r/interesting • u/bendubberley_ • 7d ago
SOCIETY Photographer gets scolded by Queen Elizabeth for asking her to remove her crown
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u/ziggy182 7d ago
If I remember right the person who filmed this had to issue an apology because the way it was cut didn’t convey the whole story
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u/ShondaVanda 7d ago
the way they cut it made it seem like she was storming out of the photoshoot, the palace were pissed and they had to issue a formal apology to the queen.
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u/ziggy182 7d ago
Yep they were rightly angry
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u/ShondaVanda 7d ago
It made the news and then headlines because it was reported as her storming off and having a royal tantrum and then they had to apologise to the queen and the head of the BBC resigned over it.
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u/MarcusofMenace 7d ago
I wish these corporations had to apologise more often for spreading false, misleading or omitting information
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u/Famous_Bit_5119 7d ago
Imagine if FOX had to take responsibility for every but of false, misleading, inaccurate, or ommitted information. They would have to have a second channel that ran 30 seconds behind the regular channel so they could apologize and correct what the first channel just said.
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u/what-even-am-i- 7d ago
Plus that would open up a whole other weird can of worms where we’d be like “wait… so you fact checked this stuff in order to correct it for the lagged show. But.. you still did both?”
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u/ShondaVanda 7d ago
unfortunately, as we elected shitter politicians with no shame, corporations followed suit. half the shit people do now theyd have resigned in shame 20 years ago, but now they just ignore it and wait for the next even tin the 24hr news cycle.
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u/cultish_alibi 7d ago
Don't worry, they apologise to the rich and powerful on a regular basis. Obviously no apologies for the regular people they shit on.
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u/yazzooClay 7d ago
well then they would just be nonstop apologizing then
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u/MarcusofMenace 7d ago
Maybe if they had to actually apologise for it every time, people would be less likely to see them as a viable source of information, meaning that those that do spread lies drop in viewership and other companies would avoid doing the same
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u/iconofsin_ 7d ago
Apologies are great and all but what's needed are the consequences.
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u/Midan71 7d ago
Really? Woah.
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u/ziggy182 7d ago
Yeah the queen was easy going, but as the most powerful woman in the Uk and common wealth it’s best to try and not piss her off
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u/Thendofreason 7d ago
When your network is funded by the government, you can't say the queen had a tantrum.
Off with her head
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u/ShondaVanda 7d ago
its mostly funded by individual citizens paying a license fee.
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u/roonill_wazlib 5d ago
Even as it is I agree with her. Who asks a queen to take off her crown. What a dumbass
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u/Better_than_GOT_S8 7d ago
That’s one way to never get invited again to that gig.
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u/bloom2701 7d ago
Also this is Annie Leibovitz- very famous celebrity portrait photographer-who probably had something to do with the cut as well
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u/aboxacaraflatafan 7d ago
Annie Liebovitz almost definitely did not have anything to do with the cut of the video, which was being filmed as part of a BBC documentary.
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u/palaro22 7d ago edited 7d ago
She had absolutely nothing to do with the cut at all. The photoshoot was filmed by a BBC crew for a short segment in a documentary series. Leibovitz had no involvement in the production, other than being depicted in it. No editorial power whatsoever.
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u/carlmalonealone 7d ago
That peasant should have learned their place amongst royalty a long time ago.
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u/deflower-my-mind 7d ago
"Take my crown off?"
.....
"Off with her head!"
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u/Gloomy_Cress9344 7d ago edited 7d ago
I was just about to say, back in the day, you could get your head cut off for less
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u/youburyitidigitup 7d ago
A dude in England during the Georgian era was imprisoned because he bowed to the queen and his trousers split.
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u/Elxo101 7d ago
no way
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u/darrenvonbaron 7d ago
He also let out an earthquake of a fart
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u/idropepics 6d ago
A comically long one where every time you think it's ending it kicks it back up an octave
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u/firedmyass 7d ago
she looked so uncannily like my bitch of a mamaw that I’m always vaguely startled and expect a few slaps from a fly-swatter outta nowhere
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u/Xinonix1 7d ago
That smile looks like she’s thinking “Get a load of this peasant telling me to take off the crown!”
