Elizabeth II's staff called to emergency meeting

[47of74]

Apparently there's some big goings on now.

news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/speculation-rife-of-prince-philips-death-despite-duke-pictured-in-good-health-yesterday/news-story/a14395facc4cb671b73a905c131e4cdc

Quote

THE internet has gone into meltdown amid speculation something has happened to Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip, despite no confirmation from Buckingham Palace.

The Queen summoned her entire royal staff from across the UK to a “highly unusual” meeting at Buckingham Palace in the early hours of Thursday, London time.

The only official confirmation from the Royal Family has been that a meeting has been called but that has not stopped wild speculation about the health of both the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen herself.

However, long-time Royals commentator and correspondent for London’s Evening Standard Robert Jobson said emergency Buckingham Palace meetings were not unusual and this specific meeting was, “no cause for alarm”.

Nothing on the BBC yet about the meeting.

 

A CTV reported said the Queen and Philip are still with us.

God save the Queen and the Duke.

[Cheetah]

I keep refreshing twitter but of course, it's just all speculation at this point.  Heading to bed soon....

btw I'm not sure I believe the person who thinks they have the inside scoop on who's still alive at the palace.  

[Bethella]

Just now, Cheetah said:

I keep refreshing twitter but of course, it's just all speculation at this point.  Heading to bed soon....

I don't think we'll hear anything official until 8 am local time which is in about 2 hours.

[ADoyle90815]

So far, it's just rumors about the death of Prince Philip, but until the BBC News makes the official announcement at 8am local time, it's all speculation. The only thing the Daily Fail has reported on was that the emergency meeting was called.

[Dandruff]

Maybe the Queen is going to hand more responsibilities over to Charles?

[Cartmann99]

Just saw this on CNN.com:

Quote

 

Prince Philip, 95-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, is to step down from public life, Buckingham Palace says.

"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen," a statement said.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/04/europe/prince-philip-queen-elizabeth-buckingham-palace/index.html

The article said it was a developing story, so there may be more details at the link by the time you read this.

[IrishCarrie]

All this secrecy and drama and a sudden emergency meeting about a 95 year old man deciding to take a back seat in a few month's time?

I think not. That's what they're putting out to the media but there's got to be more to it than meets the eye. Philip retiring is the sort of news that goes out in a press release at 3.00pm - why would all this hoo ha be needed???

Major props to Buckingham Palace for having such a tight grip on their privacy though; I'm genuinely impressed that out of the hundreds of staff there nothing leaked on social media. That's rare in today's age.

 

 

[Flossie]

Best wishes to Prince Philip.  I bet it wasn't easy to marry the future Queen of England, and then she became the queen much sooner than expected.  Back then, he would have expected to be the dominant partner in marriage, but he had to adjust when he married Elizabeth, and I've heard that he has done a wonderful job.  At 95, he's earned retirement a couple of times over.

(Also, I suspect he had a mild heart arrhythmia or a mini-stroke and could use the relaxation that withdrawing from public life will give him.)

I'd say that Elizabeth could be expected to retire soon, too, but I think she's made it clear she intends to stay in charge until the end.  When that end eventually comes, Charles will become King.  What would Camilla's new title be?

[Carm_88]

14 minutes ago, Flossie said:

I'd say that Elizabeth could be expected to retire soon, too, but I think she's made it clear she intends to stay in charge until the end.  When that end eventually comes, Charles will become King.  What would Camilla's new title be?

Elizabeth isn't going to retire but she may slow down even more as time goes on. Philip will be 96 in June, so it's not shocking that he wants to step down, plus I never particularly felt like he liked it to begin with. 

I'm not sure what Camilla's title will be. She can't be Queen or Queen Consort. Maybe Princess? I'm just not sure, there's really no guidelines around what to call her. 

[47of74]

 

3 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

All this secrecy and drama and a sudden emergency meeting about a 95 year old man deciding to take a back seat in a few month's time?

I think not. That's what they're putting out to the media but there's got to be more to it than meets the eye. Philip retiring is the sort of news that goes out in a press release at 3.00pm - why would all this hoo ha be needed???

Major props to Buckingham Palace for having such a tight grip on their privacy though; I'm genuinely impressed that out of the hundreds of staff there nothing leaked on social media. That's rare in today's age.

 

 

Yeah first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to head over to the BBC to see what had happened.  My first thought was all this really required calling a meeting at 3:00am UK time? 

