Her Majesty the Queen

[Nixt]

http://static.open.salon.com/files/queen_elizabeth_ii1244224853.jpg


I love the Queen. I believe she is a massive symbol of Britain and an amazing woman. I guess she is something of a gay icon, too.

What are you opinions of Her Majesty?

[danzooo]

I think she's nothing more than a public figurehead.

How is she a gay icon? :S:P

[Neversoft]

I too love the Queen because she is a massive symbol of Britain and I am fairly patriotic.

In other news, its Adolf Hitler's birthday today. Happy 121st, Hitler!

[Nixt]

I think she's nothing more than a public figurehead.

How is she a gay icon? :S:P

I don't know, really. I don't know the Queen's opinion on homosexuals and it probably isn't good. Nevertheless, gays just seem to love her :D

[Catzsy]

I don't know, really. I don't know the Queen's opinion on homosexuals and it probably isn't good. Nevertheless, gays just seem to love her :D

I think she is probably one of the most enlightened person in the country when it comes to acceptance of homosexuality. Loads of her staff are gay and have been for decades without any stigma at all. The Queen is probably the one of the hardest working people around who has given up her own life to serve her country.

[Nixt]

I know she has lots of gay staff but she's never publicly spoke about it, so it's hard to gauge what her actual opinions are. I'd like to think she is accepting though, she seems like she would be.

[marriott0.01]

Don't see the point in her but I think she's rather amazing, gotta love a German bird ;)

[Smits]

Don't see the point in her but I think she's rather amazing, gotta love a German bird ;)

She's not german...

She's only there for tradition. Royal family brings in $$$$$$$$$$$$$$44

[Tintinnabulate]

I like the symbol etc. But tbh she is a *****. When the common wealth games were held in Manchester, and that girl who has trouble breathing took the torch. The queen refused to shake her hand or something. Very very bad attitude.

[Catzsy]

I know she has lots of gay staff but she's never publicly spoke about it, so it's hard to gauge what her actual opinions are. I'd like to think she is accepting though, she seems like she would be.


I found this which makes quite interesting reading and is quite inciteful. She has to be careful of course as she is head of the Church of England etc.



The Queen makes personal gesture to facilitate gay partnerships

08 Jan 2006- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the UK and a multitude of other countries, symbolic head of the Anglican Church, head of the commonwealth, and a living embodiment of conservative and long-standing traditions stretching back many hundreds of years, has given her blessing to at least one gay civil partnership in a most personal and practical way.

Of course, in her inherited role as head of state of the UK she pretty much had no real choice about signing the legislation parliament approved recognising civil partnerships between gays and lesbians, so even if she had not approved, it would have been difficult for her not to sign it. And by avoiding making public political comments her opinions on a wide range of matters are not known to the general public. So up to now, her opinions on the matter have not been known.

But on Wednesday The Queen made a very real pragmatic and personal gesture that signified acknowledgement of at least one civil partnership between gay men: So that Elton John and David Furnish could get to their partnership registration in their Rolls-Royce more easily and discreetly, given some expected crowds and a fair amount of press attention, she allowed them to take a short cut to Windsor Guildhall by nipping through her back garden. And we aren’t talking any old back garden either: We are of course referring to the crown estates that ajoin Windsor Castle and Windsor Guildhall, one of the most magnificent and prestigious ‘back gardens’ in the world.

We should not be that surprised really. After all, The Queen grew up in a household when gay courtiers seemed to be represented out of all proportion to the percentage of gay people in the general population. During the 1970’s, when issues around the acknowledgement and acceptance of homosexuality came up for public discussion, The Queen Mother, a close friend of Noel Coward, was heard to say once, “We rather like them actually. And if we didn’t have any, we’d have to go self-service”. In later years when two footmen were overheard in heated discussion, the Queen Mother said, “When you two old queens have finished arguing, this old queen would like her dinner served”.

We find that some gay people seem to have inclinations that lend themselves to being excellent diplomats. It was after all the significant presence of gays in diplomatic roles in the home office, foreign office and security services that was a main reason for decriminalising homosexuality in the UK, to reduce the likelihood of blackmail by acknowledging homosexuality as being acceptable. Even going back to Biblical times, gay people were often prominent in palaces – often confusingly called ‘eunuchs’, because they did not have the ‘heat’ for women – Daniel and Ashkenaz, for example. So it is not surprising that parts of our establishment that most represent tradition are in fact the most tolerant of homosexuality – their familiarity causes realisation that there is nothing to fear.

That the Queen allowed Elton and David to nip through her back garden – an honour accorded to very few people indeed - has not received much coverage in the press. But it is often small and personal gestures which give away people’s real attitudes rather than the public gestures which are often dictated by protocol. So for the Queen to make such a personal gesture for one gay couple is a much louder message to the world about her acceptance of committed relationships between people of the same gender than her original signing of the legislation which brought it into reality.

Mike Hersee

[xzl.]

I think shes a very influential figure in British culture etc, as we still have our monarchy and stuff, although as a person im not entirely sure due to her not speaking publicly about her opinions, but personally i still believe she is to be admired for her devotion to our country :)

[marriott0.01]

She's not german...

She's only there for tradition. Royal family brings in $$$$$$$$$$$$$$44

The royal family is technically of German decent ;)

[Caution]

Money grabbing, not required.

[Nixt]

Money grabbing, not required.

Why does it not surprise me you support UKIP. She brings in as much money as she spends, if not more :P.

[PaulMacC]

Why does it not surprise me you support UKIP. She brings in as much money as she spends, if not more :P.
Disagree. The amount of money required to protect and support the Royal Family is preposterous. Plus, people dont come to see the Queen. They come to see the palace, big ben and such.

[alexxxxx]

i can't believe a UKIP supporter just called the queen not required. im pretty sure she brings in more revenue than she costs. not totally sure though.

[Caution]

Why does it not surprise me you support UKIP. She brings in as much money as she spends, if not more :P.
No, she doesn't, and as said below, people don't come to see her. Waste of money, she's not needed. The Royal Family was maybe once necessary, but not now.

Disagree. The amount of money required to protect and support the Royal Family is preposterous. Plus, people dont come to see the Queen. They come to see the palace, big ben and such.

[Jorc]

Well doesn't she look fierce.

[Smits]

The royal family is technically of German decent ;)

Yeh theres german blood in the family, but she's not german..

[Describe]

I find her intresting but I'm not sure if I like her or not.

The fact that her bloodline through her father, George VI, goes straight to Victoria who was the last of the House of Hannover which is a German principality to sit on the throne is something that I found of intrest. The fact that the Queen is remarked as German however is annoying, she was born in London, she is English!

[Jordy]

Your the first UKIP supporter I've known who opposes the monarchy, they're generally quite nationalist and patriotic when it comes to things like this? They're always banging on about the sovereignty of Britain and signing it away to the EU. They're also immensely proud of the colonial past, they're probably the most pro-monarchy party.

The Royal Family is the core of being British. Tradition is of course one reason, it doesn't really do any harm either? She puts in an awful lot of money into the economy and really doesn't take much out, and then of course it brings in tourism too. Getting rid of the Queen is moving on from the past, and seeing as we used to be the most powerful nation in the world, I've no idea why we would want to. It would also mean we're losing more of our national identity. Most worryingly of all we would end up with a president who would be very powerful as they would be the head of state (Much more powerful than the prime minister), their security would cost an absolute fortune, and frankly I don't want any political leader to represent this country.

Apologies for how badly laid out this post is :P

[dbgtz]

I have nothing against her but why do they get so much protection? I mean people get killed all the time and they never got the chance of proper protection from taxpayers money. It sort of takes away fom the idea of equality even more. I mean if they get killed, they get killed. That might sound harsh but it happens daily to normal people I don't think those of fame should get any special treatment unless they actually use their own money.

[Jordy]

I have nothing against her but why do they get so much protection? I mean people get killed all the time and they never got the chance of proper protection from taxpayers money. It sort of takes away fom the idea of equality even more. I mean if they get killed, they get killed. That might sound harsh but it happens daily to normal people I don't think those of fame should get any special treatment unless they actually use their own money.Because they're a target and general members of the public aren't? The Queen is our head of state, theoretically the most powerful person in Britain and an influential world leader, and of course the others are in line for this position, therefore making them targets too.