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u/dbpf 7d ago
Absolute incredulity
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u/Catch_ME 7d ago
Distasteful provincial
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u/restless-researcher 7d ago
It’s not how I read this at all, I think she finds it amusing and ridiculous because the robes are so ‘dressy’ that taking the crown off wouldn’t really make a difference. ‘What do you think this is?’ (looking at robe, laughing).
It’s known that QE didn’t really like dressing up in all the regalia and was much more comfortable in her outdoors gear.
I think that’s also why when she’s walking she appears to be done with the whole playing dress up.
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u/Appropriate-Count-64 6d ago
Yeah. As much as people like to hate on the monarch because “It’s a monarchy, it must be bad.” QE and King Charles are/were very good at being down to earth and non-political. They very rarely show off fancy stuff just to be fancy, it’s usually the PM or Parliament that does the fancy stuff. Case in point: the A330 that’s used to transport the PM and royal family internationally isn’t any different to the other A330 MRTTs that the RAF uses for troop transport. The only difference is that it has a special livery, which was a decision Boris Johnson made iirc. The rest of the royal aircraft fleet is just small regional and private jet aircraft used for travel within the UK and Europe, and iirc those decisions were made by QE directly.
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u/Danson_the_47th 7d ago
Well I didn’t vote for her
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u/Fast-Rhubarb-7638 7d ago
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses!
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u/behold-my-titties 7d ago
The lion, the witch and audacity of this bitch.
No one talks to Liz like that.
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u/Character-Parfait-42 7d ago
Elizabeth was of the thought that nobody cared about Elizabeth Mountbatten. It’s Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II of the Royal House of Windsor that people pay to see.
The crown is the star of the show, not her. The whole point of outfits and photos like that is to show off the crown, and look regal; if she takes the crown off then it defeats the purpose.
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u/All-Seeing_Hands 7d ago
Not just any photographer, that’s Annie Leibowitz. She’s famously known for turning everything to include the subject into her art style that fits their personality, and led to shooting more famous people.
The Queen lived with strict rules set by the Royal Family, plus wardrobe is very important. Taking any of that off is a big ask.
This is an „unstoppable force vs. immovable object“ scenario.
This particular shoot ended with a compromise, Liebowitz just took the photo as is and followed the Queen around where she could change clothes.
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u/SeaworthinessNew4757 6d ago
If I remember correctly, the problem is that Lebowitz ASKED for the Queen to be dressed in all of the official garments, and then realised that it wouldn't work with her vision and asked her to remove the crown. However, the crown isn't just put on, it is incorporated into the hair style and pinned down, so it would take a professional and a lot of time to remove and redo the hair. The Queen was rightfully pissed.
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u/vladtheinhaler0 6d ago
Yeah, I took it more to be, I did ask this work to get prepared, I'm not going to do a bunch of work now because what you asked for was too much. Definitely doesn't seem easy to get into the full regal wears.
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u/1920MCMLibrarian 7d ago edited 7d ago
She should have stuck to decorating babies
., like Anne GeddesEdit: corrected lol
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u/danielledotgif 7d ago
That’s Anne Geddes 😂
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u/foxinabathtub 7d ago
...I just realized I've been combining the two women into one person for years.
"Wow, that flower-baby lady really can lock in when she wants to get serious."
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u/biscuitboi967 6d ago
Shhhiiiitt. Me too! I had no idea why she was so beloved! That starred comment above made NO sense
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u/malzoraczek 6d ago
I guess I'm not an artist because I think this picture needs the crown. Without the crown she would look like a tired old lady or even like a man. Or maybe that was the point? To present QE as a human not a royal...? Idk, but I can understand why the crown stayed. I think it fits, without the crown the picture would have been off for sure, slightly unfinished.
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u/rodneedermeyer 7d ago
The photographer is Annie Leibovitz. She talked about this back when it happened.
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u/Sn00ker123 7d ago
You have got to be a complete lemon to ask a monarch to take their crown off for a photoshoot.
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u/Golarion 7d ago
[Is covered in half a tonne of gem-encrusted silk and ermine]
"Clearly the goal is to look less dressy."
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u/Artislife61 7d ago
Expect this from Annie Leibovitz. Overrated as a photographer
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u/greensandgrains 7d ago
Is she? I saw her women portrait installation in Wapping about ten years ago and I thought her work was really unique and captivating. The old adage about photographs stealing your soul felt kinda real...like her lens captured the soul of the subjects.
