Is anyone else getting really offended with the deep ableism ingrained in the coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s mobility issues? Liz is going to be 96 years old in a month, and she was active and mobile for much longer than many seniors. There is no shame or shock to acknowledge that she’s slowing down and that she cannot walk or get around as easily as she once did. It’s also obvious, given the palace briefings, that Liz needs to use a wheelchair semi-permanently, and that the Queen simply refuses. She is a fussy old lady who does not want to be SEEN in a wheelchair. I wrote last week, “Do they realize that by treating the Queen’s mobility issues as something to be hidden from sight, they’re saying that handicapped people should not be seen?” Well, the Sun had a lengthy story about all of the arrangements being made to get the Queen to Prince Philip’s memorial service next week at Westminster Abbey. The deeply ingrained ableism is appalling.
The “military-style” operation to get the Queen to Westminster: The Sun on Sunday understands senior staff will arrange to fly Her Majesty by helicopter on a 15-minute trip from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace. Although the Queen was seen on her feet at face-to-face engagements at Windsor last week, her aides are not happy with her walking around 100 yards from the Abbey entrance through the nave and choir to get to her seat. Instead, they want to drive her the short distance from the Palace and seal off the entire Dean’s Yard to the west of the Abbey so they can park in private outside a side door. Six-foot privacy screens or even a football-style tunnel could be erected to prevent photographers from capturing her as she leaves the car.
The Queen’s wheelchair refusal: The Queen has previously ruled out the option of using a wheelchair at this stage and remains determined to continue to walk for as long as possible. But the option of assistance has been explored so she can get around The Cloisters, the south and east parts, in comfort and quickly. Aides then believe Her Majesty can be delivered into the Abbey at Poets’ Corner and needs only a short walk to take her seat in The Sanctuary. They are also exploring whether she can be seated before the audience arrives rather than last, as is tradition.
“She must be there”: “Everything is being looked at to make sure the Queen makes it to Philip’s service. But the most important thing is to make sure she is comfortable. She must be there, and the best and most capable minds are hard at work doing their very best to make it work… The best way is to fly by helicopter from Windsor to Buckingham Palace, then she only has a short drive to endure. A 15-minute flight is better than an hour in the back of a car. Some days she can walk around easily. Other days she cannot. It varies from day to day. The Queen has told her staff that she doesn’t want to use a wheelchair but they can give her assistance to get through the side entrance and into the Abbey to speed up the process.
God help us if she’s photographed in a wheelchair: “She can get out of the car in private with her walking stick and there are efforts being made to keep photographers away. But if she needs the wheelchair, then that must be done behind screens or once she is in the side entrance. It is then a considerable distance from the door round the private cloister to Poets’ Corner, where she can enter the abbey on her feet. Help and consideration from broadcasters will also be sought and required. This is the only way she can get into the Abbey. It needs to be as simple as possible and out of the public eye.”
This makes me feel like screaming at every single person involved in Operation Ableism. “Help and consideration from broadcasters will also be sought and required” and “It needs to be as simple as possible and out of the public eye.” Buckingham Palace is going to demand that every broadcaster remove their cameras from certain positions around the Abbey just so there will be zero footage of the Queen sitting in a wheelchair. They’ll also bully all of the papers and urge them to not set up photographers anywhere around the Queen’s path. The Queen and her courtiers are all telegraphing their collective belief that wheelchair-users should not be seen and should not have visibility in society.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Queen Elizabeth II ahead of the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lord’s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England.,Image: 610288342, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II receives the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey during an audience in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Picture date: Wednesday November 24, 2021.,Image: 644696447, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Kent attend the Trooping of the Colour military ceremony in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle to mark her Official Birthday at Windsor Castle. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II BACKGRID USA 12 JUNE 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of The Royal Family attend day three of the Royal Windsor Horse Show, at Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, UK. Pictured: Queen, Queen Elizabeth II BACKGRID USA 3 JULY 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
All this foolishness to appease the Rota. We know who owns who.
All gloves will be off when she goes. Some members of the rota will break rank and spill it all.
This.
I think they are in a blind panic of what will happen when Elizabeth eventually dies. They are not ready. They are desperate to portray that she’s still strong and in charge. They believe seeing her weak and frail in a wheelchair will shake people’s faith in the monarchy. Because they know Thing 1 and Thing 2 ain’t gonna cut it with the public. And are currently going after each other’s throats.
