The Celebrity Obituary Thread

So far, even the people not that keen on the monarchy are saying the same thing. She was a steady force for 70 years. Something always there, something always reliable and solid. I was quite prepared today when the Palace announced she was ill - they never usually comment on these kinds of issues, so I think we all knew and were waiting. The main TV channels are showing appropriate stuff, the minor channels just carry on showing Judge Judy and other stuff - some quite inappropriate. The Queen has an estate - Sandringham, in my part of the country, and the locals bumped into her all the time and knew how to deal with it. There is a lovely tale about the Queen wandering around the estate - which has public footpaths that go through it - with just one Policeman for company. She had Wellington boots, a tartan skirt and a green wax jacket with a scarf over her head - he wore similar farming style clothes. They came across a group of American tourists, and as they passed she say "Good Morning" and they responded. One of the Americans asked her if she was from around here, she said yes. He asked if she had seen the Queen. With a straight face, she said "No", and pointing at the Policeman said, "But he has!" They never knew they'd met the Queen.

In WW2, she drove ambulances, in uniform, and this job did entail learning how to do the mechanics of the time - changing oil, swapping tyres, fueling and getting dirty. At the end of the War, when peace was declared, she and her sister Margaret sneaked out of the Palace and joined the thousands of people celebrating in London.

She clearly had a wicked sense of humour - she did the James Bond video, the jumping out of an aeroplane video and then the Paddington Bear video - a dignified lady who knew how to judge the people. She only got it wrong once, underestimating the impact of Princess Diana's death - which she fixed in a dignified way.

I'm genuinely sad - His Majesty, different heads on coins and swapping ER for CR (presumably) on so many things will be weird. Stamps, money - so many things have her likeness on them. We have a few old post boxes (mail boxes) that still say GR - George Regina, but the rest say ER. It will be weird to start to see new ones with CR. I think Charles will be OK, but even though publicly he will no longer be able to go on about saving the planet, in private he will be a thorn in any Government's side. William I think will be a wonderful King. As for Harry and Sparkle, they can stay in the US for as long as they like. He is OK but brainwashed by the woman's loose mouth. She needs to learn that she needs to shut up.
 
So I'm curious.... with the Queen's passing - for the British folks here - what, if anything, does her passing mean to you? I mean beyond that fact that she was a human being. Emotional? End of an era? Don't care?
It's actually an interesting set of questions. If I were to hazard a guess {and that's all it could be}, I would say that there's a huge stew of mixed feelings flowing through England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
There is a mixed bag of views on the topic. I'm part of that bizarre group that detests the very notion of monarchy with every fibre of their being ~ yet has always dug and respected the Queen. I've long liked her, but not so much as the Queen, but rather as an emblem of a] selflessness and b] showing how to tune your life to unexpected changes at the drop of a hat and carrying on from strength to strength.
As a Christian, I'm fairly philosophical about death and all I'd say regarding the Queen's death is this ¬> she was 96.

She's turned up in a few of my songs over the years. Mind you, so has Donald Trump, Barak Obama, Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair, and my Mum !
 
End of an era? Don't care?
Both.
It's the end of an era simply because it is. Whether one likes or agrees with monarchy or not, fact is, in Britain {but mainly England and Northern Ireland}, the Queen and royalty is a big deal for a huge swathe of the populous, and after having had Queen Victoria's 60 years on the throne pumped into our systems throughout our childhoods, Queen Lizzy the 2nd making it to 70 years is an altogether superior athlete. And that era has now ended.

"Don't care" sounds harsh but what that really means is "this actually makes zero difference to my existence."
You know, when I wrote the song "Queen and country" back around 2010 or 11, it was in my mind that I should get it out on the airwaves of cyberspace before she died because she was in her mid-80s then and I knew she didn't have long to go. To be honest, up until about 2½ or so years ago, I always thought she looked pretty good for her age, but since then, she was looking increasingly frail and she just had that "the grim reaper is knocking on the door" look about her. My wife even started mentioning this in the last couple of weeks and I'd add "well, she'll be checking out soon-ish."
There will be loads of programmes, interviews and articles about her in the media, tons of people will have their say and then 3 days after she's buried, many will forget that she was about for all our lives and many won't. She was living history, but the reality is that every one of us is living history. We just don't get written about or waved at.
But it really makes not a jot of actual real difference, to me anyway, because she did nothing for me or mine. Even ministers that I've had no time for have made decisions or created policies that have had some effect on me, however minor. Can't say that about her Maj.
I hope that doesn't sound harsh or cruel. For what she was, I liked her and I respected her and the whole subject is so nuanced and as I've been discovering for much of my life, many of us don't do nuance very well.
 
Her life was doing what she did. She really had no choice. Some say that is privaleged because they only see the stately homes etc, but who would do that job and for life? A president is the nearest equivalent. Someone who has powers. The Queen had no power and had to stay completely neutral. She did the job well past retirement age, right up until her death. No one not even the haters could possibly fault that. She got stuck in with anything that was thrown at her. She was also quite normal and 'if' a celebrity as you say, she would have been very popular as she was as the representative of a country.

