The Diamond Jubilee...Viva Britania!!!

She has some nice hats, but what does she really do and is she really appropriate for a modern democracy?

What an ancient way to generate money!

Tourism, is that true? Would people stay away from the Tower of London is the monarchy was no more, would Hampton Court be empty without the Queen or a King? I dobut it. Plus they could open Buckingham Palace up all year round so people could visit such a historic building and marvel at the art.

Did I ever tell you about the time I was nearly run over by Queen Beatrix in Amsterdam ?

Actually LP I kinda like the pagentry, the pomp and ceromony but logically it makes no sense for a modern country.

why the hell would anyone want to celebrate The Diamond Jubilee of an old Royality who is in her position because of an accident of birth
this schizophrenic monarchy and democracy thing
cannot go!

Brit: O_o! was that before or after God said
(( Let There Be Light ))

symbol of colonial rule? wasn't she who ended the colonial british empire?
even scotland may leave the UK!!

Yeah Cornwall will be the next to leave. Everyone is off now.

That wouldn't worry me.... I only follow the rugby ;)

Oh dear Tigerboyy... making statements without knowing the facts. The Queen does pay tax.

Tiger - they do pay tax and imagine having a job in which you can never retire. She performs over 300 public engagements a year and she is 86 years old?? Not sure I would want that type of job??

Tiger, what made you so bitter?

It all started with the Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that Arthur, was to be King....

Tell you what Tigerboyy, how about you don't celebrate on principle, and those that want to go ahead and have a great time?

Tiger - with the tax they pay and the income from tourism, not only do they not cost anything but they generate money.

Long live the Queen!

What is the Queen's role?
Elizabeth II is a constitutional monarch: that is, she is Britain's head of state, but her executive powers are limited by constitutional rules. Her role is mostly symbolic: she represents Britain on state visits and on ceremonial occasions. According to the royal website, her primary role is as a "focus of national unity".
She is queen of 16 former British colonies, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand; and head of the Commonwealth, a multinational body created after the dissolution of the British empire.

What powers does the Queen have?
The Queen has the right to rule: the people of Britain are not citizens, but subjects of the monarch. Most public servants must swear an oath of loyalty, or make an affirmation of their loyalty, to the crown.

Although the Queen is politically neutral, she has the right to be consulted and to "advise and warn" ministers. Otherwise her residual powers - the "royal prerogative" - are mostly exercised through the government of the day. These include the power to enact legislation, to award honours (on the advice of the prime minister), to sign treaties and to declare war.

But royal prerogative is the subject of controversy, because it confers on governments the power to make major decisions without recourse to parliament. When Edward Heath brought Britain into the EEC in 1972, parliament was not consulted until afterwards. Similarly, Margaret Thatcher used royal prerogative to go to war in the Falklands in 1982.

The Queen has two individual powers that could cause a political crisis if they were ever exercised. She may refuse a government's request to dissolve parliament and call an election, if she believes a government can legitimately be formed. She also has the right to choose the prime minister: a formality in the case of a clear majority, but potentially controversial after an inconclusive general election. This almost happened in February 1974, when Labour failed to win an overall majority but the Conservatives considered power-sharing with the Liberals.

What land does the Queen own?
As hereditary sovereign, the Queen owns the crown estate - almost 120,000 hectares of agricultural land, plus the seabed around the UK. Its statute includes some archaic rules: through the crown estate, for example, the Queen can claim ownership of all whales and sturgeon that are washed ashore. But the estate did turn a profit of £147.7m in 2000-01, all of which was credited to public funds.

Also held by the Queen as sovereign are the occupied royal palaces, such as Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle. The Queen's private property includes the palaces at Balmoral and Sandringham.

Much of the Queen's private income comes from the Duchy of Lancaster - an estate comprising more than 19,000 hectares of land, which made the Queen £7.3m before tax in 2000-01. The Duchy of Cornwall, which comprises more than 50,000 hectares, funds the Prince of Wales.

How much does the monarchy cost to run?
The Queen's "head of state expenditure" - official expenditure relating to her duties as head of state - is met from public funds. The total spend in 2000-01 was £35m, a figure which excludes the cost of security from the police and army, and of soldiers on ceremonial duty. Apologists for the monarchy point out that this figure is much lower than the profits of the crown estate.

The most controversial part of the expenditure is the Civil List, the money provided on a 10-year cycle for the running of the Queen's household. The spend was £6.5m in 2000-01, but has been fixed at £7.9m per year until 2011 - despite the fact that the Queen made a £35.3m profit out of the money provided for the previous 10 years.

The £35m for 2000-01 also includes almost £1m which went to the Queen Mother and Duke of Edinburgh; £15.3m spent on funding the occupied royal palaces (listed above), and £5.4m spent on travel (much reduced since the decommissioning of the royal yacht). The rest went on pensions and other expenses incurred by government departments, including postal services, "equerries and orderlies", and the administration of honours. £1.5m went on the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh.

Balmoral and Sandringham are maintained out of the Queen's personal income.

Does the Queen pay tax?
The Queen pays tax on a voluntary basis from her private income, but not on "head of state expenditure". But she did not pay almost £20m of inheritance tax after the death of the Queen Mother: this, says the royal website, is primarily because "constitutional impartiality requires an appropriate degree of independence for the sovereign".