I suppose they could have called the meeting earlier in the day yesterday but then the speculation would have started that much sooner.  Of course they could have made it at the same time that Philip and Her Majesty were seen which would have cut down on some of the speculation.

I would hope the French media who got it in their heads that Philip had passed feel pretty foolish now.  

 

[meee]

Why can't Camilla be Queen?

[Carm_88]

7 minutes ago, meee said:

Why can't Camilla be Queen?

Because she's a divorcee. Elizabeth's uncle Edward VIII was forced to abdicate because he wanted to marry a divorced woman. So, Charles won't have to do that at least, but Camilla won't be eligible to be Queen. 

[Flossie]

Charles should have married Camilla when they were younger and first got together, instead of refusing so he could sow some more wild oats.  I assume that they didn't start up their affair again until after Camilla had had her children with her first husband?  But to carry it on during his courtship of Diana and then after their marriage was pretty disrespectful.  I always felt bad for Diana, I thought she got a raw deal from the Royal Family during most of her marriage and after the divorce and her death.

I've followed William and Harry to a small extent after Diana died, and I think that they've both done well for themselves.  William and Kate look like they are truly in love and enjoy their lives and their children.  Harry was definitely a playboy, but he was also a respected member of the Military and even flew combat missions in Afghanistan, although that had to be kept secret until after he'd finished his tour and had left the country.  I was saddened to hear that he's had depression and only recently got help for it, but I admire the way he came out with it to help lessen the stigma that sometimes still accompanies a diagnosis of a mental disorder.  I hope that if he eventually marries, he also finds happiness with his own new family.

[mango_fandango]

Also in the WTF camp over needing a 3am meeting only to announce that Philip won't be doing royal duties anymore.

The Queen and Philip do really seem like they love each other, she said at one point that'd he'd been her strength and stay through the years of marriage. 

Not really surprised that Harry was a bit of a rebel. I would not want to grow up in that family. Especially in his shoes. He will never be King. After Elizabeth it's Charles, then William, then George, and by that time George will probably have kids... Harry's fifth in line currently, behind Charles, William, George and Charlotte. 

(Also: Charlotte looks almost EXACTLY like her brother.)

[Carm_88]

12 minutes ago, Flossie said:

Charles should have married Camilla when they were younger and first got together, instead of refusing so he could sow some more wild oats.

Um I believe and I'm not 100% on this but he couldn't have married Camilla then because she wasn't a virgin. 

[Flossie]

I don't think that would have stopped Charles from marrying Camilla if he'd really wanted to.  I think they would have simply had her checked for any STD's and kept her watched until the wedding so there was no chance that she didn't get pregnant until after the wedding.

That's what they did with Diana.  They moved her into the palace so the Queen Mother could 'train' her in how to be the proper Princess and eventual Queen.  At some point they had her checked out by Queen Elizabeth's personal OBGYN to make sure she had no obvious issues that might prevent her from providing the Crown with an heir (and a spare).  I remember after exam it was reported that Di had 'passed her virginity test', but I think it was one of her own relatives (an uncle) that said that.  The Palace reportedly only wanted to know if she could bear children.

In the end, the whole issue was considered unsavory by the general public so Kate wasn't subjected to a similar experience when she was set to marry Prince William.

I'm starting to realize that I've paid more attention to the British Royals than I thought.

[Palimpsest]

So Prince Phillip is retiring.  I can't blame him.  

The Queen has apparently stated that she will never abdicate and retire like all those other puny European royals.  She intends to die in harness.

Buck Palace originally said that Camilla's title will be HRH Princess Consort when (if) Charles gets the throne.  Charles is rumored to be pissed about this and already laying the ground work to making her queen, even if it takes an act of Parliament!

@Flossie, I'm old and remember Charles and his many rather steamy and unsavory romances prior to Diana.  Check out the Dale "Kanga" Tyron story.  He treated her very badly.  Charles and Camilla were part of a set of aristocratic swingers and goodness knows how much bed hopping went on.  Andrew Parker-Bowles was just as unfaithful as Camilla too. 

So I think that the Camilla and Charles star-crossed lovers separated in time and space by the evils of the throne story is bull shit.  It was great to rehabilitate their images though and they do seem a good match today.  He's a peevish, conceited, and bad tempered twit and she can cope with him.

