Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Despite the idea that it's so tied in to the Queen, the position of Head of the Commonwealth is mainly ceremonial. There are countries in the Commonwealth who do not have the Queen as HoS and a country doesn't have to have been part of the Empire to be in the Commonwealth.

I think any international grouping of countries is a good thing, but this one doesn't have to be linked with the monarchy.

I agree with you Parsley I also think the Commonwealth smacks of the old days of colonialism. Like you I don’t understand why the Queen sets such store by it. I felt quite sorry for William and Catherine on their recent tour.

I do wonder about the future of the Commonwealth after William and Catherine’s recent trip.

Princess Anne has recently been on a visit to Australia but there was little media interest. Perhaps she’s not glamorous enough. I would have been interested though because she’s a royal I have a lot of respect for.

Anniebach

The Dutch and Swedish royal families are not head of the
Commonwealth

Is the Commonwealth a good thing? Isn’t ruling the UK enough? To me it has always smacked of the good old days of colonialism. I am not a fan of the Commonwealth and don’t understand why the Queen sets such store by it.

Anniebach

The Dutch and Swedish royal families are not head of the
Commonwealth

The Queen is currently Head of the Commonwealth and Charles will be, because the Queen has said that's what she wants. But William has said he doesn't mind if he is not Head of the Commonwealth in the future, but instead it is a "non Royal".

So comparisons with other countries' royal families don't hold up.

Grandma70s

The difficulty is, we frequently don’t do a very good job when electing leaders, do we?

I’ll stick with the monarchy unless they do something unforgivable.

In all seriousness Grandma70s I don't understand the approach that says we shouldn't vote for our leaders. That we should just rely on a particular family because we can't be trusted to choose somebody good.

Nobody would ever say we shouldn't vote for an MP and a government of our choosing.

Interesting post mawthemerrier

The Dutch and Swedish royal families are not head of the
Commonwealth

The difficulty is, we frequently don’t do a very good job when electing leaders, do we?

I’ll stick with the monarchy unless they do something unforgivable.

I have always thought the Dutch RF have got it exactly right. Similarly, the Swedish RF. A more modern and acceptable example if indeed our own RF have to continue.

A Président Zelenskyy ? Yes, even better

Are we allowed to mention the service at the Cenotaph?

What doesn’t she do? Well for starters she didn’t give out the Maundy Thursday monies did she? Prince Charles did it.

If to be alive is the only qualification, it doesn’t say much for the job does it?

She has to be alive and she remains Queen. She doesn’t have to do anything.

What duties doesn’t she carry out ?

We'll never know...

When I asked recently what duties were expected of her in this job (for job it is) I was told that I didn't know much about it. But nobody decided to enlighten me, they just kept saying I needed to educate myself. Sort of Catch-022, really.

What duties doesn’t she carry out ? When her father was treated for cancer she and her husband went on an official tour
in his place.

She didn’t carry out public duties when pregnant should she have abdicated then ?

She doesn't seem to have lost any mental capacity.

If posters feel all the hand shaking, ribbon cutting, meeting and greeting, general pomp and circumstances is irrelevant and unnecessary and she 's still compos mentis enough to do what is necessary regarding state papers etc then I can't see anything much to criticise.
Although perhaps it's time to give Mr Johnson a good dressing down.

She promised to be of service.

Maybe the best way of being of service is to understand one is too infirm to undertake all the duties and let somebody else do the job.

I think she made that promise aged 21 and she's not one to break a promise, maddyone.
She's not failing but she is delegating.

I think the Queen imposed the self control on her self and that’s probably the reason why she has refused to consider abdication or even retirement. It was probably informed by her uncle’s abdication, but by refusing she’s made us all live in a country where the Head of State can’t perform her duties, such as they are, I don’t find anything particularly admirable about it. I would admire her more if she had retired. The longer it goes on, the less admiration I have for this situation, which I find to be beyond ridiculous.

I sensed
You mean you gleaned from the media?
But you don't know anything about life behind the scenes in fact?

I sensed a very controlling mother, and a stubborn sense of self infallibility, a long time before she became a dear old lad

She's not a dear old lady - that's a ridiculous thing to say.

She has probably had to use the utmost self-control all her life to maintain standards, do her duty when she probably wanted to just go away and live in the country with her horses.
Her children seem to love her, as do most of her grandchildren.

Yes, on consideration I also agree Carbonated. She always played it safe, not into innovation but as a post war monarch maybe that was understandable.

An interesting post Carbonated. I find myself agreeing with you.

It makes me feel sad when I think about the Queen still being on the throne. She trained her son up to be King, at a heavy cost to him as a person, and she hasn't allowed him to step into that role. Historically I can't think what innovations, architecture, fashion, philosophy or anything she's inspired and will be considered 'Elisabethan' once her reign is over, despite her being the longest Monarch to reign. I sensed a very controlling mother, and a stubborn sense of self infallibility, a long time before she became a dear old lady.