I've decided to take another break from my self-imposed ban here to make a post about Her Majesty's hospital visit yesterday.
The Queen's visit was the headline story from 16:00 to 24:00 on Sky News (I recorded it), and the headline story in the main news on Norwegian TV2.
I live permanently in Norway now (and the mediahhh app didn't work yesterday), so I did not have access to BBC News Channel. But I've heard that it was covered broadly there too.
The Queen almost stopped doing engagements like this in 2013, and as some commentaators said yesterday, she diden't have to do this. She is 91 years old, and she has already released a strong statement and did the one minute silence thing.
She could have sent Charles or William, but she wanted to meet some of the victims and give her thanks to some of the nursing staff, paediatric doctors and surgeons herself (just as she did in 2005, where she also gave a speech).
The Queen is also (as I have written before) become a bit more reserved/shy during the last 4 years, so that she chose to do this shows again how kind and caring this amazing lady is.
It's also nice to see how popular Her Majesty is. Her Ipsos MORI and YouGov approval ratings are at 80-90%, and she has since 2014 been polled the most admirred person/woman in the UK (also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany in 2016).
Almost everyone I know in the UK likes her and almost all the comments on The Royal Family, the British Monarchist League and the British Monarchist Society & Foundation facebook pages are positive.
Even many of the ignorant and evil minded thugs in the DF comment section (the best rated comments) and on twitter likes her.
And seeing her yesterday brought tears to my eyes and made me dread the unthinkable moment when she finally leave this earth even more. I simply can't imagine a world without Elizabeth II, our beloved history-making monarch with her record breaking reign.
Some of what was written yesterday:
Stupid headline, but a good article:
The Queen reveals she's an Ariana Grande fan in heartwarming chat with child victim of Manchester attack - Mirror Online
The Queen is reported to have said that Grande is a "very good singer". She went on to add: "She sounds very, very good."
Let's not forget that Her Majesty is 91 years old and loves listening to songs from musical theatre like Showboat and Annie Get Your Gun.
A playlist of the Queen's favourite songs released last year featured music by Vera Lynn and Fred Astaire - quite different from the tunes sung by the 23-year-old pop star.
Has the Queen been singing along to 'One Last Time' around Buckingham Palace?
We highly doubt it. Who knows if she was even aware of Ariana prior to Manchester's horrific events.
But the way she took time to talk to the teens about music they like shows her to be a thoroughly caring monarch.
Queen condemns Manchester bombing as she visits survivors | Daily Mail Online
Over more than 60 years, the Queen has stepped in to provide comfort for the victims of conflict, disasters and terror attacks. From servicemen injured in the Second World War to the victims of the 7/7 bombing, the Queen has often visited hospitals in the aftermath of tragedy to show solidarity with her subjects in their hour of need.
Today was no exception as the monarch reassured the young victims and their families, and shared in their horror as they recounted their stories of how they escaped the blast alive.
Some of the manny twitter messages:
Stephen Dixon @skystephen
For some reason watching this has for the first time had me in tears over it all. An elderly monarch with compassion:
https://twitter.com/skystephen/status/867739731148328962
David Walliams @davidwalliams
The Queen proving once again she is the heart and soul of the nation:
https://twitter.com/davidwalliams/status/867777229937422336
Chris Ship @chrisshipitv
Huge amount of excitement at Manchester Children's hospital as word spread the Queen had come to meet the injured from Mondays attack:
https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/867693830937694208
Chris Ship @chrisshipitv
Crowd cheer as Queen leaves Manchester after visiting victims:
https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/867695934645383168
23 minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7Pkddmo8LE&list=LLppR7a3q3veeF_nqlyV4a6g&index=1