They also know once the Queen goes, Charles will axe the whole lot of them and replace them with his team of sycophants.
Yes, and it will be an epic destruction of every BRF member that we have never seen before or see twice!!!
She needs to just get in the fcking wheelchair. All this hullabaloo, so ridiculous. Oh, and you weren’t “anointed by god” anyway, Toots. Honestly, these people.
Yes, sit down Betty and ride in the chair! You are almost 96, a long life by many that have not had the privilege. So suck it up, stop being so vain!!
We don’t expect cartwheels 🤸 🤸🤸! My gawd!!
Maybe they could bring out her special weapon and Sophiesta could carry her on her back!!
All they are doing is driving up the price a non-UK tab will pay for a photo of HM in a wheelchair.
Seriously, they are being ridiculously offensive, at this point. It’s like they are trying to make people angry.
All this just to have her cancel at the last minute.. the pirates with press cards and firm making creating the narratives they want the British subjects to follow.
I remember seeing my Mom in her mobility scooter in her later years (she had lupus cerebritis, which affected her coordination). If she’d been the Queen, she’d have ridden up in her scooter, with the royal standard flying high.
Yes, the Queen could have made the most out her wheelchair. She could have flown the royal standard and bedazzled the hell out of her wheels with all those jewels in the vault. She could make such a statement in her custom outfitted rig!
It’s so weird because I don’t think they’re saying ordinary people shouldn’t been seen in a wheelchair – they’re saying someone anointed by God shouldn’t be seen in a wheelchair. But if God has granted you so many years that you finally need a wheelchair, shouldn’t you be humble enough to accept that? But I suppose humility and monarchy can’t exist in the same place.
Liz can’t show weakness in front of those other European royals in attendance, it would practically be an open invitation for the Prussians to invade.
Her cousin, King Constantine of Greece has been using a wheelchair for years.
agreed –it’s not that RF thinks people in wheelchairs shouldn’t be visible, but that they think the queen is SUPERIOR and SUPERIOR people don’t use (or shouldn’t be seen in) wheelchairs. thing is: no one really thinks she’s been ordained by god. i mean, what britons really believe that? everyone knows the only thing that makes her “special” is that she’s the richest person & head colonizer by luck of birth. everyone knows the monarchy is a fiction– it’s just that the tories & others want to perpetuate the myth of the royals being special because it better serves their economic interests (and the royals themselves are tories, functionally if not technically).
I also think the queen’s reluctance to be sene in a wheelchair is generational: not only does she think she’s special, she is of an inherently ableist generation (she’s younger than FDR of course, but same idea). Not an excuse, but offering context.
We’re still ableists, in that we want our leaders to be healthy and have the stamina and focus to perform their duties. We can say that, unlike presidents, the royals are not leaders and have no power, but I don’t think that’s how the Queen sees it.
Someone needs to show her a picture of Victoria in her wheelchair, nobody ever called Victoria weak. Even when she went full on mourning for the last of her life. This is just plain stupid. If she hates the look of a modern wheelchair could someone get Victoria’s out of storage?
I agree. I think this is more worry about the leader of the nation appearing to be too infirm to rule. In this day and age, Betty doesn’t need to be on her charger rallying the forces for battle.
FFS, YES! This is not Roosevelt during WWII. Hell, Roosevelt himself would probably be horribly offended by this.
If Betty and her mediocre progeny were anointed by God, then I want to have a word or two with God. Either God has a messed up sense of humor or the Brits are being punished.
I think the person who is adamant about not using a wheelchair is the Queen herself. Her sister, Margaret, was seen at several formal events prior to her death in a wheelchair so I don’t think it’s that the courtiers won’t let Royals sit in chairs. It’s Elizabeth herself who refuses to be seen like that and so they’re all running around trying to fulfil her wishes.
Stubborn old bat.
@The Hench: I think it’s *because* of her sister’s fate that the Q doesn’t want to be seen in a wheelchair. Margaret was seen as something of a pathetic figure in her final days. (And IMO she was a pathetic figure, but that had nothing to do with her use of a wheelchair or any other real or perceived disability.) I have no doubt that QEII pitied her sister and vowed to never appear so incapacitated. And I sort of get it: it’s vanity and snobbery and pride, yes. But it’s also entirely human to not want to give in to infirmity without a fight in your final days.