What is the Guardian's position on the Queen?
The Guardian has launched a legal campaign against the 1701 Act of Settlement - which excludes Roman Catholics, Muslims and other non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne. It is also campaigning against the Treason Felony Act of 1848, which inhibits discussion of republican forms of government.

A Guardian editorial in December 2000 hoped that "in time we will move - by democratic consensus - to become a republic".

Source: http://www.guardian....

Created an Empire and then shipped it all back home

Good thing my outfit does not clash with the barge. Thanks Kat ,for giving me the head's up :)

Exactly Brit, in the same way that when the Romans left us we acquired all of their technology and systems. And when every other blooming country that invaded us after that left, we acquired their advances as well.

You don't here me moaning about the blooming Vikings do you TigerBoyyyyyy? There is no pleasing some people geeesh.

I skipped class on loads of days. Now please educate me and provide some proof of your statement.

http://en.wikipedia....

During the late 17th and 18th century there were large export of the Indian cotton to the western countries to meet the need of the European industries during industrial revolution. Consequently there was development of nationalist movement like the famous Swadeshi movement which was headed by the Aurobindo Ghosh.
There was also export of Indian silk ,Muslin cloth of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to other countries by the East Indian company (The East Indian Company was the British by the way Tigerboyy).

According to Kearney’s ‘Retail Apparel Index’ India ranked as the fourth most promising market for apparel retailers in 2009

Oh yes I see what you mean "they completely destroyed local industry in particular textiles. Sent then back to the dark ages."

How many more edits to your posts are you going to make?

God save the Queen

ahhhh...so MIB was right after all....:0

You got a star Brit ;)
But only a silver one, not a gold one as it is MEN in Black.;)

He is right, if the monarchy didn't exist you wouldn't invent it....

To those who have a problem with our Queen; This thread is for us to celebrate her. If you dont want to say anything nice please just leave the thread. If you want to start a new thread to moan and [Mod Removed] like you have to on every thread, be my guest.

Im a bit late but Congratulations! She is certainly a fine lady!...:)

One day President Clinton was visiting Queen Elizabeth and she decided to take him for a tour of London in the Royal Carriage. Now the carriage was being pulled by six Royal Stallions and one of them suddenly passed gas. It sounded like a twenty one gun salute it was so loud. The smell permeated the inside of the carriage and the Queen was totally devastated.
"I apologize profusely for the terrible smell inside the carriage", she said.
"Oh, that's alright", said the President, for a minute there I thought it was the horse." O_O!

to discuss politics... its was opened to congratulate Queen Elizabeth on her 60 years on the Throne. No one is wanting to discuss democracy and monarchy.

As TB said, go open another thread if you want to discuss this.

Your disrespect shows your maturity... there isn't any!

Most people in the UK will be having some sort of party celebration over the four day weekend. The support for the Royal family is pretty hight right now in the UK. Obviosuly last years royal wedding helped. For most its an excuse for a good knees up! I am going to a party today (the sun has also come back out!) and aim to ear and drink quite a lot!
Yesterday there were reminders of our history from when we pretty much ruled the world to hearing stories of WW2 veterans. One of which was talking about how he was fired 60ft into the air and into the sea when his ship was hit by a torpedo and he had to cling onto a dead shark before being rescued! What a hero!
I will miss these celebrations when I move to Qatar next week.

God save the Queen, Rule Britannia and all that!

All you guys can moan about this that etc

But you seem to be missing the point. This was an opportunity for the UK to celebrate something as a whole and in these difficult times its a welcome diversion!
And the fact remains that this event was watched around the world by millions of people just as the royal wedding was, so there are obviously some people still interested in the Queen.

No need to get so jealous about the UK being in the spotlight!

Do we include Queen Beatrix and King Juan Carlos in this list then ?

I think Belgium in the Congo, France in Vietnam and the Japanese in China and Korea, Soviet Union at home and eastern Europe, Afghanistan under the Taliban would probably win the prizes for most oppressive and genocidal regimes. The British were mere amaeturs compared to those despots.

A variety of means, some economic, some terra nullius and some through open warfare. No one said it was pretty or right but that was how the world worked in those days and all the people that participated in the expansion of empire are now dead, so who are you going to blame?

I stand against repression in all its forms, whether it is by governments, by countries against others or religious.

The OP of this thread was to celebrate our Queens Jubilee. Some people are just not happy unless they are pizzing in somebody else's pool. I just don't understand why they feel the need to try and prevent other peoples happiness.

It's pathetic people like this that make me question why I even bother to stay on QL.

Why is this blatant hijacking being allowed to continue. This is supposed to be a happy thread.

What are you proud of Pink? you are proud of your Queen's imperalistic past and the horrendious murder and looting it had acheived on the many nations it forcefully conqured throughout time ?
Time to shun the old imperalstic bullox . Vive la République!

In my opinion some of the countries and leaders in Africa and Asia use colonialism of the past as a conveinient tool to deflect from their own problems. For most of Africa and Asia the European empires ended well over a generation ago. When will these people take responsiblity for their own problems?

Lets set this against an example. Japan.

Japan was totally destroyed after WWII, however they did not sit back and blame the Americans or the Europeans or anyone else for their fate. They put their country back together and became an economic power house with a very high standard if living for their people.

Well I can't help these countries if their leaders are either stupid or greedy. These people can't succeed without assistance or the stupidity of the people that deal with them.

It's like the scams on QL, who do you blame if a person gets ripped off again and again. The person doing the scam or the stupid idiot that keeps falling for it time and time again.