tough and honest discussions about what her reign was really like and how she really was as a monarch and a person in general.
But her longevity, touring the world and meeting almost all the important people has helped the British brand. There are other Queens but only one The Queen.
@PrincessK – that is great what she has done for the ‘British brand’. But what about all those other countries where the British brand drove in and pillaged to their desire? Say, for example, India? Don’t tell me she is the ‘only one The Queen’. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a terrorist who invaded other countries and took what she wanted.
Reminds of the Stacey Solomon clip that was going around twitter this weekend.
https://twitter.com/legateauchoc/status/1532115526843088896?s=21&t=hSLETBzd-TcRvmiA6UhQVg
I don’t know who she is, but I’m with her!!
That’s a big ass cake. Damn it, now I want some cake.
If he thinks she is charmless and mediocre wait until her sees William and his wife!
I’ve always thought that it really says something about Queen Elizabeth, that Andrew is her favorite child. Because if the horror stories about his abhorrent treatment of staff are true (I think they are), and his insistence of being treated with “royal respect” everywhere he went to the point of great rudeness, plus the general dislike so many people, royal or not, seemed to have for him, and let’s not forget all his ultra shady business dealings,…. it’s the fact that NONE OF This seemed to matter to the Queen, that is appalling. Certainly the Queen witnessed his abuse of staff, certainly she saw the obnoxious and unkind way that he interacted with “commoners”, and she probably knew about his shady business dealings but she has plenty of her own so….. Also I seem to remember it being said that the Queen was able to do more of the child rearing herself with Andrew and Edward, than her first 2 children. And Andrew was the result of that. What does that say about the Queen???
Ye God’s, not this disgraced snake again.
Will someone please explain to me why that cake is lopsided.