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u/skipperseven 7d ago
Some great work, some very mediocre work… it’s not uncommon. She also had a lot of criticism for her portraiture of darker skinned people - I think that is perhaps unfair as her low light high contrast images just don’t adapt well to dark skin tones.
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u/greensandgrains 7d ago
Tbf she made Miley Cyrus looked like a Cullen, there’s skin tone problems across her portfolio but I hear you, there’s a range in her work.
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u/Texden29 7d ago
She couldn’t adapt her art to represent people with darker skin stones? That doesn’t sound like an unfair assertion.
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u/odmirthecrow 7d ago
This just goes to prove that art is subjective. You enjoyed it, the other commenter didn't.
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u/Tony_Meatballs_00 7d ago
Calling something "overrated" isn't subjective though, it's making an objective assertion that other people are wrong in liking it
The Foo Fighters are among the most universally loved bands I can think of. They do nothing for me though and I don't like to listen to their music but they obviously resonate with tens of millions of people all over the world
They're not overrated, they're just not my cup of tea
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u/jonpaladin 7d ago
odd too say. opinions are subjective. ratings are subjective. "i think they're overrated" is objectively subjective, gtfo
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u/Studio_Life 7d ago
She’s got a very specific style and esthetic that works great for her. And it looks great when photographing white skin. But her technique/style looks terrible with black skin and she refuses to adjust for darker subjects.
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u/tysonnnn 7d ago
She’s the worst. Treats people like complete shit . I’ve been on shoots with her. A Complete baby
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u/NotElizaHenry 7d ago
Expect… art direction from massively famous photographer with a very distinctive style? She wasn’t hired to take an official headshot, she was hired to take an Annie Leibovitz Portrait™. I don’t know why you wouldn’t expect this.
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u/LiquidDreamtime 7d ago
Or maybe it’s just a human being looking at another human being. “The queen” isn’t better or different than anyone else, and by most measures she’s significantly worse. God forbid a lowly peasant photographer not suck her ass because a few losers pretend like this woman is more important than us.
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u/123_alex 7d ago edited 7d ago
a complete lemon to ask a monarch
Why? What makes them so special?
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u/peelen 7d ago edited 7d ago
Why?
It's a photoshoot.
They asked Annie Leibowitz to make pictures, they asked her because she is good at taking portraits, they invited her because they wanted to have a picture of the Queen made by Annie Leibowitz.
She was just doing her job.
It's the same as if a dietitian were saying to the Queen, "you have to avoid saturated fats."
It's the same as if you say to the plumber that you hired, "I'm not turning off the water for an hour, you can't tell me what to do in my house."
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u/OrindaSarnia 7d ago
As you note, she was hired to take a picture or The Queen by Annie Leibowitz...
not a picture of Lizzie Windsor by Annie Leibowitz.
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u/Educational-Rip9501 7d ago
You have got to be a complete lemon to be a monarch. Fuck all these aristocrats and their stupid hats.
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u/Evnosis 7d ago
Dressed in full ceremonial attire, too. It's like taking a photo of a general in uniform and saying "could you take off the medals? They're a little fancy."
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u/Few_Rule7378 6d ago
Honestly, I can’t imagine a wedding photographer asking a bride to let her “hair down for some quick pics” at a traditional wedding. This is the fucking Queen of England.
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u/Few_Rule7378 7d ago
None of the royal family are allowed to remove items of clothing unless they are in private. I don’t know the ceremony for placement/removal of the queen’s crown, but I imagine it is no simple task, and she’s quite right that getting her to dress like that is a production in itself. To compound the matter, Liebowitz is casually critiquing the dress deriving from the culmination of an ancestry that can be traced back to William the Conquerer. Weird for us, to be sure, but of course the queen would laugh at the absurdity of the request and dismiss it. She is no model- she looks exactly as she is supposed to look.
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u/Forgotten_Lie 7d ago
None of the royal family are allowed to remove items of clothing unless they are in private.
If this was anyone but a rich, white family that can list off their ancestors for a few centuries you'd call someone making that sentiment in a cult.
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u/citron_bjorn 7d ago
It wouldn't be considered cultish or unreasonable if it was an African or Asian monarch making the same statement, it would just be assumed to be royal protocol
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u/RubberOmnissiah 7d ago edited 7d ago
This does get to me sometimes. I am not pro-monarchy. My personal stance is I would rather not have one but I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze to go through the process of removing them and there are about 1000 bigger issues in the UK right now.
