The Queen Out Riding.

I remained Mrs 'Jones' after my first husband and I were divorced because we had a son and he was 'Tom Jones' so it would have been confusing to revert to my maiden name. My second husband died but I remain Mrs 'Sam Smith'. I am not sure how Sarah Ferguson refers to herself, but the press call her Duchess of York and it was the press that called The Princess of Wales 'Princess Diana'.

Good for her

Yes, it's brilliant to see her still horse riding at 94. Good for her. Horses are wonderful to be around and very good for your physical and mental health.

The Queen has never worn a helmet since she first started riding. I suppose she can do as she wishes. Lovely lady.

My first reaction was that of wondering what the gardeners were thinking of her riding across that lawn!

But then, the pony may not have been shod and I doubt she did more than a walk and that looks like a lovely steady pony so she doesn’t need a hat and she’s always made it perfectly clear that One only needs a headscarf to keep One’s hair in place when hacking.

I am a teeny bit envious - not jealous - and still live in hopes of one day riding out with my DD and DGDs, but I know my knees would hurt like hell and it would take two firemen at least to get me on and off again.

Yes fatgran

Princess Margaret was still the Countess of Snowdon after her divorce, and he re-married, the new wife was then Countess of Snowdon also I believe
PM still has that title after her name if you look her up.

So if Andrew remarried new wife would be HRH Duchess of York and Sarah would be plain Duchess of York?

Sarah Ferguson was allowed to keep the Duchess of York title when she and Andrew divorced, but lost her HRH which is more important. The same as Diana kept Princess of Wales, without the HRH. Diana was never Princess Diana.

I assume lots of titles are retained by the aristocracy after divorce, various duchesses and countesses are divorced, but still use their titles.

We need to be rid of people like the vile Prince Andrew and the laughable Harry and Megan they most certainly do not deserve the lovely lives they have had handed to them.

We are rid of them.

Andrew will not be representing Queen and country again

H&M have gone.

I'm not a raging Royalist but I am quite happy with the Queen.

It's rather unusual to have a monarch for such a long time but I imagine in the next 10 years or so we should have Charlie at the helm.

Wealth will never be evenly distributed. It just won't.

I have no issue with the Royals and their houses etc. It's not as if they can sell them.

I think we pay about £1.50 a year for them.

So not a massive amount in the greater scheme of things

I was a monarchist all my life but now if we in Australia were asked if we wanted a republic I would vote yes.

The Queen has done a fine job but she has reigned too long now - there needs to be a change from a lifetime reign.

We need to be rid of people like the vile Prince Andrew and the laughable Harry and Megan they most certainly do not deserve the lovely lives they have had handed to them.

Also the dreadful Sarah Ferguson - and could anyone explain to me why this person is still referred to as The Duchess of York? Prince Andrew is not currently married so there is no Duchess of York. At the most she should be referred to as the ex Duchess.

I think we're pretty much in agreement regarding your last post, trisher, ("equality of opportunity is what matters, that all human beings have the right to basic necessities and that all human beings matter") except that I don't think it's "wrong" per se for some people to have 'so much more' than others. That depends on how they got it and what they do with it, etc. For example, I don't mind Elon Musk having "so much" because he's doing interesting stuff with his so much that could, ultimately, benefit all of humanity and already is benefiting all the people he employs.

I think she likes to avoid 'riding hat hair!'

As soon as I got back home it was a race upstairs to put in some rollers and use tons of hair spray before anybody set eyes on me.

All my life people have complained about the Queen not wearing a hard hat. Of course when she started riding the typical head wear for a lady rider was a soft felt hat (think Ginger Rogers in Top Hat) All the rest of the family wear hard hats so she's obviously pretty set in her own ways.

Queenie isn’t a better or more deserving person than anyone else. She will die at some point like the rest of us. Privileged. Obviously.

It isn't jealousy, it isn't envy, It's nothing to do with the place or circumstances of your birth or what wealth or achievements you have accrued. It's a simple belief that equality of opportunity is what matters, that all human beings have the right to basic necessities and that all human beings matter. That it is wrong for some to have so much more than others, especially when they haven't worked for that wealth, and that the weakest and the poorest deserve support.

Good to see the queen on a horse.

I really don'tunderstand why believing in equality is now considered or called "jealousy".

Especially when the correct word for such feelings is envy.

That aside, I think that even if you gave everyone in a goven population the same income and same opportunities, it wouldn't be long before inequalities and differences showed through, because what people do with their talents, their money, their lives will always be "unequal" so the results are unequal too.

Which isn't to say that trying to lower some inequalities is a bad thing. Of course it isn't. But "equality" as such will never exist.

I'm not jealous of the Queen. Jealous to the Queens luck?

You have summed things up well quizqueen

Too many people have got a chip on their shoulder!

Some posters are always bemoaning about the life of the 'deserving' poor', as opposed to the rich and privileged.

Well, I was born to a poor working class family in the Midlands in the 1950s, but the council house, we lived in, was always clean and comfortable, we ate well and good standards of behaviour were expected, and I took full advantage of my free grammar school education.

I now live in a half a million pound house, mortgage free since my mid 40s, in a 'naice' area of England. Life is what you make it but, I'm afraid, some people spend their lives moaning instead of doing all they can to improve their lot, no matter what their 'humble' beginnings!

Her father died aged 56 - he was a lifelong heavy smoker.

She should follow the guidelines and wear a hard riding cap to set an example. However, she is very good for her age to get upon a horse, I agree.

Her life mapped out from the age of 10, that’s 84 years,

How do you know it’s “jealous”?
I’m a bit “not bothered” about the queen I have to admit, sorry. Yes she must be very fit to be riding a horse at that age but no one can deny that she has always been well looked after. Having said that I guess she has done her “job” well but I can’t be doing with all that bowing and scraping business.

I admire her. True, she has every advantage in life, but so did her younger sister who behaved much less sensibly and died relatively young after a great deal of ill-health.

If you look at the Rich List (I think it was the Sunday Times), the Queen is a very long way down the list. There are many richer people than her, but you’ve never heard of most of them. Resentment seems to be reserved for the royals.