Recent content by BeatrixFan

May His Majesty rest in peace and may the new King have a long and peaceful reign as his father did.

Reuters is now quoting a palace statement which says the King died this morning.

I've had Thai television on this morning via an online stream. It went suddenly from a piece about computers to a placecard which said "National Council for Peace" and then began showing footage of the King with sad music over the top of it. Therefore, I think it's now safe to say that the...

The King is clearly suffering from ill health but I wonder if this was simply His Majesty being very emotional and finding it difficult to speak through tears rather than any kind of speech impediment caused by an illness? Certainly if the latter is the case, he has declined in health very quickly.

Everyone is talking about this series atm. Mostly wishing that history could be changed and that Queen Victoria could have married Lord M!

Does any of it really matter? It's all so long ago! Bertie and Alix clearly understood each other and to hand out morality well over 100 years later to the players involved seems a bit ridiculous. If Alice brought him comfort, whenever, wherever, whatever - good for her. I can't see that it...

But surely that happened with Baudouin and the abortion bill and that was years ago, yet the Belgian monarchy still stands? And when a monarch is overtly Catholic, these things will happen as society moves forward and if Henri has lost some of his power as a result, it would only be a crisis or...

The BBC are reporting that she has a bad chest infection. Very nasty! Hope HRH gets well soon.

At some point, we're going to have to face upto the reality which is that the Victorians built very pretty facades but they aren't really made to last! A parliamentary report says that Buckingham Palace needs renovation as a priority and the only way it can happen is for the Queen to move out...

Oh I agree. But let's not overlook that it does play a part. Perhaps the best example of personal popularity ensuring the continuity and stability of the monarchy would be Victoria and Edward VII. Britain came very close to being a republic because the Queen was personally disliked and regarded...

It's a fickle business. The UK press were obsessed with Kate until they broke up and then they dropped her like a stone and began to publish catalogues of eligibles! When they got back together, she was the new "saviour of the monarchy".....and now they're bored of her again. So even if you can...

This seems to be a problem with this new idea of online petitions being significant enough to warrant either a referendum or parliamentary time. In the UK, the suggestions for various petitions range from the emotional to the downright loopy but very few actually ever get debated. I imagine that...

One thing it's easy to overlook is that not every girl (contrary to what Disney would like us to aim for!) wants to be a real life, bona fide Princess. Especially considering that the Prince she'd have to marry is perhaps the most famous Prince in the world. Any relationship Harry gets into will...

She also seems very settled in America and I don't think he'd ever seriously consider her, they don't strike me as having much in common.....but it's a lovely dream!

I'm really enjoying the series but there are a few big mistakes that make me a cringe a little. The biggest error I've noticed was in the last episode when the character they're calling 'the Grand Duke' (the future Alexander II of Russia) said he was being forced to marry a Danish girl. Well...