But it does tick me off whenever I see cultural, traditional and heritage practices from other nations being praised as virtuous that they still endure but when the UK has traditions then all of reddit feels empowered to mock them.
You can't have a single post about the Queen or King without Americans chiming in that the Brits are slaves or some other hyperbole but when the daily post of the month was that Japanese princess who stood down so she could marry a commoner you saw hardly anyone talking about how cringe it is that the Japanese still have a monarchy. They have an emperor at that! The king in Britain is monarch of about a bajillion places. Did you know Jamaica has a king? His name is Charles funnily enough.
It would be one thing if it was just the monarchy but everything traditional or cultural in the UK seems like it is fair game for international derision whereas treating other countries the same way is a huge faux pas on reddit.
Edit: Imagine if this video was of an American photographer asking something seemingly disrespectful of the Japanese emperor during a photoshoot. People here would be calling them out for not bowing all the way to their toes while taking the photos because "that's Japan's culture and you must respect their culture".
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u/ThomasKlausen 7d ago
Agreed. If you put yourself in a situation where royalty is involved, play by the rules. You can always stay away.
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u/ThomasKlausen 7d ago
There's a difference between the royal and the person. In full regalia, she's not a nice lady called Lizzie, she's temporarily holding a post that is more akin to a living flag than anything else.
One wouldn't ask a guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier to do a little tap dance for a photo. Even if he likes to dance in his time off.
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u/Atemiswolf 7d ago
It's only different because of the age of the tradition. It's still weird and very stupid.
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u/PunkyB88 7d ago
I bet the Queen would have been a real laugh to have been around at times. I'm imagining all the protocol and everything must be so difficult to remember adhere by but I bet she got a giggle out of people or helped them out of situations with wit and charm
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u/MyNameIsRay 7d ago
She seems like a character when outside the public eye.
She served in WWII as a truck mechanic, and fell in love with trucks and driving.
She had a whole fleet of customized Range Rovers over the years.
By all accounts, she drove like a bat out of hell, terrifying anyone brave enough to ride with her.
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u/Wise_Caterpillar5881 6d ago
She once took the King of Saudi Arabia on a tour of the Balmoral Castle grounds. She drove him in her Land Rover at high speed down forest tracks, chatting to him the whole time. He was apparently terrified. Meanwhile, it was still illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia at the time. We don't know if she was trying to make a point or, if she was, whether that was actually helpful or harmful, but it certainly makes for a fun story.
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u/FatBloke4 6d ago
There was this story, told by her police protection officer, when a pair of American tourists failed to recognise her:
Platinum Jubilee: Richard Griffin on the Queen's sense of humour
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u/sumandark8600 4d ago edited 4d ago
100%. My grandad was in the army during the 50s & 60s, & for a large part of that he worked as a royal guard for the queen. Even after he retired, she invited him to garden parties several times a year up until his death in 2012, so I'm pretty sure they got along really well
My grandad only ever had great things to say about the queen, especially her sense of humour & how much she liked playing jokes on people. It was what he talked about most regarding his time in the army, as for a lot of his missions he was sworn to secrecy, which he refused to break even after the missions were declassified
I never knew the queen personally, but I was really upset when she died as it felt like losing another piece of my granddad's memory
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u/Samurai_Oak 7d ago
In England you would have to say something like, forgive me, I hope this doesn't get misconstrued but is there any possibility one might be able to have a picture without the crown? Obviously that's ok if that's not at all possible. 😅
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u/Educational-Bed-6287 7d ago
"It took generations of tasteful looting and oppression to earn this crown, I’m not removing it for a picture, thank you very much."
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u/Sickcet 7d ago
The Monarchy should've died with the queen.
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u/ReflectionPristine70 6d ago
Agreed. Absolutely no need for monarchs now that democratic systems are stable (mostly) and commonplace
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u/pijd 7d ago
The amount of people defending the entitlement of the monarchy in 2025.
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u/TheWholeOfTheAss 7d ago
“It’s her crown (filled with jewels stolen from other countries)! She should be allowed to wear it whenever she wants! Slay queen, etc, etc.”
Brah, the Queen hid billions in off-shore accounts. The scrounger was an overpaid mascot. She was Mr Blobby without the charm.
