Word: queene
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...ceremony has changed little in the four centuries since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Last week her namesake traveled in an ornate carriage drawn by six gray horses to the Palace of Westminster in London. There, enthroned in the House of Lords and resplendent in a glittering crown containing a sapphire that belonged to Edward the Confessor and a ruby that Henry V wore at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, Queen Elizabeth II opened Parliament. The Lord Chancellor knelt and presented the Queen with her speech, a stilted discourse prepared by the Prime Minister, that outlined the government...
...basically they are laws adopted by Parliament, common law, international agreements, and "conventions," or unwritten rules that have developed over the centuries. For example, in theory the monarch has the right to withhold assent to any bill passed by Parliament. The last time that happened was in 1707, when Queen Anne vetoed the Scottish Militia Bill. Constitutional experts believe such an exercise in magisterial power today would cause a political crisis, possibly leading to the end of the monarchy...
...broader scale, royalty commands loyalty perhaps because monarchs are the last great icons of our secular age, the only larger-than-life figures who can still quicken belief while dwelling in mystery. If God is dead, long live the Queen! Their titles alone suggest that kings and princesses are ambassadors from the realm of fairy tale: Who ever heard of Good President Wenceslaus or The Prime Minister and the Pea? And if the very rich, as Hemingway said, are different from you and me, then the royals are different from the very rich, separated by some indefinable chasm from those...
...wistfully gaze through a telescope at the other little boys playing in the streets of Lhasa; the British rulers faithfully follow the trials of everyday drudges on the local soap opera Crossroads. The screen that separates us from royals is, after all, a two-way illusion. When the Queen Mother decided once to drop in on a typical French bistro to dine in the company of ordinary folk, her security-conscious host promptly filled the place with policemen dressed up to look like ordinary folk...
...hour days at the Washington Times, showering his staff with "Arnaud- grams," notes scrawled on yellow paper suggesting stories and sources. He bounces around the newsroom, nagging, second-guessing or just plain giving orders. But he does sleep. The proof is in his office, which contains a queen- size bed. Though de Borchgrave owns an apartment in Washington, he spends many nights at work, rising before dawn to read the day's papers...