THE WEEK THAT WAS Two countries with monarchies, two countries that understand the grief: Rooster on a sad ending to the week

[webfact]

 

OPINION | by Rooster

 

The word coming from the BBC was that Queen Elizabeth was being monitored by doctors at Balmoral and her family members were travelling to her bedside. 

 

 

How serious it was was soon patently obvious in comments made by reporters and commentators on foreign news media outside the UK. A royal insider on Al Jazeera said he thought the queen would die within days if not sooner. A reporter said things you’d never hear in the UK, let alone Thailand, about impending doom. 

 

Though I’m not much of a royalist my wife gave me a hug and understood. We’d shared such moments nearly 6 years ago when she too had tears in her eyes and felt it was the end of an era that marked her and her family’s lives.

 

Waking in the morning it was still a shock to see those words in the headline we all knew we’d read someday but preferred not to think about.

 

King Charles III……..

 

 

For the great majority of British people - and huge numbers of people around the world - the news made us stop, reflect and think.

 

Think about our own personal histories, our own lives, our own families, our own human frailties.

 

And yes, our own mortality.

 

I recalled back in 1997 when I had bawled my eyes out in Bang Na while watching the funeral of Princess Diana on hearing the heartfelt speech from her brother in the pulpit at Westminster Abbey. 

 

 

They were not really tears for the princess herself though I appreciated her humanity. They were tears for my own mother.

 

She died when I was just 16 but I’d suppressed the emotions wanting to be a strong teenager. Now all alone and watching the TV in Bangkok in 1997 aged 36, I finally accepted my grief. My own loss.

 

The death of Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96, having just celebrated her Platinum Jubilee after 70 years on the throne, is one of those life marking events for us all. 

 

 

Like people used to tell me where they were when JFK was shot. Like we remember where we were when the twin towers fell. 

 

They may not involve us directly but we feel a part of the event. It touches us all. It touches us deeply. That’s what it is to be human.

 

I took my young children into bed - they’re 6 and 9 - and explained what had happened. And how their many expatriate English teachers at school might feel and what they might like to say. As a dad you could see it meant something to them too. 

 

It was a day they, too, might remember forever.

 

Not least for the fact that they are growing up in a society where monarchy plays a daily role in many peoples’ lives. 

 

Thais will understand the British people’s sense of loss perhaps more keenly than any other nation. They went through their own national heartache when HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great departed in October 2016. 

 

 

I remembered the tears in the street. The wearing of black for at least a year. The sense of personal loss from the lady at the noodle stand, the urgent calls from gran crying in Loei. 

 

 

 

The Queen, along with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last year, first visited Thailand in February 1972 when Elizabeth had been on the throne for around 20 years.

 

This followed a visit to England by King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit in 1960.

 

 

Elizabeth returned to Bangkok and Ayutthaya for another state visit - her last - in late October 1996.

 

Both times she was received by the Thai king, a man who could well understand the promises that she had made as a young lady for the good of her nation, the sacrifices that were necessary.

 

 

They didn’t get everything right - who does? - but they were both sincere people.

 

I don’t begrudge monarchs their wealth, their standing. Frankly I feel a little sorry for them. I remembered doing a school project about Edward VIII who abdicated for love. It seemed to me, as a young teen, a sad story. My mother was bitter at how he was treated. She was an ordinary London lass who instilled in me a humanity to think beyond the obvious. To think about the person.

 

That’s why this event means so much.

 

 

World News in the coming days - including here in Thailand - will be dominated by the death of Britain's beloved Lilibet. 

 

Some will use it as an occasion to expound their own views of monarchy, both good and bad. That’s understandable.

 

But for this columnist, I’m thinking about a dear old lady who was a mum, a gran and a great gran, a lady who devoted herself to her family and her country.

 

And whose departure from this Earth marks a poignant moment of reflection for us all.

 

Rooster

 

 

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[MyFriend You]

Very Profound Rooster, there are no other words necessary.       Peace

[topt]

1 hour ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Very Profound Rooster, there are no other words necessary.       Peace

Echoed 

[finnomick1]

here here

[yankyoakum]

Excellent post, May she Rest In Peace..

[DaveE13]

Great Post. RiP Maam

[Fortean1]

Her Majesty did good for her people and the world.  RiP

[roo860]

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Queen Elizabeth 11 was an example to us all, both in her devotion to duty and the way in which she carried it out.

[Marpa47]

Thank you for making a statement in well balanced good taste.  And thank you for the beautiful photos of King Rama IX and Queen Elizabeth II over the years.

[Stargeezr]

Thanks Rooster for an article well written.  and displayed.

