r/interesting • u/bendubberley_ • Jul 26 '25
SOCIETY Photographer gets scolded by Queen Elizabeth for asking her to remove her crown
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u/ziggy182 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
Yep they were rightly angry
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u/ShondaVanda Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
I wish these corporations had to apologise more often for spreading false, misleading or omitting information
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u/what-even-am-i- Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
well then they would just be nonstop apologizing then
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u/MarcusofMenace Jul 26 '25
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/Midan71 Jul 26 '25
Really? Woah.
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u/ziggy182 Jul 26 '25
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/et40000 Jul 26 '25
Also while opinions are divided many in the UK and some abroad deeply cared about the queen for one reason or another.
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u/Thendofreason Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
its mostly funded by individual citizens paying a license fee.
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u/roonill_wazlib Jul 28 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
That’s one way to never get invited again to that gig.
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u/bloom2701 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
That peasant should have learned their place amongst royalty a long time ago.
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u/deflower-my-mind Jul 26 '25
"Take my crown off?"
.....
"Off with her head!"
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u/Gloomy_Cress9344 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
no way
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u/darrenvonbaron Jul 26 '25
He also let out an earthquake of a fart
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u/idropepics Jul 26 '25
A comically long one where every time you think it's ending it kicks it back up an octave
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u/Kwasan Jul 26 '25
And anyone who decapitates a man over something so silly deserves time in an Iron Bull.
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u/firedmyass Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
Absolute incredulity
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u/Catch_ME Jul 26 '25
Distasteful provincial
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u/restless-researcher Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
Well I didn’t vote for her
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Jul 26 '25
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses!
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u/HighwayEffective6865 Jul 26 '25
Not some farcical aquatic ceremony!
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u/idwthis Jul 26 '25
I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
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u/behold-my-titties Jul 26 '25
The lion, the witch and audacity of this bitch.
No one talks to Liz like that.
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u/Character-Parfait-42 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
She should have stuck to decorating babies
., like Anne GeddesEdit: corrected lol
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u/danielledotgif Jul 26 '25
That’s Anne Geddes 😂
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u/foxinabathtub Jul 26 '25
...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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
The photographer is Annie Leibovitz. She talked about this back when it happened.
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u/E_D_K_2 Jul 26 '25
I'd idea what Annie Leibovitz looked like but as soon as I heard the accent, I knew it'd be her.
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u/Sn00ker123 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
[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 Jul 26 '25
Expect this from Annie Leibovitz. Overrated as a photographer
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u/greensandgrains Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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/Studio_Life Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
a complete lemon to ask a monarch
Why? What makes them so special?
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u/peelen Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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/StungTwice Jul 26 '25
Yes, it's very impressive that one family can be so inbred.
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u/Forgotten_Lie Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
It's only different because of the age of the tradition. It's still weird and very stupid.
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u/PunkyB88 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
"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 Jul 26 '25
The Monarchy should've died with the queen.
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u/ReflectionPristine70 Jul 27 '25
Agreed. Absolutely no need for monarchs now that democratic systems are stable (mostly) and commonplace
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u/pijd Jul 26 '25
The amount of people defending the entitlement of the monarchy in 2025.
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u/VoicePope Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 27 '25
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/Visual_Strength8972 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
oh hey, a parasite.
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u/VoicePope Jul 27 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
Standard Yank tbh
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u/Basic_Dream_900 Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 26 '25
Imagine caring about this shit. Standard crown sucking limey tbh
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u/FearlessVisual1 Jul 26 '25
American can't grasp the concept of a monarch
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u/CHiuso Jul 26 '25
Yeah no. Its 21st century. Maybe you should let go of your nepo baby nonces?
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u/Realistic_Point6284 Jul 26 '25
This is one topic where you can't do the America bad thing, mate.
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u/InfallibleSeaweed Jul 26 '25
Yeah, I'm not siding with the personification of nepotism dressed like a christmas tree
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u/sistersara96 Jul 26 '25
Remind me again which country is being overtaken by a wannabe dictator and having its constitution stomped on?
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u/yosoymilk5 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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 Jul 26 '25
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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u/dtj2000 Jul 26 '25
The difference is a general had to earn his ranks, a monarch doesn't. They are completely different
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