In that case she should retire never to be seen like Pope Benedict XVI and let Charles be the face of the monarch.
Can somebody explain to her, that a wheelchair can be a huge improvement in quality of life for people with mobility issues?
It can increase the number of things to do and places to go significantly.
We need more accessebility and normalisation of mobility aids, not less.
I tried to talk some sense into my grandfathers girlfriend many years ago. She would NOT use a walker for the life of her. She claimed she wasn’t that old, but used an incredibly unstable rolling table with metal edges instead. Had she fallen, she would have cut herself really bad. Some elderly people are just stubborn.
I’ve got news for them: She wasn’t anointed by god. No one is.
But seriously, she ESPECIALLY wasn’t.
Lady wouldn’t even be Queen, just some random poor relation, if her Uncle wasn’t foolish enough to abdicate.
She really needs to get over herself and her borrowed throne.
This is ridiculous. And ridiculously offensive. Nobody cares if she is in a wheelchair at 95! If they do, they’re stupid.
Kind of puts paid to the biographer’s statement about her humility and self-mockery. Sounds more like massive ego.
Her majesty is in very rapid decline. Shielding her will get even more tongues wagging. They need to humanise her or else whatever goodwill that family has left disappears completely.
If walking down the aisle to her seat from a side door is impossible how the heck does she climb into a helicopter?!
@Meg: I was wondering the same thing.
Stretcher…..shhhhhh!
My guess would be she doesn’t, someone lifts her in and out
I was wondering about that. I reckon she probably has some sort of little hydraulic lift that she stands on and it elevates her.
Either she is incredibly vain or her courtiers are. If you need a wheelchair, Betty, then use it….
I’m a medical social worker who helps people find funding for mobility devices, including wheelchairs, when they cannot afford them. That THIS CHICK is going through all THIS NONSENSE is outrageous. Don’t want your wheelchair, Betty? Great, give it to someone who desperately needs it but can’t afford one, and rot at home in your enormous castle with your prejudice.
This seems like a lot of effort to hide the fact that she needs a wheelchair, which is dumb bc at this point we all know she needs a wheelchair else there wouldn’t be this much effort over hiding it, if that makes sense, lol. I definitely think the Queen is a lot worse off than they are telling us and they don’t want people to realize how bad/weak she is, so they want to conceal her movements as much as possible.
I agree, Becks1 – it is as much about hiding the fact that she’s in very poor health and her days are numbered as it is hiding the wheelchair itself.
But I would almost think that having her be wheeled in or even operating her own power wheelchair down the long aisle, coming in last as usual while everyone gets a look at how happy and confident she looks sitting down and how mentally strong she is to be able to steer her own chair (“Queen masters wheelchair! The intrepid monarch, whose mind is still sharp, independently maneuvers own wheelchair expertly! Sources say queen speeds around BP, aides have to jog to keep up with spritely Maj!”) would hide her movements better than having her hobble in on super shaky legs and then creak-stumble her way down into a pew while everyone holds their breath and is wincing at the thought that she might fall. A chair could just be about comfort. It doesn’t mean that you’re 100% immobile and *this close* to death. Hobbling in frailly while grimacing in discomfort/looking terrified you might fall while people hover around to catch you, after being whisked through tunnels and hidden behind privacy screens erected for the sole purpose of shielding your fragility, seems like a less effective way to be like “everything is fine!”
totally agree, Amy Too! But that also makes me think that she isn’t able to zip around in a wheelchair… she is not well.
Oh I agree with you in theory, which is why I think this is about more than “just” the wheelchair. I think they’re worried she wouldn’t make it through the whole service for some reason, or that she’s a lot frailer than what we can tell from the zooms and pictures from Windsor and they’re trying to hide that.
But that’s ableism, right? The fact that she should have to feel at all ashamed of needing a wheel chair? It’s a blessing that she has her mental capacity. Our bodies decline and there’s no amount of money that can reverse the process, but the ability to stay cognitively strong is the best any of us can hope for, and it should be celebrated: the knowledge and wisdom of those who’ve lived through a century of changes.
Yeah, I’m getting weekend at Bernie’s vibes.