[boonnoon]

Eloquently expressed.  May her soul rest in eternal peace.

[geisha]

Présidents and Prime Ministers come, and go , the world over. . The  Queen made a promise 70 years ago to always serve her people and do her duty to the UK and the commonwealth , be her life long or short. It was a promise she never broke to the very end. God Bless her . 

[StevieAus]

After your derogatory reference last week to those who live outside Bangkok as “ Country Bumpkins” I am sure you may be please to know that a couple of those people I have spoken to are also mourning the loss of the late Queen Elizabeth, including this one as well, for in case you didn’t know, she was our Queen as well.

[geisha]

9 hours ago, StevieAus said:

After your derogatory reference last week to those who live outside Bangkok as “ Country Bumpkins” I am sure you may be please to know that a couple of those people I have spoken to are also mourning the loss of the late Queen Elizabeth, including this one as well, for in case you didn’t know, she was our Queen as well.

I don’t think’Rooster meant that in a derogatory way . I have often been called that for living in Wales , even though I was 6 miles from Swansea City.! It’s never hurt me.. And yes, of course you are mourning the loss of the Queen who loved Australia as all of us do who have had the privilege of visiting your beautiful country, and of course all the expats around the world ( myself) will be feeling her loss greatly. 

[Freed1948]

I must be 'the odd one out'

[brianthainess]

I told my missus all i got was " I know " . Where we lived as a family directly behind our house , at the end of the long garden was the start of the QE 2  reservoir i believe stopped in war time, it became our playground, when it opened around 1964 the whole school went and she gave that wave and smile to us, around 60 yrs ago.   when it was full you could hear waves on a windy day, around 5 1/2 miles in circumference . 

[Neeranam]

On 9/10/2022 at 3:24 PM, Fortean1 said:

Her Majesty did good for her people and the world.  RiP

Not so sure about that but did a lot of good for where my Gran lived, Ballater. 

Even in the UK, many Scots and N.Irish would disagree. However, not the time(yet) to talk about that. 

My brother had 9 camera crews in his shop in Ballater olast week and has many stories of the Queen. All pretty secretive though, they protect the Royals there. I have seen some photos of him and the Royals, which I can't share. 

 

 

[Neeranam]

On 9/11/2022 at 9:57 PM, brianthainess said:

I told my missus all i got was " I know " . Where we lived as a family directly behind our house , at the end of the long garden was the start of the QE 2  reservoir i believe stopped in war time, it became our playground, when it opened around 1964 the whole school went and she gave that wave and smile to us, around 60 yrs ago.   when it was full you could hear waves on a windy day, around 5 1/2 miles in circumference . 

When I played rugby against Prince Edward, I called him mum a few names lol

[geisha]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

When I played rugby against Prince Edward, I called him mum a few names lol

You wouldn’t care if someone called your mum names ? No one does that’.

[Neeranam]

50 minutes ago, geisha said:

You wouldn’t care if someone called your mum names ? No one does that’.

Yes they do. Guess you've never played rugger. 

[brewsterbudgen]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:22 PM, Freed1948 said:

I must be 'the odd one out'

It is certainly a difficult time to be a republican.  Queen Elizabeth II was perhaps unique in being lauded by almost everyone.  It is unlikely to happen again.

[crouchpeter]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:22 PM, Freed1948 said:

I must be 'the odd one out'

You mean the only one who isn't a sycophant. I worked in England for 15 years in the 70's+, and we weren't respected at all. Just "Colonials"! But we were a source of cannon fodder and raw materials until those two-faced aristocrats ditched us, (and NZ), for their new European common market friends. And now we'll be crawling to a new buffoon!

[jayboy]

If Thailand was uniquely placed to appreciate and respect the monarchical system, not to mention the close ties as pictured in the article, why was representation at the funeral so low level - namely the Ambassador in London?

 

By way of comparison, with less intimate links, Japan was represented by its Emperor.

[HighPriority]

43 minutes ago, jayboy said:

If Thailand was uniquely placed to appreciate and respect the monarchical system, not to mention the close ties as pictured in the article, why was representation at the funeral so low level - namely the Ambassador in London?

 

By way of comparison, with less intimate links, Japan was represented by its Emperor.

I suspect he’s talking of the people, not the one in the chair. 
 

Another lovely read Rooster, thank you.

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

If Thailand was uniquely placed to appreciate and respect the monarchical system, not to mention the close ties as pictured in the article, why was representation at the funeral so low level - namely the Ambassador in London?

 

By way of comparison, with less intimate links, Japan was represented by its Emperor.

I think we all know the answer to that question, but are unable to discuss it here!