Luv2play

Actually she is more than a figurehead as Britain's Head of State. Among her many duties, she signs bills into laws and has the power to dismiss a government and request Parliament to form another government. Her representative in Canada, the Governor General, is also our head of state. The occupant of the office of GG has the same powers of the Queen when the Queen is absent from Canada. In the past, a governor general has refused to call an election when the government lost a vote of confidence in Parliament and instead summoned the opposition to form a government. So yes, the Queen is a rather consequential figure. She doesn't just cut ribbons. That is why she is briefed weekly by her prime minister about affairs of state. She gets to read cabinet papers and is privy to secrets held by the government. You want someone with a bit of gravitas in the job, as well as a lot of discretion.

In that regard Margaret took after her uncle David (Edward) who liked unavailable women. Wallis was not the first married woman he hung out with but rather the last in a succession of married women he chased.

From the pics, I'm not so sure. He could be.

Haha. Not quite. I don't have a television. I'm a constant reader, books, newspapers and stuff I find on the Internet, including this forum. I've read at least twenty books on the British Royal family and others that touch on them. I'm a big Churchill fan and have read forty or so books either about him or by him. And then many biographies of leaders in the 20th century, including American presidents who at one time or another interacted with British royalty. I've read at least 5 books about the Duke's time in the Bahamas as the Oakes murder fascinates me as a lawyer. Even Raymond Chandler was an observer at the trial. I doubt there is very little in The Crown that would inform me. The same for Victoria. I've read many biographies of not only her but her Prime Ministers, including her favorite, Disraeli. And since I am a Canadian and read a lot of Canadian history, the British royal family often crops up. My grandfather was presented to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in 1901, before he became King George V. That was just after Victoria had died. I have his invitation amongst my papers. Despite all this I am not a monarchist. I really feel ambivalent about them as an institution and have most of my adult life.

I really wonder about that so-called policy, which is stated on their review website. I have seen some pretty steamy reviews. I of course always leave something to the imagination in my reviews. LOL

I originally wrote cockerel but meant capon, which is the castrated version of a cock.

I think the ace of trumps that she had was her ability and willingness to dominate Edward as no other woman had in his long bachelorhood. At heart he was a mommy's boy and craved a firm hand. In the court that surrounded him and everywhere on his world wide tours, women considered eligible tried to seduce him with feminine wiles. What he was looking for was a strict governess. Her looks were secondary, which was fortunate for her, as many of her predecessors were better looking but failed to win his heart. Early on in their relationship she broke the conventional behavior and would go so far as to correct him in public, setting tongues wagging. He always came back for more. When push came to shove about defending his throne, Winston Churchill, who was among those advising him, famously said "Our cock won't fight". More accurately he might have said "our capon won't fight". Edward had already been figuratively "castrated" by Wallis.

I think that was what George V hoped when he said near the end of his life that he prayed after Edward Bertie and Lilibet (Elizabeth) would take the crown. I think you misspoke about Queen Mary and meant Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Mary was the mother of both Edward (David) and George (Albert).

I read his ad. He’s a fraud if he stays fully clothed during the massage. Period.

That was one ace up her sleeve. She had others.

Four months have passed since I posted on this thread. A lot has changed and not all for the best. Because of our slower rollout of vaccines than we anticipated last December, it will take us longer to get out from under COVID than elsewhere, like the UK and the USA. There many more have received the two doses that will enable them to recover some semblance of a normal life, albeit we don’t appear to be going back to what was a normal life in many respects for the foreseeable future (crowded stadiums or theatres). The lockdowns we are currently experiencing likely means this summer will not unfold as last summer did for me, when cases were so low in our area that one was able to see people like our provider friends if one took reasonable precautions. I haven’t been able to see anyone now since the new year. Last year I celebrated my late May birthday with a weekend visit by a provider. Not in the cards this year.

It amazes me that people are willing to pay gobs of money for cable news but not a cent for quality journalism. Be careful what you pay for.

Thanks. I guess I need remedial lessons on copying articles from newspapers.

Oh, I didn't know that was the case. Sorry about that.

That's certainly true for the Duke. He gave up a kingdom and not just any kingdom but the richest in the world for "that woman from Baltimore". On the other hand, Wallis Warfield came from a somewhat illustrious but impoverished family from the American South. The life she led after meeting Edward Windsor was a fairy tale come true.

I thought I did. Can't you click on the link. If not, blame Lucky. He taught me how to post an article. LOL

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/world/africa/cape-town-table-mountain-fire.html?action=click&module=In Other News&pgtype=Homepage As an historian myself, I feel for the people of South Africa and the southern African region for the loss of so much precious history. Apparently, they had just started digitizing their collection of books and films. Now so much has been lost forever. I am looking around my kitchen as I type this and my walls are covered by African artifacts, priceless to me. I can't imagine the size of the loss occasioned by this massive fire in Cape Town.

I luv using their names when having sex. It makes it more the BFE. One escort I was with went by the name Jacob (I believe his real name) and I asked him whether I should call him that or Jake. He said either was fine. I replied "you'll know which I prefer when you are climaxing." It was Jake. And I called that out over the 3 days we were together quite a few times.

Toronto is in some ways worse off than Montreal in terms of the pandemic but does not have a curfew. They are now preventing interprovincial travel for non essential purposes so I couldn't go to Montreal even if I wanted to, which I don't. This must be hurting some escorts as the travel limitations are cutting off some of their clients.

In those days there was no air conditioning so the summers were awful. They had to get permission to go to the US mainland, even Miami, which was only 20 minutes away by plane. Sir Harry Oakes, their rich friend until he was murdered in 1943, would summer with his family in Bar Harbour, Maine. Wallis went crazy feeling isolated in Nassau. It couldn’t have gone well for David (Edward).

I was trying to be fair and didn’t mean to imply he was not royalty. In fact it has been pointed out he was more Royal than the Queen, who had a commoner for a mother. Both Philip’s parents were of royal descent. I think it was because he was no hero in the eyes of the majority of Britons. From the abdication to his sympathies for the Nazis, Edward VIII was a big disappointment, considering the promise and popularity he enjoyed in his youth. Apart from his brief reign in 1936 of some 10 months, the only time he had to show his stuff as a ruler was when he was put in charge of the Bahamas during the war. And he made a hash of that too. Apart from his gross mishandling of the Oakes' murder, he was revealed to be a racist in how he treated the Blacks of the island colony. The Queen Mother also probably had a say in how the Duke was treated by Queen Elizabeth, as there was no love lost between the sister in law and brother in law.

Your mother must have been hard on him.

That raises the question; when does one stop being elderly and become just plain old?

Thank you for saying that. Charles and I are less than a year apart in age and I thought I had slipped over to old age, not still very, very late middle age. You have made my day! Unless you meant that Charles would be in old age in a few months. LOL

Maybe she thought she might go first.