Prank phone call

Recently we were going through some old stuff with DMiL.
Amongst them was a handwritten letter from King George V to Mil's father on his return from the trenches.
It filled a side of A4 paper and you could see from the signature that it had been handwritten by the King himself.
I think he sent letters to all returning soldiers and that is not the mark of an uncaring person.
I have no reason to suppose that the Queen is any more or less uncaring than her grandfather.
I would not have liked her life and how you can judge her gillybob I have no idea.

Have been away for a while (hospital visiting daily) and have just picked up on the end of this thread. I thought it was quite appropriate for the Queen to stay in Balmoral with her grandchildren for as long as possible. As a gran that would be my first priority. I have no great feelings for or against the monarchy but while I think the hoo hah over Diana' death was obscene I will never forget the picture of those two little boys following their mother's coffin. Whoever they are, however much money and privilege they have, they were dealt a terrible blow and had to endure it in the public eye. "if you prick me do I not bleed?" Now I have said my bit I am off again!

Living up to your name wisewoman.
Your comments I mean, not the fact that you're off again

I judge as I see jane exactly the same as anyone else does. You say that you do not think the queen to be any more or less caring than her grandfather. Why is that? I worshipped ( yes worshipped) my grandfather who in my opinion was the greatest and most perfect soul ever to walk the earth, but for anyone to assume I was as good or as bad as he was just because I am his granddaughter would be crazy.

I am not prepared to be hoodwinked into worshipping a highly privileged woman and her highly dysfunctional family who we are told is better than us through accident of birth. If that upsets some people well I am sorry but I cannot and will not change my opinion.

wisewoman I did feel genuine sorrow for two little boys left without their mummy. Exactly as I would feel for any child .

gillybob The Queen and older members of the Royal Family have had a lifetime's training in how to keep their genuine feelings under control. Just because Britain lost its stiff upper lip over Diana's tragic death, it doesn't mean the Queen couldn't keep hers.

I don't think anyone one here 'worships' the queen, nor indeed thinks she's better than us, and I doubt whether you've upset anyone, gillybob. I'm flabbergasted by the apparent depth of your hatred of royalty, but that's about it!

Never quite sure what I feel about the Royal Family [bit of a fence sitter] but when I visit stately homes and churches etc I'm always aware that it was our class sytem that built such places and I can't imagine world without them. As for the two boys, William is the same age as my son and the love and grief that I felt for him when he lost his mother has never left me, and all I want for him is joy and happiness.

gillybob, Why would anyone try and hoodwink you? Nobody's asking you to worship the Queen. I certainly don't.

Ana I do not think you will find the word " hate" in any of my posts. I "hate" no-one.

merlogran not sure about the stiff upper lip. If you cannot show any feeling at the death of your grandchildren's mother I would not call that stiff upper lip I would call that damned well cold hearted.

gillybob, We all know the Queen doesn't go in for public displays of emotion but we have no idea how she behaves in private. You obviously believe she is cold hearted through and through. I prefer to believe she's a warm hearted human being who knows how to control herself when it matters.

Well, it certainly comes over as very close to hatred.

It just goes to show you should never jump to conclusions Ana as I have already said I hate no- one .

Gillybob you may not have used the word 'hate' but you didn't need to - I think we can all make our own inferences.
Here are some quotes from your posts on this thread:

"The royals are not all sweetness and light that some would believe. Remember when Diana died how "sweet and caring" the queen was??? Not ! She really showed her true colours didn't she? We will never know even half of what goes on in that weird family"

"For this poor young girl who was conned into marry a cold hearted, ugly natured old stuff just to produce an heir."

"The queen showed no sadness at all and looked at Diana's death as an inconvenience."

" I do not think she ever lets such trivialities as "feelings" get in the way of anything."

" I am sorry I stick with the fact that they are cold hearted misfits and with any luck our grandchildren will see sense and get rid of the lot of them !"

"I have no respect whatsoever for this bunch of obscenely rich , over indulged people she does not appear to have any genuine feelings"

Of course you are entitled to your views, but it does sound to me as though you feel hate for the Royal Family.

I've always had the greatest difficulty in persuading my mother and aunts that anyone who emotes in public, particularly on TV, has any real feelings. Their view is that you weep etc in private so's not to upset/embarrass/entertain other people. gillybob obviously takes the opposite view, that you only show your sincere feelings by letting it all hang out.......

I have to say I always feel uncomfortable seeing people on TV sobbing about some loss, I think such grief is very personal. I'm not saying they don't feel the pain - just that it shouldn't be paraded for peoples "entertainment".

Well said

Personally I have a problem with ANY sweeping generalisations, and saying that every single member of the royal family falls into a certain category is unrealistic.

Thank you jane but my memory has not left me quite yet and I am perfectly capable of remembering what I have said in previous posts so it was really not necessary to go to all of that trouble cutting and pasting my comments.

Once and for all.... you still don't appear to get it.... I do not hate anyone

Lilygran You don't know me whatsoever and I do not "take the view that you only show your sincere feelings by letting it all hang out" whatever that means !

Heartily dislike then?

Ana

As my dad would have said when I was a kid.... "you just have to have the last word don't you".

Mind you that statement was normally followed by a slap !

The Queen cried publicly when she lost her yacht. Not trying to prove a point or anything just stating a fact. We don't know what anyone's like, really. I mean, I don't even know myself a lot of the time. We do, in this country, have an expectation of people being 'nice' whereas a lot of successful people aren't. I'm thinking of Richard Branson types here, or perhaps politicians [actually, that's going a bit too far]. Wonder if, in other parts of the world there isn't this expectation of 'niceness'.

Basically I'm with gillybob - I have a deep contempt for the whole concept of hereditary positions. And re Charles and Diana - she must have known what she was letting Diana in for - she knew about him and Camilla - look at the age difference ..all they wanted Diana for was as a breeding machine. Personally - if I'd had 4 children and three of their marriages had failed I'd wonder how I'd failed. The very idea of Charles as King makes my blood run cold - I mean have you seen Poundbury?

But the fact that they had failed marriages shows what a strain it is on their lives. Look at how 'normal' people seem to crack up with the publicity they have when they're on X Factor and suchlike. Bit of a poisoned chalice, being born Royal I think. Still, at least they don't have people constantly plotting against them these days . And we won't get done for treason if we have a bit of a dig at them [I hope ].

Why does the idea of Charles being king make your blood run cold, bluebell? You can't really think he's going to sit on his throne issuing edicts and generally making a nuisance of himself, surely? The monarch doesn't have much influence regarding the running of the country these days - it's all down to politicians.