That said, there really was the feeling at the time that Charles could only marry a pedigreed virgin.  He dated quite a few and dumped quite a few for not being pure enough, including one of Diana's sisters!  

 

[Four is Enough]

I thought Camilla would remain the Duchess of Cornwall, but I'm probably wrong. She's' done a lot of image-fixing over the years, so I think if Charles pushed for her to be Queen, there might be support there. I think it might damage his relationship with his sons, though. But what do I know? Brits seem to be very blase about things like infidelity.

[Carm_88]

2 minutes ago, Four is Enough said:

I thought Camilla would remain the Duchess of Cornwall, but I'm probably wrong. She's' done a lot of image-fixing over the years, so I think if Charles pushed for her to be Queen, there might be support there. I think it might damage his relationship with his sons, though. But what do I know? Brits seem to be very blase about things like infidelity.

If William is made Prince of Wales, and he would be, then he would have the title Duke of Cornwall. I think that's where the issue lies, the Duke of Cornwall goes along with the Prince of Wales title. Which of course it the title for the heir. 

Infidelity as being part of life has only really gone out of the Royal Family with George V. Edward VII had many mistresses and many affairs, Victoria didn't, but Royal Mistresses are as old as the monarchy itself. 

[Four is Enough]

Well, there IS that story about Victoria and her groom..... after Albert died. Girl's gotta scratch the itch.

 

Thanks for the cornwall info.

 

[Carm_88]

3 minutes ago, Four is Enough said:

Well, there IS that story about Victoria and her groom..... after Albert died. Girl's gotta scratch the itch.

 

Thanks for the cornwall info.

 

John Brown lol. And her Indian servant but his name escapes me!  

[Palimpsest]

2 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

Royal Mistresses are as old as the monarchy itself. 

Exactly.  It's only when they try to marry them that things get a bit hairy.  

I really think Charles expected to produce the heir and the spare with Diana and go back to swinging as usual - and not necessarily limited to Camilla.  The big problem was Diana didn't understand the rules.  He would have been fine if she had affairs after the heir and spare - if she had both been discreet about it and kept her mouth shut about the rottweiler.

Victoria was an extremely strange woman who had a series of crushes - and a very strong sex drive.  Allegedly.   

 

[mango_fandango]

Ancient rules can change. Like the primogeniture rule, and about sons and daughters taking equal precedence. Before, if a ruler died, their eldest son would take the throne, even if he had older sisters. Now it's purely based on age. If George had been a girl, she would be Queen eventually. That's why there was a lot of interest around George's birth. 

Can't remember which European royal family has twins. I don't think they have the same boys-over-girls thing as we do, but in that case the elder twin takes preference. That must kinda suck.

[VelociRapture]

All I'm going to say is this -

Prince Phillip has said and done some questionable things (racist) over the years. But he seems to have done a very good job at being the supportive and loving spouse Elizabeth has needed. I very much doubt it was always easy, but I give him credit for appearing to do his best.

I think it's natural for him to step back at this point. He's getting older and he may want to just enjoy his time with his family from now on. I wish him well and hope he enjoys many years with them.

As for Charles and Diana... it's a damn shame that the most mature people in that fiasco were William and Harry. I think that both men have a great deal to be proud of. And to be fair, if nothing else, their parents did manage to raise two compassionate and intelligent men despite their deeply fractured relationship.

4 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

Ancient rules can change. Like the primogeniture rule, and about sons and daughters taking equal precedence. Before, if a ruler died, their eldest son would take the throne, even if he had older sisters. Now it's purely based on age. If George had been a girl, she would be Queen eventually. That's why there was a lot of interest around George's birth. 

Can't remember which European royal family has twins. I don't think they have the same boys-over-girls thing as we do, but in that case the elder twin takes preference. That must kinda suck.

Royal family of Monaco.

[Flossie]

8 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

I really think Charles expected to produce the heir and the spare with Diana and go back to swinging as usual - and not necessarily limited to Camilla.  The big problem was Diana didn't understand the rules.  He would have been fine if she had affairs after the heir and spare - if she had both been discreet about it and kept her mouth shut about the rottweiler.

The rottweiler?  Please tell me you mean Camilla, because otherwise I'll start creating scenarios with Charles and canines.  I can't help it, I've never really liked Charles, so it's easy to think the worst of him.  I've also never liked Camilla, but I always thought she had more of a horse-face.