September 9, 2010

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / History / British Empire

Happy Birthday Your Majestry!

April 21, 2009 By jonathan 2 Comments

The Queen’s Birthday is today – her actual birthday – though it’s officially celebrated in June. She is now 83 years young.

I really admire The Queen – she is a very inspiring and calming figure. Britain is very lucky to have her.

The Daily Beast has a very thoughtful article reflecting on the Queen and her reign by Robert Lacey – The Queen’s Biographer.

From the Article:

What a cool, unemotional creature she is, yet what torrents of love Elizabeth II generates!

It is one of the strengths of Elizabeth II that she has never tried to be trendy. No mini-skirts for her in the swinging ’60s. She has stuck to the things in which she believes: doing her duty, the tenets of her unquestioning Anglican faith—and her dogs. Patricia Mountbatten once wrote to console her cousin and friend on the loss of a much-loved corgi, to receive by return screeds of hand-written, emotion-filled pages—rather more numerous and laden with feeling, Lady Mountbatten was forced to concede, than she had received about the tragic death of her father, Dickie, at the hands of the IRA.

The queen’s husband, Prince Philip (Dickie’s nephew), has always been her rock. Last week, the prince became Britain’s longest-ever serving consort to a monarch, notching up 57 years and 71 days, thus passing the record set by poor Queen Charlotte, whose fate was to be married to the mad King George III. Elizabeth was only 13 years old when she set eyes on Philip, a dashing young naval cadet at Dartmouth Royal Naval College, and the cautious young woman fell instantly in love with him. Their partnership has been another paradox—in public he defers to her; in private she defers to him—and another secret of her monarchy’s extraordinary survival. They are a thinking and creative couple, who between them have regenerated an institution that many thought would not outlive the 20th century.

Read the rest of Robert Lacey’s Article Here.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty – may you have many more to come!

Filed Under: Anglophilia, British Empire, Great Britain, History, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: , ,

From Mental Floss: What to do when you meet the Queen

April 6, 2009 By jonathan 1 Comment

All right, someone has finally clarified the correct protocol for meeting the Queen. The cool guys over at Mental Floss have put together a great guide to the rules you should follow if you’re lucky enough to meet the Queen.

From the post:

Firstly, don’t speak until you’re spoken to. But after that, when you meet the Queen, it is customary to address her as “Your Majesty” at first, “Ma’am” thereafter, and then, “Your Majesty” again upon taking your leave.

To Curtsey or not Curtsey?

Citizens of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, upon meeting the Queen, should, in the case of men, give a short bow from the head and shoulders, or, in the case of women, curtsey. But as Americans, because of that whole Revolution thing, we don’t have to bow or curtsey – a gentle handshake will do just fine.

Overall it’s a very interesting post. Read the whole post on Meeting the Queen here.

Filed Under: Anglophilia, British Empire, Politics, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: , ,

Epic Film Coming about India

March 17, 2009 By jonathan 1 Comment

News came out last week that Joe Wright, the director of “Atonement,” is attached to direct a sprawling epic film about Britain’s final days of Empire in India.

From the recent BBC Article:

British film-maker Joe Wright has signed up to direct an epic about the final days of British rule in India.

Indian Summer, based on a book by Alex von Tunzelmann, is set in 1947 as Louis Mountbatten transfers power to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Wright’s last two films, Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, both starred Keira Knightley and were Oscar nominated.

Casting for Indian Summer is to be confirmed and filming will start on
location in India in 2010.

Louis Mountbatten’s wife Edwina is a significant character in the new film which is being made by Working Title.

Original Article here.

I’m fascinated by the final days of British Empire in India, so this should be a very interesting film. Can’t wait.

Check out the original book here:

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Filed Under: British Empire, British Movies, Entertainment, History Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Australia: No Queen Please, We’re Australians

February 4, 2009 By jonathan Leave a Comment
Most Anglophiles know that the Queen isn’t just the Head of State of Britain. She’s also the Head of State of 16 countries around the world, most former colonies that haven’t shed that last vestige of colonialism. One of those countries is Australia and there is a movement afoot to kick the Queen out.

According to the BBC recently, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is facing a mounting call to get rid of the Queen for good and replace her with a homegrown Australian President or Head of State (he’s also an advocate of getting rid of her).

Having been independent for almost a hundred years, Australians are continually asking themselves what’s the point of having your ceremonial Head of State living on the other side of the world. Not counting the fact she’s the citizen of an entirely different nation.

Australians have formed their own distinct cultural identity and the Queen is seen as being increasingly irrelevant to Australian society. In order for Australia to join the great nations of the world, many believe they need to have their own homegrown Head of State to be taken seriously.

Many also don’t really care. The Queen, after all, has no power over Australia whatsoever and merely fills a ceremonial role. And many people are comforted by the matronly Queen.

Yet, there’s a push to hold a referendum on deciding Australia’s future relationship with the Queen. And it won’t be easy. Royal Rebels are proposing no less than six alternatives that should all be up for a vote.

The idea is unpopular amongst the many English and British transplants who’ve moved to Australia. But the rest of Australia seems to think otherwise with an estimated 85% in support of changing the country’s relationship with it’s Queen.

I think the Australians may be up to this little insurrection. But I don’t think it will be until the Queen has passed and been replaced by Charles. The idea of Charles as King and Head of State is generally offensive to a lot of people, not just Australians.

These things happen slowly, but I think it will happen eventually.

Read more about the issue here in the original BBC Article.

Filed Under: Anglophilia, Austrailia, British Empire, Britishness, History, Politics, Royal Family, The Queen Tagged With: , , ,

Anglophile Links: New Zealand History Online

January 9, 2009 By jonathan Leave a Comment

The recent film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings brought the spotlight on the other land down under, New Zealand. I like to think of it as the world’s second ‘green and pleasant land.’ New Zealand is made up of lush islands that are geographically similar to Great Britain.

I’d love to go someday. Until I can, though, I came across this really cool website today run by the New Zealand government. It’s call New Zealand History Online. It’s an online encyclopedia of history about that second ‘green and pleasant land.’

I spent a couple hours exploring through it and it’s really well done. The web developer in me loves the layout and how everything works. The Anglophile in me loves the history.

So, if you’re interested in New Zealand, check out New Zealand History Online.

Filed Under: Anglophilia, British Empire, History, New Zealand, Older Travel News Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts