Queen of England health

[LDSGator]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/09/08/world/queen-elizabeth
 

The Queen of England might be nearing the end. I’m no expert in math ( @Vort, I might need your help with this, you are far far better at math than I am) but I assume that the majority of the people in the world alive today have never seen someone else on the throne. 
 

Huge historical event. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by LDSGator

[Vort]

10 hours ago, LDSGator said:

I assume that the majority of the people in the world alive today have never seen someone else on the throne.

I'm sure you are right. Elizabeth II ascended to the throne on the untimely death of George VI, her father, in 1952. Elizabeth reigned for 70 years, so only those over the age of 70 (closer to 71, actually) were alive when her father was the king of England and the UK. I believe the world's 70+ age bracket comprises about 8% of the world's population, maybe a bit less. That means that until today, about 92% of the world's current population had never known another English monarch besides Elizabeth II. I assume the statistics would be very close to the same if you counted only the population of the UK or only the population of Commonwealth countries (most of whom accept the UK monarch as their own, at least in a figurehead position).

I'm not an avid follower or lover of the English monarchy, but FWIW, I thought Elizabeth brought intelligence, common sense, elegance, and extremely good manners to a position which, while having little or no real executive or legislative power, certainly holds important sway in international and domestic (UK) affairs. (No pun intended on the "affairs" part.) She will be missed. We can only hope that her son, King Charles, will rise above the conduct he has displayed for most of his adult life and instead follow his mother's example.

[Jamie123]

Just a small point - Queen Anne was the last woman to hold the title "Queen of England", and she died in 1714 (at which point she had not been Queen of England for 7 years). Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland etc...etc.)

[LDSGator]

4 hours ago, Jamie123 said:

Just a small point - Queen Anne was the last woman to hold the title "Queen of England", and she died in 1714 (at which point she had not been Queen of England for 7 years). Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland etc...etc.)

Yup. Speaking of the Stuarts why did Charles pick Charles III as his royal name? Charles Ist got his head chopped off and Charles II also came super close to it

[LDSGator]

21 hours ago, Vort said:

I'm sure you are right. Elizabeth II ascended to the throne on the untimely death of George VI, her father, in 1952. Elizabeth reigned for 70 years, so only those over the age of 70 (closer to 71, actually) were alive when her father was the king of England and the UK. I believe the world's 70+ age bracket comprises about 8% of the world's population, maybe a bit less. That means that until today, about 92% of the world's current population had never known another English monarch besides Elizabeth II. I assume the statistics would be very close to the same if you counted only the population of the UK or only the population of Commonwealth countries (most of whom accept the UK monarch as their own, at least in a figurehead position).

I'm not an avid follower or lover of the English monarchy, but FWIW, I thought Elizabeth brought intelligence, common sense, elegance, and extremely good manners to a position which, while having little or no real executive or legislative power, certainly holds important sway in international and domestic (UK) affairs. (No pun intended on the "affairs" part.) She will be missed. We can only hope that her son, King Charles, will rise above the conduct he has displayed for most of his adult life and instead follow his mother's example.

Thanks!

[Jamie123]

8 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Yup. Speaking of the Stuarts why did Charles pick Charles III as his royal name? Charles Ist got his head chopped off and Charles II also came super close to it

I believe Charles II was quite popular in his day because he lifted most of the puritanical policies of the Protectorate. The problem was that as a descendant of Scottish kings, he took the idea of divine rights a bit more seriously than did most Englishmen, and overruled objections to his Catholic brother succeeding him. From his perspective this was a disaster, but it precipitated a largely peaceful revolution which gave us the moderate form of monarchy we still have today.

[Just_A_Guy]

On 9/9/2022 at 5:48 PM, LDSGator said:

Yup. Speaking of the Stuarts why did Charles pick Charles III as his royal name? Charles Ist got his head chopped off and Charles II also came super close to it

Full name is Charles Philip Arthur George.  England has never had a King Philip, and these days tradition and continuity with the past is practically the monarchy’s only selling point.  On the other hand they’ve had a surfeit of Georges, especially in the last 100 years; another would be confusing.  And legend has it that the reign of their only King Arthur was cut short due to a war incited by his wife’s adultery.

“Charles” may have been his least-bad option.  

Edited September 11, 2022 by Just_A_Guy

[Jamie123]

50 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

And legend has it that the reign of their only King Arthur was cut short due to a war incited by his wife’s adultery.

There very nearly was an Arthur II - the eldest son of Henry VII who sadly died before his father. Henry was a Welshman and a descendant of the British kings who ruled before the Angles, Saxons and Normans came along, so it's not hard to see why he chose the name.

[Jamie123]

On 9/11/2022 at 6:57 AM, Just_A_Guy said:

And legend has it that the reign of their only King Arthur was cut short due to a war incited by his wife’s adultery.

Interesting coincidence: David Starkey has just posted this video about the significance of the Arthurian story on British history.  

It's very long, but quite interesting - you may want to skip to about half way in when he starts talking about the Tudors