As you may or may not know, I am somewhat of an Anglophile. I decided to watch today's funeral -- if you have to ask whose you must have just arrived here from another galaxy -- but not on one of the American television networks. Instead, wanting to experience what the people in the U.K. were experiencing, I decided to watch the day's proceedings on BBC television.
I'm glad I did. It was solemn, dignified, and riveting. Even better, I avoided commercial breaks, bantering hosts, royalty-fawning, and, as Americans are wont to make, inane comments about Harry and Meghan.
My Anglophilia didn't just come out of the blue. One of my maternal great-grandfathers, Solomon Aarons, was born in London in 1847 and came to America before the Civil War, I mean the War Between the States, I mean the War of Northern Aggression, I mean the Late Unpleasantness. I'm joking. As it happens, Solomon lived in Philadelphia and served as a drummer boy in the Union Army, the winning side.
Only a true nineteenth-century Anglophile would use the archaic "connexion" over "connection". There used to be a branch of the Methodist church called the Methodist New Connexion.
ReplyDeleteTasker, I used the word on purpose to see if anyone would notice, and you did!
DeleteI'm happy you enjoyed it. It's one of the few things we do well.
ReplyDeleteYour President was there in body but I noticed they kept him well away from the Royal children. A pity really as at his age it could have been his last sniff and grope.
Adrian, Our President probably didn't know where he was or why he was there. We live in perilous times.
DeleteSame here. Voting has become irrelevant. Here it's worse as firearms legislation is getting silly.
DeleteI guess they arm our police but want to give them an advantage. to protect the populace. What folk haven't realised they only protect who they are told to.
Believe it or not, I awoke at precisely 4:30 AM. I did not intend to watch much of the funeral but there I was unintentionally viewing the whole funeral. I was full of all the ceremony and pomp that I equate with a funeral. It was truly a royal goodbye.
ReplyDeleteEmma, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm sure Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901 after a 64-year reign must have felt very similar, but that was years before radio and television came along. I'm glad we were able to watch QE2's sendoff.
ReplyDeleteWe spell it connection.
ReplyDeleteRachel, you didn't always (see Tasker Dunham's comment upthread).
DeleteBefore my time.
Delete