Now the others take over. They arent the same people and have tried to interfere on numerous occasions. They arent accepted by the public except for a few fanatics. The Queens passing is really the end in most peoples eyes.
 
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Some say that is privaleged because they only see the stately homes etc, but who would do that job and for life?
It's not a matter of only seeing the stately homes etc. And anyone denying her privilege really needs to consult a dictionary and understand both the ancient and modern concept of privilege.
Don't get me wrong, the Queen was a woman just like my sister is a woman and she was a human being just like we are human beings and as such, her life would have contained many difficulties and challenges and moments of anguish. In fact, although some people didn't care, I think others were quite endeared to her when she spoke of her "annus horribilis" in 1992. I certainly was, and I was a cynical young blighter at the time. It was the first time I took seriously the notion that even those with privilege have their down points. I'd figured previously that they did, but this was the first time I really started thinking about it.
She really had no choice.
Now that's an interesting one and I have to say, I disagree with you entirely. In fact, it's the reality of that disagreement that, for me, frames just why Lizzy 2 was such an admirable character for 70 years.
She absolutely did have a choice.
The irony of saying she really had no choice is this: the very reason she ended up as Queen in the first place is because her uncle Ed {who had 7 names and none of them was Fones !}, after 11 months as king said "Sayonara !" to the throne to schlepp off with Mrs Simpson, the American lady, who was originally called Bessie.
He exercised choice.
He was king.
It was doable then, it was doable in 1952. Queenie didn't have to do it. But she saw it as her duty and did it. Her choice.
In life, we always have a choice. The alternatives may not always be alternatives we want, but we always have a choice.
Charles had a choice when it came to Diana. And he exercised choice when it came to Camilla.
Et cetera.

America played a hugely significant part in how Lizzy came to ever be on the throne. Well, an American lady did. Had she not twinkled her eyes 😍 at King Ed with the 7 names and intimated "♪♫come ♫♪ hither ♪ ♪", he wouldn't have gone thither, ousted his mistress and then chucked the kingship. And his bruv George, who only had 4 names ~ of which 'George' was the last {he could have been Al, Fred or Art} ~ wouldn't have become king, succumbed to the pressures combined with smoking way too much and died at 56.
History is fascinating.
 
America played a hugely significant part in how Lizzy came to ever be on the throne. Well, an American lady did. Had she not twinkled her eyes 😍 at King Ed with the 7 names and intimated "♪♫come ♫♪ hither ♪ ♪", he wouldn't have gone thither, ousted his mistress and then chucked the kingship. And his bruv George, who only had 4 names ~ of which 'George' was the last {he could have been Al, Fred or Art} ~ wouldn't have become king, succumbed to the pressures combined with smoking way too much and died at 56.
History is fascinating.

It certainly is. The Queens mum, King Georges..... 'er in doors', was supposed to be a quite vengeful woman when a young Queen. So some say. :unsure:
 
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I've never been one to follow the Royals, but of the family, the Queen always seemed to be the epitome of class, respect, and decorum.

It's a shame that such conduct is no longer valued in these days of Twitter/TicTok/Facebook where everyone needs to post every petty thought and deed, appropriate or not. The old adage of "start brain before engaging mouth (or in this case, fingers)" is passe.
 
As a fond remembrance of the Queen, I have always enjoyed her (to me) somewhat whimsical outfits - especially her hats. They have always reminded me of those worn in Alice In Wonderland by the Mad Hatter.

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John Hartman


I saw them live one time in 1976 from a sky suite in what was then The Capital Centre in Landover, Md USA. The Outlaws were the opening act and they blew the roof off.
OMG! Two hours ago my GF had asked me if all of the original Doobie Brothers were still alive when we talking about bands back in the day etc.
To the best of my knowledge....Doobie Brothers were or are who are currently touring were all alive and well.
This is indeed sad news to read.
 
Noel Duggan, one of the founders of Clannad.
I first got into Celtic folk music in 1991, following hard on the heels of a year of jazz and jazz fusion, and early that year, I went to this little shop near where I lived that sold Irish records. You'd miss it if you weren't actually looking for it. Anyway, I took a gamble and bought three albums, all of which I still listen to. And one of them was Crann Úll by Clannad.1665960429189.png
It's not a great album, but it was good and intriguing enough to lead me to buy their first 3.
Funnily enough, the first song, "Ar a Ghabháil 'n a 'Chuain Damh" turned out to be the best on the album and sounded closer to jazz than Irish folk, with its electric piano. It had a great double bass part in the runout that played a large part in me actually going out and buying one, which I did a couple of months later.
I always thought Clannad in their early days were wonderfully integrated, their blend of male and female vocals being among the best one could find in the early 70s. They also looked great, kind of like Hippies from the 18th century.
I thought they missed a great trick in not taking the folk-rock route, because on their third LP there was a great example of where they could've taken it, but they followed their inclinations and went in a different direction ~ and became renowned for it. Good on them.
 
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