If an hour long car ride is too long, how will she be able to do an hour long service? They’re going to all these lengths to get her there, and it sounds like she might not be able to stay the whole time. I don’t see how the “best and brightest minds” are needed, just people with experience with the elderly who are, you know, realistic.
More than an hour long service if they want her there before the other attendees show up!
If it’s an hour long car ride, that would mean 3 hours for her. One in the car on the way there, the hour long service, and an hour on the way back. It might be that an hour is fine, but 3 isn’t.
I genuinely wonder if she will even make it to the memorial. If they are going to such lengths to hide her health (“understandings” with broadcasters and photographers), she must be even worse than anyone imagines. And while I’m quite sure that there is a large chunk of ableism-in-general involved, I think there is a larger chunk of it being ableism-of-‘the Queen’ – the quite elderly figurehead of the nation, whose progeny is much less than inspiring. Everyone – probably including the Queen – knows the storm that will kick off when she dies, and they are probably desperate to keep her looking and seeming as hale and healthy as she was even a couple of years ago, in order to stave off the beginnings of that storm for as long as possible. I believe the courtiers, and the Queen herself, are convinced that if she is seen in a wheelchair – seen as *mortal* – it will irrevocably click in people’s minds that ‘hey, she is going to die someday.’ I believe they think that as long as she can stand and walk – however slow, however wobbly – people will believe that she just needs rest and exercise and she’ll be back to normal. That’s not how it works, and people are already understanding that she is elderly and mortal, but hey, the courtiers aren’t exactly known for common sense or logical thinking…
I wonder about this too. I work with the elderly and my own father is nearing end of life with severe mobility restrictions. He can walk very short distances (like to the next room) with a walker and is otherwise in a wheelchair. (Which he hates, BTW.) It is absolute hell getting him in and out of a car. But once he’s in … he can ride for as long as he needs to. He might fall asleep or become incontinent or something but it’s not any more uncomfortable for him to ride in a car than it is to sit in his chair which he pretty much does at all other times.
So now I’m thinking, hmm, they don’t want to get her all dressed up just to become incontinent on the car ride. Fair enough. But there are certainly ways to do personal care and dressing once she’s at the Abbey. I tend to think they’re more afraid that she’ll nod off or become disoriented during the service.
That “best and most capable minds” part is particularly egregious. Are you kidding me?!? This isn’t the pandemic, you aren’t trying to find a vaccine that will save lives, you are just getting an old lady to a church.
This is shameful behaviour from the Palace and I’m amazed that no one in the press is talking about the ableism and ageism displayed by the Palace. There’s nothing wrong with the Queen using a wheelchair and she would serve as a good example to many disabled and aged people who have to use a wheelchair. My question is how does the Queen get around Windsor Castle? She has to be using a wheelchair in private already. Apparently Edward is the patron for UK Paralympics and before Harry left, Royal Family supported the Invictus Games, can’t they see how bad this looks?
So vain and proud because being anointed by God precludes her from showing human frailty and using a wheelchair. Or this might be her staff’s mindset, for all we know she might just want to stay at home in bed. All this talking about it just makes the speculation about her health even worse. I’m surprised they haven’t thought of installing an airport moving walkway in the Abbey for her use.
Publishing articles about the issue kind of makes it pointless to be so secretive with it, doesn’t it?
They’re all terrified of the pictures. Tongues can wag, and articles can be written, but as soon as one photo is snapped, it’s over.
The entire BRF hinges on the consistency of the beloved Queen. If she’s exactly as she’s always been, the entire institution is exactly as it’s always been. If she’s frail and on her way out, they’re forced to face the fact that everything behind her is a MESS.
Royalty is perception, and they’ll marionette her down the aisle from the ceiling before they put her in a wheelchair.
I like that marionette idea. It would be hilarious.
Years ago, she said “I have to be seen to be believed,” referring to the mystique of the monarchy. I think this is part and parcel of this insistence from the courtiers, or the queen herself, that she must not be seen looking the least but frail and not in charge. It’s the mystique that the Monarch is anointed by God and larger than life that is causing them to go through all these machinations to make the public believe that we are not seeing that which is right in front of our eyes – through every picture of her looking thinner and thinner, and her posture crumpling further and further. All in less than a year. Her mind may or may not be intact, but her body is breaking down, and at nearly 96, that’s a realistic picture of life. If she makes it to the Jubbly, I will be very surprised.
