I Am A Swede

We're exactly a month away from the 50th anniversary, and it feels like nothing is gearing up towards it. Naturally Queen Elizabeth's death has disrupted a lot, but if you didn't know a special anniversary was coming you'd never realize it....

There is no one on this show that is worthwhile anymore. Brad Bell and his writers have managed to make all of them unpleasant people. And the sad thing is that it wouldn't be that hard to make most, if not all of them, sympathetic. Just tweek their lines slightly and have them show some self-awareness. I remember when I watched the movie "Philadelphia" there was a female lawyer cross-examining Tom Hanks' character. She came off as a real bitch with the way she was treating him and her line of questioning. But when she sat down she whispered to her co-worker something about how she hated what she just had to do. That simple line gave her character another dimension, and in an instant your perception of her changed. A few lines here and there of that sort in this show could do wonders.

That was sweet. I've looked, but I can't seem to find anything similar from Coronation Street or Emmerdale. On another note, I just can't get used to seeing Kellie Bright all grown up like that. I still see her as the young teen she was on The Upper Hand.

About time he came to his senses. He's had a brilliant career, but like Serena he should probably have ended it earlier. Clinging on desperately like they have both done is not a flattering way to go out.

A rare sight! A Queen greeting a Queen....

Yes, I have seen all of that. And yes, Brooke has done stuff like this before, which is exactly why putting her through it again, and in a way that would be even worse than before, would be the final straw for her as a character. Maybe you think I'm being overly dramatic, but think about it. If this would happen, where do you see Brooke after that? What would be left for her? She would have nothing and no one left. What could you possibly do with her character then? It would be writing her into a corner from which there is no escape.

Not even Brad Bell could be that stupid!! Or could he? Brooke has already been severely damaged as a character by these kind of stories, but to do it again would ruin her beyond repair. Not even KKL could save her after that, and I don't see how she could possibly remain on the canvas after that. The only way that would work is if it's really Sheila in a Brooke-mask, but that would ruin the show in another way and place it in DOOL-territory.

There are some similarities. They both ascended to the throne at roughly the same age (Elizabeth at 26, our King at 27) and they were both affected at a young age by outside circumstances. In Elizabeth's case her uncle's abdication, which consequently made her an heir to the throne, and for our King the death of his father when he was less than a year old. That could have caused a problem since his grandfather was already 64 years old at the time. But he lived to the age of 90, so the young prince had grown up by the time of his accession to the throne in 1973. But there the similarities end. I don't think our King has the same authority as Elizabeth had. Of course, being King of Sweden is not quite the same as being Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations. He was a bit of a playboy in his youth, and doesn't command the same respect Queen Elizabeth did. But I do think that he is quite popular in his own right nowadays, and his longevity (he is now the longest reigning monarch in Swedish history) has helped his popularity I think.

^^ I guess it can be difficult for someone who's never experienced monarchy first hand, and I think it is even slightly puzzling for those of us who has. I have some mixed feelings about it myself. One the one hand, it's not exactly in line with modern society to have someone born into a position and not earn it. That's what the modern, democratic part of me says. But on the other hand, monarchy is so ingrained in our society, in our history and in our culture that it's become a part of our national identity. And sometimes, in a crisis, it can actually be a positive thing to have an apolitical head of state who can serve as a "leader". When the big tsunami hit Indonesia all those years ago and many Swedes died, it was our king who stepped up and spoke to the people and acted as a father to the nation. To be fair, I think that many people here don't care all that much either way about the monarchy. They neither like nor dislike it, but there has never been any serious talk about abolishing the monarchy as far as I know. They connect us to our history, and they bring a sort of gravitas to our society. And as for the subject of us (the taxpayers) paying for them, well, we would have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the castles and royal buildings anyway even if there was no monarchy, and they do bring in money as well, through tourism etc. And our current king has streamlined the monarchy down to only himself, the queen, crown princess Victoria and her family. The other royal children are no longer supported by the state. I suppose that Charles is planning something similar in the UK.

No, of course they are not the norm, thank god. And as I said noone is obliged to mourn her or feel anything about it really. I guess it's simply another aspect of the toxic times we live in that this even became an issue. I sincerely wish that social media would have a wait-before-you-post feature that required you to think at least twice before posting anything. Here I agree completely. And if there is one positive thing about Elizabeth's death it's that the chance of Andrew getting his royal duties back are almost certainly gone. From everything I've heard both Charles and William opposes that.

Discussions about colonialism or the history of Britain and Ireland are one thing, but posting celebratory tweets of people dancing and rejoicing, tweets comparing Elizabeth to Adolf Hitler, or, as one woman apparently did (although she had to delete it) tweet that she hoped Elizabeth would die in excruciating pain is crossing the lines for common decency. Especially when done less than a day after her death. Noone is obliged to mourn her, or even care about her death, but celebrating the death of a 96-year old woman like that is something that I find slightly distasteful. Britain has a long and definitely chequered past, to say the least, but she wasn't personally responsible for it.