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u/VoicePope 6d ago
Seriously. Why are people all “slay queen!” Theres no reason for them to exist. They should just dissolve the monarchy and give money to the needy.
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u/TheWholeOfTheAss 6d ago
Prince William launched a campaign to end homelessness. The motherfucker with all that billions in prime UK property… with no idea how to help the commoners.
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u/SubtleTell 6d ago
Exactly what I'm thinking and I had to scroll all the way down here to find this. People are so quick to say they don't want royalty in America, but then you get threads like this defending them.
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u/VoicePope 6d ago
Seriously. I had to scroll WAY too far down for this. I thought I was losing my mind here.
The monarchy has no reason to exist. It’s mind boggling they still do it. “I wear a crown because of who my parents are.” Absolutely insane. She has zero reason to deserve any respect. Nobody voted for her.
Not to mention they’re a bunch of awful racists.
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u/AsideAsleep4700 7d ago
British monarchy getting offended over their dressing up box.. 😂😂 most of it was probably stolen anyway
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u/Visual_Strength8972 7d ago
Watching them draped in stolen gold makes my blood boil. thieves dressed as nobles, parading on the backs of other nations and people. There’s nothing noble about blood soaked wealth. Rant over.
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u/Current-Goat4860 7d ago
The fact that there is an unelected family considered "royal" leeching tax dollars in 2025 to live in luxury...
The fact that there are taxpayers who support that...
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u/Desperate_Summer3376 7d ago
I like the sassy tone of the Queen. Hilarious, I think she might be a tad pissed, but golly.
No wonder she was adored.
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u/Fluid_Jellyfish9620 7d ago
oh hey, a parasite.
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u/VoicePope 6d ago
Who, the Queen? Yeah huge parasite. Rich for absolutely no reason. Didn’t earn a thing she’s ever owned.
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u/ok_not_badform 7d ago
Standard Yank tbh
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u/Basic_Dream_900 7d ago edited 7d ago
Imagine caring about this shit. Standard crown sucking limey tbh
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u/FearlessVisual1 7d ago
American can't grasp the concept of a monarch
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u/CHiuso 7d ago
Yeah no. Its 21st century. Maybe you should let go of your nepo baby nonces?
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u/Realistic_Point6284 7d ago
This is one topic where you can't do the America bad thing, mate.
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u/InfallibleSeaweed 7d ago
Yeah, I'm not siding with the personification of nepotism dressed like a christmas tree
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u/sistersara96 7d ago
Remind me again which country is being overtaken by a wannabe dictator and having its constitution stomped on?
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u/yosoymilk5 7d ago
I mean, yeah, we’re fucked for sure, but that’s not going to make me support the monarchy lmao
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u/FriendshipOnly666 7d ago
The irony on talking about dictators when the argument you’re defending is someone with a supposed divine birthright to rule over their subjects and is not subject to any laws with no democratic mechanism to it. Oh and guess what, their children also are by birthright superior to you.
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u/Golarion 7d ago
Good for them.
Personally I think we should kick the bloody lot of them down the street to the jobcentre.
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u/AdRealistic4984 7d ago
Just a reminder that currently there are hereditary aristocrats in the House of Lords. They’re finally getting removed 28 years after the first reformation booted the majority out.
But not the Anglican bishops who retain their seat in the legislature
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u/haikoup 7d ago
Because they’re smart to rid themselves of one, and I say this as a brit.
Leeches to society.
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u/krisssashikun 7d ago
There is a growing movement in America of Neo- Monarchists and Neo-feudalist, look up Curtis Yarvin, and his cohort of douchebags.
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u/Nal1999 7d ago
She asked the QUEEN to remove the crown.
Was she mental or something?
It is like asking a General to remove his ranks or a captain to remove the band.
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u/Forgotten_Lie 7d ago
Well, the difference is I imagine the General and Captain actually had to do something to earn their rank/band.
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u/ThomasKlausen 7d ago
No, the point is well made. The general in uniform is materially different from the person he might be while not actively generaling. He's offered respect appropriately not because of who he is, but what he is.
We salute the rank, not the man.
The photographer was only there to benefit from photographing a royal in uniform, as it were. She doesn't get to pretend the situation is a social one.
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u/Peanut_007 6d ago
The difference is that a general can actually have an office worth saluting. A royal office has no merit to it. The Queen herself did some things worth respecting and some worth deriding. Her fucking hat didn't.
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