Posted on 06/11/2011 12:51:33 AM PDT by naturalman1975
On his 90th birthday, the Queen has honoured her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, with the title of the Lord High Admiral of the Navy - a role that, until now, was hers.
The office of the Lord High Admiral dates from the 14th century and has been held by the Queen since 1964.
She has now handed it over to her husband as he celebrates his milestone age and in recognition of the fact that he gave up his promising naval career to devote his life to royal duty and support his wife in her role as Sovereign.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
This is what comes from doing a splendid job of polishing the handles of the big front door at Buckingham Palace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIyWcxPlEU&feature=related
Trooping the Colour is always a great spectacle. I never knew the drum horses were the only animals to hold commissions in the army.
Yup: Same as those medals on his chest are for decoration only.
I hope that's sarcasm: IIRC, he earned most of them in WW2.
It is as RIDICULOUS as "the knights who say, 'Ni!'".
Quite a few people care about it, including for some reason I can’t always fathom quite a few Americans.
But to me, more important here is the acknowledgement of a man who has served his country - and not just his country - for, literally seven decades at this point, in a wide variety of different roles. I think that is worthy of respect and honour.
The painting is a little out of date - but let's look at what he's wearing there.
Around his neck, he wears the red cross of the Order of Merit, which is given personally by the Queen for "distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture." Personally I would say that in seventy years of serving the United Kingdom in all of those areas (in some cases directly, in others as a facilitator) he has earned that, but it could certainly be argued he had those opportunities because of his marriage.
The large star under his medals is the Star of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (the blue sash he wears is also a symbol of that Order). This is the oldest British (and English) Order of Knighthood and that is something he hasn't really earned - it's given to senior members of the Royal Family as a matter of tradition. It's intended to honour the other recipients who did earn the Honour by making its prestige obvious.
With those two out of the way, move on to his actual medals.
The first five of those (the star shaped ones) are campaign medals that he received for his service as an ordinary naval officer during the Second World War. He served from 1940 to 1945 all over the world, and he earned every one of those campaign stars in the same way any other British or Commonwealth servicemen earned them - by fighting in that war. 1939-1945 Star (with Oak Leaf), the Africa Star, the Atlantic Star, the Burma Star (with Pacific Rosette), and the Italy Star. He was an Officer Cadet when the war began and was commissioned in January 1940. He served all over the world right up to the end of the war - he was in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed the surrender. His other medals are mostly minor ceremonial medals that tens of thousands of British servicemen have that he earned in the same way they did.
True - but very few countries can do that - and the ones that really can are British allies. And while Britain can't, right at this moment, that should be a reasonably short term state of affairs. It is certainly not an ideal situation to be without proper carrier aviation for any period of time but unless Britain goes to war against the US or France, the lack isn't critical from a defensive point of view.
In terms of the Falklands, the changes made to the defences of those islands since 1982 mean there should never be any need for that type of operation again - they are guarded by a lot more than a company of Royal Marines nowadays and there are runways that allow for reinforcement if necessary.
“...the longest-serving consort in British history...”
Now that really is a funny statment.
So I was informed. My apologies.
Ha! Ha! Ha!
That was a good one! This matches up with what Prince Phillip said “The English Aristocracy is not snobbish. We have been known to marry chorus girls, even AMERICANS!!”
Points to fellow Freepers who know what this joke is about
LOL! That’ll leave a mark.
That reminds me of an interview Princess Ann did right after she got married. The reporter, really snarky, asked her about her role of being a wife and if she could even “sew a button on”, referring to how pampered she was. She responded and said something like “Well, I do have a college degree, so I’m not totally useless”.... I don’t remember exactly how she worded it, but she did say the “totally useless part. I laughed so hard. She immediately became my favorite royal.
Yes he’s the funniest Eugenicist in the world. My favor Prince Phillip saying is the one where he says he wishes that when he dies he could come back as a deadly virus and kill off a large part of the Earth’s population. So witty.
The guy is a sorry nazi sympathizer crudball who wants to kill off half the world’s population. He’s living proof along with George Soros that only the good die young.
Remarkable parallels between the career of “the ruler of the Queen’s navy” and that of the present Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.