Thursday, April 21, 2011

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

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You don't mind if I call you Elizabeth, do you? After all, I feel I've known you for a lifetime. In fact, we may even be related. Both my grandparents were British, you know, and if Grandma was right about her ancestry, we might very well be, at  best, cousins; at worst it is possible that I should be the Queen and you, well, a pretender. But, no matter. No hard feelings here.

As a matter of fact, it has been a lifetime since I watched you, as a young girl of 25, waving shyly to the crowd helping you celebrate your coronation. Watching you on that day, so many years ago, I became an Anglophile, and have never wavered. I have admired the way you have carried out your job and the dignified way you have endured all manner of misbehaviour (notice the British spelling?) of your various children,grandchildren, sister and the rudeness of the paparazzi over the years.

The way you handled the intruder in your bedroom years ago was magnificent. You kept your head (which so many of your forebears have failed to do by the way), and very calmly offered to go and get him a cigarette, thereby making your escape and raising the alarm. What poise! What nerves of steel!

I suffered along with you when Charles married the clueless Diana, and then treated her so badly she finally obtained a divorce and took up with that Arab. I felt your pain when your Subjects seemed to take Diana's side (The People's Princess, indeed), and temporarily turned their backs on you. I see they have come around, now and you are revered once again. Such patience on your part! Such dignity!

And, now, you are Eighty-Five and still going strong. Charles is still waiting in the wings, and then, there is William, second in line. The future reign of the Windsors seems secure.

I know you will enjoy next week's Royal Wedding of Wills and Kate. That should be quite a blow-out, in spite of the fact that they have lived together, off and on, for nine years. How progressive of you to approve of their union! How openminded!

So, Happy Birthday, Elizabeth, and many, many more.

Stay tuned.

13 comments:

kenju said...

Excellent post!!

Margie's Musings said...

Very informative!!

NitWit1 said...

Informative with humor. Although I am not in adoration of the Queen nor current Charles, nor Dianna, we are all human and have foilables.

Wonder if her longevity is genes or gin? I understand she lovea little tonic often?

Olga said...

Nicely done. I can't wait for your wrap-up of the royal wedding.

Big John said...

Come on Betty, it was your lot who had the good sense to kick out our 'royals'.
They are not the 'Windsors' they are the German 'Saxe-Coberg-Gothas'.
'er Maj is probably the best of a bad bunch, but I would be very pleased to see her and her parasitic family move to the USA or better still Outer Mongolia.
Please do enjoy the royal wedding, but let us hope that this one is the last.
Sorry to mess up your interesting post with this rant, but we 'republican' Brits find it hard to understand America's love affair with our so called 'royal family'

Darlene said...

If you share common ancestry with Elizabeth then we have a common history in our background, because my sister, who has traced the genealogy of our mother's family, discovered that we are related to that clueless Diana. :-)

Betty said...

Kenju and Margie: Thanks for the comments.

Nitwit1: You may have hit upon the reason she carries that purse everywhere. Maybe there's a flask of Gin inside!

Olga: Believe it or not, I plan to get up a 4 a.m. to watch the festivities. I got up that early to watch them bury the Pope, so I feel I owe it to the Royals to get up that early for them, too. lol

John! Your blood pressure! We didn't "kick them out", they just didn't have the good sense to come with us. And, by the way, Windsor is their name, thanks to Elizabeth's father (I think it was him)who changed it by proclamation.

Have your say,though. I still love you.

Darlene: Oh, my! Well, we can't change our ancestry, can we? lol

Looking to the Stars said...

What a GREAT post! I did not know it was her birthday. I loved everything you said, I hated it when the Brit's thought Diana was the bees knees and shunned their Queen. Diana knew nothing about being royalty, she was indeed clueless. I loved the juicy tidbit about Will & Kate, didn't know that.Ah, kids today :)

Once again, good post, I really enjoyed it :)

Betty said...

Looking: Glad you liked it.

Big John said...

You are quite right about the name change Betty, although it was 'er Maj's grandfather George V who changed it at the time of WW1 because of anti-German feeling in Britain. Liz's husband, Phil the Greek's grandfather's family also changed their name from Battenberg to Mountbatten for the same reason.
Makes you proud don't it ! :-)

Kay Dennison said...

Great post! Happy Easter!!!!

Grayquill said...

Happy Easter - interesting post! thanks

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