Happy Birthday Ma'am

Love her or hate her, how many other women do you know are working on their 90th birthday?  Today is her real birthday (not the official one which is June), but she works on both of them.  I'd rather be having one too many gins on my 90th birthday, but she will be doing a "walk about" in Windsor.  Cheers Ma'am.

Paparazzi

Who was arousing this much interest I hear you ask.  Why the Queen of course.  The paparazzi fixed on the palace for that shot when the Royals stand on the balcony and watch the red arrows fly over.

For overseas readers who may not understand what this all means, last Saturday was the day the nation celebrated the Queen's birthday.  It is not her real birthday, as that is in April, and we throw a party for her then as well.  However, as the weather isn't great at that time of the year we throw yet another party, a much bigger one, in June when in theory it should be summer.  It rained this year and last year as I recall, but I digress.

On her official birthday there is a procession "Trooping the Colours". The Foot Guards and the Household Calvary put on their finery and wear their colours (so the ranks can recognise their battalion), then they march from Buckingham Palace to the Horse Guards, (about a mile down the road). The Queen follows them in a golden carriage.  Once there she inspects them all and they salute her.  Then everyone returns to the palace for a cup of tea while a twenty one gun salute is fired from canons.  This is followed by a "flyover" by old fashioned planes. The highlight is the Red Arrows that create a trail of red, white, and blue smoke as they fly down the Mall before passing over the palace.

The Queen's Speech

The age old ritual of the opening of parliament took place yesterday.  On the first day of a new parliament session (or shortly after a new election) the queen will travel from Buckingham palace to the houses of parliament (Westminster) where her speech will outline the governments agenda for the coming year.

We are used to all this pomp and ceremony here however yesterday had even greater excitement for those who lined the streets to watch the parade.  This was the unveiling of the queen's new coach.

She doesn't get many new coaches, in fact this is only the second in her lifetime and this one was built by an Aussie!  It is a true labour of love by Jim Frecklington that took him 10 years to build.  He even mortgaged his house to help fund it.
The coach features wood from Nelson's ship, hand rails from the Royal ship Britannia and 400 books of gold leaf.  What makes it truly unique is that it is a thoroughly modern coach with hydraulic suspension (much more comfortable than those medieval ones), aluminium wheels, electric windows and heaters.  (she can leave the cashmere rugs at home).

She saw I was getting wet and offered me a ride but I declined, a bit too public for me, but I told her she looked lovely and admired her jewels, particularly the tiara.

Job for Life

Flags in Regent Street reminding us that for sixty years she's been the queen.  Be a bugger if you hated the job wouldn't it.  No seaside cottage retirement for her.

Political Egos

Scotland is planning on holding a referendum in 2014 on the issue of independence from the United Kingdom. Battle lines are being drawn. Not much changes really. Back in the 17th century when Elizabeth I nephew James came to throne as King James I of England, he was already King James VI of Scotland, and with this kingly experience behind him, he wasted no time in trying to throw his weight around in the English parliament, as he had done in the Scottish parliament.

His belief and obsession with the "divine right of Kings" convinced him that he could do what he wanted and tell parliament what they were to do as well. While the Scots had pretty much let him away with this, it did not go down well in England. His constant demands for more tax money and his autocratic style created a none too friendly relationship between court and parliament. Fed up with politicians not bending to his will James dissolved parliament on 8 February 1622.

So now 390 years later to the day, you do wonder if the current Queen hasn't thought about doing a similar thing many times in her already long reign ... oh that she had the power!!!

The Queen's Chapel

Another of those wee gems you stumble upon from time to time. The Queen's chapel was built between 1623 and 1627 when it became the private chapel of Charles I bride Henrietta Maria of France. It's small and gives the sense of peace and serenity I guess the ruling monarch might like away from all the pomp and ceremony. Here the ruling monarch reigns supreme. The clergy here are appointed or fired or whatever by the monarch. The Bishop of Canterbury has no jurisdiction here.

Closed

In days gone by when Queens were no longer considered an asset, or their husbands had fallen from grace, they had their head chopped off. The lucky ones didn't actually lose their head, but instead they were sent in to exile. Mind you, if you were going to be sent to Telford in Shropshire for the rest of your days (the most boring place on earth according to a recent survey) then beheading might have almost looked like an attractive option.

In modern day Pub terms I guess that being closed down is the equivalent of losing your head. And so it is with this poor Queen. She, and 66 of her fellow local pubs close every week in the UK according to the papers. I found some stats showing that in 1980 there were 69,000 pubs. By 2009 this had dropped to 53,466. In the same time frame the percentage of independently owned (or "Free Houses") ie not owned by the breweries, dropped from 84% to 47% . So what do you think this is telling us??