So, basically they’re telling us they’re going to Weekend at Bernie the old lady when the time comes. These headless chickens are ridiculous. And what happens if she falls? This “Operation Pretend the Queen is spry and able bodied” could backfire in a big way. If they let her walk a few steps and she falls, she could suffer terribly. If they surround her as she takes feeble steps (reminiscient of Will-di Amin on the two inch balance beam), she’ll look ridiculous, and everyone will wonder why she isn’t in a chair anyway.
These courtiers really have the worst possible instincts. “Lord, protect me from the royal courtiers” should be added to the UK prayer book.
Poor woman. Just leave her to watch from the comfort of her bed.
As upsetting as it is for people with mobility issues, and the wheelchair outrage – I understand why they don’t want her seen in one. She represents the head of a monarchy, and is supposed to be strong and able, guiding the nation. I don’t think the 21Centuary has seen a royal unable to walk themselves, especially in front of other European royals. Im not saying it’s right at all – just that this would be the logic.
Being in a wheelchair doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human, people grow old and some need assistance. If she and her fragile ego can’t handle that, then she should indeed stay home . Vanity is a sin.being head of the church she should know that .
Why don’t we just cut a hole in the roof of Westminster Abbey and lower her in that way? FFS.
Personally, I’d be more embarrassed of inconveniencing a couple dozen people just to move a few hundred feet rather than using a wheelchair. This isn’t just ableist, it’s peak entitlement.
This! I can almost see a movie scene about it right now. One day they will make a movie about the Queen and this will be one of the last scenes. And everyone will be going out of the way doing these expensive heroic things, but all this waste of resources would totally be “worth it” to see the contented smile on the Queen’s lips for making her wish come true.
Which has been almost her entire life.
Why do you think Andrew had a screaming fit about the stuffed toys on his bed? This is the world they live in, everyone exists to serve them and be grateful for the ‘honour’.
Someone just needs to post/show the first photo of her in a wheelchair, rip that bandaid off and be done with it.
Wheelchairs exist for support and comfort…who would judge a person for wanting to feel comfortable and safe in their 90’s? Seriously 🤷🏻♀️
If she’s unable to perform her duties due to hubris around using a wheelchair, then abdicate already and let Charles finish putting the dagger in the monarchy.
🙄 Meanwhile her grandson’s Invictus Games will be highlighting and celebrating many incredibly abled athletes in wheelchairs.
The whole lot of them are really just stuck in the past, aren’t they?
The rest of us know she’s a frail old lady. For god’s sake just allow her to be comfortable in her old age. These elaborate schemes to hide her declining health just make her appear even weaker to the general public.
Great point! What an irony that she refuses to use a wheelchair that she apparently needs, while her grandson will soon be celebrating the achievements and abilities of people in wheelchairs. The royals really do have terrible instincts. More proof that they have outlived their time, and British royalty should be sent to the rubbish heap of history.
I still say that she should get a rascal – a motorized cart. It even has a basket in front for her purse. She could really use this to support people with mobility issues and take away the shame that some people feel not being able to get around as well as they used to. The message she is sending now is horrid. If you can’t move, you must be hidden from view. Her advisors are terrible.
Maybe she can’t even manage a Rascal though…
“Some days she can walk around easily. Other days she cannot. It varies from day to day.”
^^^ This is our glimpse of the truth here. The palace can plan this thing like they’re storming the beaches at Normandy, but I think they’re all making courtier busywork for themselves at this point. I really doubt the Queen will attend this thing & I think they know it, so they’re just letting everyone know that they tried their best. If it’s this much of a struggle to get her in the building, how do we think she’d do for the 50 minute service? Or not standing to greet the many visiting royals? Or enduring 2 helicopter trips at nearly 96?
I think there are 2 things at play here. 1) This was supposed to be a cudgel against Harry when they knew he wouldn’t attend & it will look bad if the Queen doesn’t attend either. 2) The courtiers are getting increasingly worried that the Queen won’t make it to the Jubilee.
Maybe the courtiers could find an old sedan chair and carry the queen around on that if she doesn’t want to use a wheelchair.
this is the perfect solution!
They’re doing nothing but putting a target on her back. The photographer who gets a photo of her in a wheelchair (or trying to get in and out of one), will be able to sell it for big bucks in the US and European countries where the UK can’t legally censor the press.
