Queen Elizabeth II's legacy - Page 2

Eric · 26-03-2008, 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by polly

Probably because you are not paying for them

Good point ... however, the taxpayers of Canada do pay for the Govenor General, who is the Queen's viceroy in Canada ... not as much as you pay for the Royal Family, but still a fair chunk of change.

Eric · 26-03-2008, 17:06

And the taxpayers in the individual provinces (for those who are geographically unaware there are 10 of them + Nunavut, the Yukon and the North West Territories) pay for their Lieutennant Governors, who represent the Queen in the provinces.

West Ender · 26-03-2008, 20:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

interesting concept .... (sorry bit of a wander) if the German bombs that hit Buckingham Palace in WW2 (Queen Mother " now I can look the East End in the face" ) had taken the royal family out , would Churchill have brought back the Duke of Windsor ? a friend of Hitler or put the drug addled Duke of Kent on the throne or gone for the country squire the Duke of Gloucester or would he have taken Cromwells route and made himself "lord protector" ......wonder if there are any records rat-holed away

It would have had to be Harry, the Duke of Gloucester, next in line, as the Duke of Windsor had totally abdicated sovereignty for himself and his heirs. The Duke of Gloucester was educationally backward and extremely childish but would have been easy to manipulate in difficult circumstances. His eldest son, Prince William, was a handsome chap with a few brains (he got an MA in History at Cambridge) but he died in a plane crash when he was about 30. The younger son, Prince Richard, is a qualified architect (MA again from Cambridge). In the above circumstances he would now be the king so at least he would have been useful when Windsor Castle caught fire as he could have designed the repairs we paid for. It amuses me that he was the president of the Institute of Advanced Motorists but he lost his licence for 6 months for his 3rd speeding offence - Twerp.

Eric · 26-03-2008, 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

interesting concept .... (sorry bit of a wander) if the German bombs that hit Buckingham Palace in WW2 (Queen Mother " now I can look the East End in the face" ) had taken the royal family out , would Churchill have brought back the Duke of Windsor ? a friend of Hitler or put the drug addled Duke of Kent on the throne or gone for the country squire the Duke of Gloucester or would he have taken Cromwells route and made himself "lord protector" ......wonder if there are any records rat-holed away

Interesting ... the King is dead, long live the King .... but who? There probably are records somewhere .... govts. have to have contingency plans. It would make a good book, or a PhD thesis from some aspiring academic. But the British govt. has a very bad record on doctoring war time records from both of the wars. If there are any records they could be found in the archives of the Dominions as the British govt shared all records with them. In order to write his book "Haig's Command" Denis Winter found uncensored govt documents in the Canadian and Australian archives.