There's no such thing as an equal society anyway. North Korea is the only truly communist country left in the world, the ideology is based around equality yet you'll find their leaders with even more protection than ours.

[Swastika]

Don't particularly think she's anything special, nobody really cares about her anyway? lol.

[Alkaz]

I think she is probably one of the most enlightened person in the country when it comes to acceptance of homosexuality. Loads of her staff are gay and have been for decades without any stigma at all. The Queen is probably the one of the hardest working people around who has given up her own life to serve her country.
I agree, it really annoys me when people say ''what has she done for me''. Yeh she is more of a public figure head but she still has important roles as well.
i.e. The Queen has to sign every new law passed through parliament, about 70 years ago a law was passed to say that easter Sunday would be the same Sunday every year but the Monarch of the time never signed it and although it passed through government, it to this day isn't law.
Is it important that the Queen does that? I guess everyone will have their own opinions but there is so much more to her being the Monarch as well as being one of the most recognizable people to have walked the planet.


Disagree. The amount of money required to protect and support the Royal Family is preposterous. Plus, people dont come to see the Queen. They come to see the palace, big ben and such.
I'm sure that if there wasn't such a famous monarch living in Buckingham palace for some of the year hardly anyone would come to visit it, there are palaces all around London and the UK which don't get as many visitors to them, I wonder why.

[ifuseekamy]

The royal family has very mixed roots and european royals are all related in some way. Also the queen is distant cousins with Obama, George Bush and a few other american big shots because they all descend from the same line of elites.

Anyway I like the queen, aside from being the prime beacon of British culture, both her and her mother have shown far more patriotism and devotion to their subjects than any politician. I'm much happier with the queen representing Britain rather than president Brown/Blair/Cameron who I doubt would command a fraction as much respect or prestige as the queen does.

[HotelUser]

I don't know, and couldn't care less about your queen for obvious reasons :P

[Metric1]

she's an entitled *****.

[Blinger$]

I don't know, and couldn't care less about your queen for obvious reasons :P
Isn't canada part of the commonwealth, making her your queen too?

To be honest, i don't care what she does. I prefer the princes (the young ones) they are much cooler imo.


I'm sure that if there wasn't such a famous monarch living in Buckingham palace for some of the year hardly anyone would come to visit it
One day i will visit the UK, and I won't be visiting buckingham palace because of the queen..

[AgnesIO]

Isn't canada part of the commonwealth, making her your queen too?

To be honest, i don't care what she does. I prefer the princes (the young ones) they are much cooler imo.


One day i will visit the UK, and I won't be visiting buckingham palace because of the queen..

If it was some random guy house nobody would visit it. There wouldn't be the 'trademark soldiers for a start/

[Adamm]

Royal Family is all wrong.

She's worth like £400m and all she does is sit on her royal arse and visit sick children. I could do that.

[HotelUser]

Isn't canada part of the commonwealth, making her your queen too?

To be honest, i don't care what she does. I prefer the princes (the young ones) they are much cooler imo.


One day i will visit the UK, and I won't be visiting buckingham palace because of the queen..

Yes but to be quite honest I don't think most Canadians know what commonwealth is, and a lot of us still think the Queen's incharge of England :P

[Narnat,]

I find her intresting but I'm not sure if I like her or not.

The fact that her bloodline through her father, George VI, goes straight to Victoria who was the last of the House of Hannover which is a German principality to sit on the throne is something that I found of intrest. The fact that the Queen is remarked as German however is annoying, she was born in London, she is English!

Yeah i would have to agree there tbh. and i think shes a good figure to britian tbh. and represents us well

[Blinger$]

If it was some random guy house nobody would visit it. There wouldn't be the 'trademark soldiers for a start/

I like to visit castles and such. When I was last in Switzerland I visited a few, there are none in Australia to view since we didn't have to defend from anyone really... (I'm talking back before the 1800s etc)

[AgnesIO]

I like to visit castles and such. When I was last in Switzerland I visited a few, there are none in Australia to view since we didn't have to defend from anyone really... (I'm talking back before the 1800s etc)

But that's because castles have history. Remove the royal family etc and say they never lived in buckingham palace, and it would just be some rich persons house.