I know everyone is going on about ableism and how this is demeaning to wheelchair users. But a lot of this is also about an old woman mourning the loss of independence and what she used to be able to do. And many elderly people are like this, not just her. It’s amplified because she is the Queen but so many senior citizens are stubborn in their refusal to use a cane or a walker, use a wheelchair, or help from someone to walk. Of course there is the added pressure of being seen as a beacon of stability and strength and it is a matter of pride and embarrassment too. Yes, she is 96 and I give the Queen a break but she probably doesn’t give herself one. And telling her to get over it doesn’t work. My grandfather refused to use a cane and was so annoying in his stubborness too. He could barely get around assisted and now he has no choice, he is forced to use a wheelchair but he isn’t happy about it. I don’t see that as ableism on the part of my 90+ grandfather who is in the same age bracket as the Queen. I see that as frustration and depression because he knows he can’t take care of himself like he used to and that is a HUGE adjustment. Luckily my grandfather doesn’t have to do that with the whole world watching. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the Queen to go through. And I’m not a fan of her, I think she should have abdicated long ago to let Charles take over and she could have avoided all this. But she takes her Queen vow seriously and now here we are.
+1
I appreciate the fact that you are looking at the queen as a very old person who is living in her own body.
I’ve been through this with both sets of grandparents, I know I’m not the only one who has dealt with family members being stubborn and being in denial about the debilitating effects of aging. My grandmother had dementia so by the time she was in a wheelchair, she couldn’t really argue about being in one (plus we had to have one of her legs amputated below the knee due to gangrene so she couldn’t have gotten around any other way at that point). But believe me, had my grandmother not had dementia and been mentally alert, she would have raised hell about being put in a wheelchair. She would have raised hell about having her foot amputated. My grandma was also a nurse who cared for the aging herself when she was younger and she actually ended up in the same nursing home she had worked in (though not in the same building). Had my grandmother been aware of any of that, she would have fought us every step of the way.
So the Queen being stubborn using a wheelchair–it’s more than just public optics. So much more.
I have no doubt that the Queen is having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that she can no longer be the independent woman that she’s always been. I’m dealing with my Mom who went from a forgetful 88 year old to full blown dementia in a matter of weeks. LOTS of frustration, but she really isn’t in the present any longer which is a blessing. I think where understanding the anger and depression felt by the very elderly comes into play I also have to say the Queen is different. Don’t take my word for it you can ask anyone in their numerous palaces. Royalty from many countries will be there. She needs to suck it up and acknowledge their presence, which I believe they are there for her and not her dead husband. Either she’s some wonderous beacon of whatever or she’s not. If she is, use the frickin’ wheelchair and be present to greet all of the other royals. She could do this before the service privately and then not attend the service. Frankly, I think that would be the better option. Stop trying to pretend she’s in good health. Frankly, I don’t think anyone is buying what their selling.
👏👏👏
Thank you, Amelie. I’ve been trying to say this but you’ve done it more eloquently and compassionately. Facing human frailty at the end of life is unimaginably hard, not least because none of us have any idea how we’ll handle it when it happens to us.
Not long ago Elizabeth restated the vow she made as a 21-year-old, to serve her people for life, however her definition of “service” seems to be a very narrow one; I think it is high time she revised it. Here she has an opportunity to perform an important act of service: to demonstrate that it is fine to accept help when the ravages of time reduce your physical strength. She could set an example: if it’s OK for The Queen to use a stick or a wheelchair, it’s fine for me. But, no, it seems she or the grey men are refusing to allow “The Crown” to be seen to be frail or disabled, even if Elizabeth is.
Such a good point. My mother (z”l) resisted the kind of help she needed for all the real reasons everyone else has cited so eloquently, but the thing that helped her accept her decline was when I pointed out that by letting us help her as she did it, she was teaching the generation down how we wanted to be cared for when we got old. TQ could be giving a master class in how we treat our aging loved ones. Aside from any other considerations, it’s a missed opportunity to serve her people.
@AmelieOriginal +1 to your comments.
Overall though, it does seem like it would have been wiser to be more honest about TQ’s issues starting back when she spent the night in the hospital. It’s a fine line between what’s reasonable in terms of protecting a person’s privacy vs. what’s reasonable to reveal when the person in question is a major public figure. One thing we do know, whenever there’s a fine line with anything involving the RF, they usually end up on the wrong side of said line. The way they’re behaving just leaves room for wild speculation about the real state of her health.
I have to wonder if it was important to maintain the facade that TQ was just fine at least up until her official 70th anniversary, so that when she issued the statement about how swell it would be for Camilla to be future consort, there were no questions about her fitness when she said that. But perhaps I’m being overly cynical…
For the Brits out here: would the general (UK) public really be impacted/lose faith in the monarchy if QEII was seen in a wheelchair? Or with a cast? Or a sling?
Like, don’t hold out on the colonies’ part; it wouldn’t phase anyone because truly no one thinks about the queen, let alone the queen as a stalwart leader of (insert colony here). She’s always been an old lady first, “oh yeah, you’re related to someone in the textbooks” second. Not “appointed by God so ~oowowowowooo~ she must know King Arthur”.
Would it really be the tragic, unimaginable, my-world-is-rocked-who-are-we-as-a-people moment the palace seems to think it would be?
No one cares. This very much has the tone of someone dramatically fainting and peeking their eyes open to see if anyone saw.
Not a Brit, but I can hazard a guess that what people are concerned about is confronting the reality.
The Queen IS old. It IS the end of an era. She IS a mortal, and she will die some day. Seeing her in a wheelchair would likely bring that fact home for a lot of people.
The monarchy is all about the image of perpetuity. I do think the monarchy’s handlers want to project an image of reassurance. They want to show that the Queen IS okay, even if that is not the case in reality. And in a sad, fcked up way, I do think that the British people will like the fact that the Queen is struggling so hard to not be in a wheelchair. They see it as her “overcoming” her physical and age-related frailties. They see it as her showing strength in these troubling times, to stand tall and project an image of wellness, even if she isn’t feeling well. The imagery of the struggle, and the triumph, is what matters.
Is it messed up? Yes. Immensely. But I do think this is ultimately the reason why everyone is so anxious about the Queen not being seen in a wheelchair. They don’t want to cause anxiety among people. They don’t want to see her as “succumbing to weakness.” It’s sad, and unnecessary, but there you have it.
The minute the queen started having serious health issues and mobility issues, which a good doctor would have warn them about, they should have quietly shelve the memorial service idea.
This seems very ill advised considering the new strain of COVID. Too bad it cannot be postponed/canceled.
I just stopped reading at ‘best and most capable minds’. We know that’s a joke.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who is one of the reasons she still has a country to be queen of, used a wheelchair. And yes, in the 1940’s he was very sensitive about photos being taken of him in a wheelchair. That is 80+ years ago. She knows this and needs to grow the heck up.
I agree that once she developed health and mobility issues the Courtiers should have canceled the memorial. It’s not necessary, he’s gone and outside of the immediate family, I think everyone has moved on, including Prince Charles.
This is starting to look more like the last chance for all of Eueopean royalty to see the Queen than any celebration for Phillip. That’s why there’s this special ops type undertaking to get her to this service. Plus there can be zero optics that could indicate that she may not make it to this jubilee stuff.
I just find it so strange all these royals are descending in the UK just for a 50 minute service for Phillip.
I agree. This is taking on the aura more and more of this being Europe’s royal houses’ last chance of seeing the queen in person. They can pay their respects to the memory of Phillip, but pay their respects in person to EIIR, which is becoming the bigger possibility every day. They are all family, in one way or another, and their longest reigning family member is obviously failing. They all know what’s happening, and they’ll play the game, but they are under no illusions that the next time they return to Britain, it will be for her funeral, because I doubt that many of them will come to the Jubbly.
Every eldery person Ive ever met is stubborn in one frustrating way or another… whether it be refusing to move out of their home when they cant care for themselves anymore, or not wanting a walker/wheelchair (my nan was very resistant) or persisting w racist/sexist remarks etc etc. QE2 is no different. Not much of a headline here. People love to get worked up about it though
Why hasn’t anyone ever helped her to get a proper fitting undergarment? Can someone please measure her and pull those straps up?!? For someone who is steadfast that royals wear pantyhose…please get your girls out from under your belt!
This is absolutely idiotic (and clearly offensive), it’s gonna do her more damage than not, straining her even more with all the subleties just not to get on a damn wheelchair.