Re: Elon Musk versus the intelligence community

suzeeq wrote:

On 4/29/2025 7:10 AM, Nyssa wrote:

The Horny Goat wrote:
 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 21:40:28 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>

If I'm not mistaken, Queen Elizabeth II was an avid
driver, having learned when she was a mechanic for
military vehicles during WWII, but was not permitted to
drive on public roads, at least as Queen. However, she
loved to drive on the private roads on her estates,
like Balmoral. I distinctly remember seeing that
depicted in a movie where the Queen (played by Helen
Mirren if I recall correctly) was hauling ass around
Balmoral in a Land Rover.

>
She wasn't just a mechanic but a military driver who
seldom drove anybody below General rank. (She was after
all the Princess of Wales during WW2)
>
While I'm a big Helen Mirren fan I don't remember the
scene you describe but if the film in question covered
that period then I'm sure you're right.

 
Just a small correction/clarification.
 
Princess Elizabeth was never Princess of Wales. Only the
eldest *son* of the monarch can hold the title of Prince
of Wales (with his wife having the courtesy title of
Princess of Wales).
 
That may have changed in the fairly recent legislation
that modified the rules of succession to allow females to
hold their place in line to the throne by birth position
rather than be "jumped" by their younger brothers, but
that wasn't the case last century. (I can't say that I've
been curious enough to look up if an eldest daughter
couled be invested as Princess of Wales as part of the
changes of succession.)
 
Elizabeth's official designation was Heiress Presumptive,
since in theory at least, the birth of a son would have
knocked her to second in line. Yeah, that ignores that
the future Queen Mum was beyond that feat, but
theoretically, the King could have re-married if the
queen died and a younger consort could have produced a
son.
 
Just setting the record straight.
 
Nyssa, who remembers this stuff from her history classes
and reading a book on heraldry and titles years ago

 
She might be designated as the Princess Royal. Anne was,
but maybe that's because she was behind Charles as heir to
the throne.

No, Queen Elizabeth gave Anne the designation Princess Royal
in honor of her charity work. She's still the most active
royal in that regard with endless personal appearances and
such.

Queen Victoria also designated her first-born (also named
Victoria) as Princess Royal right after her birth. Oddly
enough Princess Victoria ended up being married to the
German Kaiser, becoming Kaiserin (Empress) and thus out-
ranking her mother. Queen Victoria then wangled becoming
named Empress of India so she didn't have to follow her
daughter into dinner. ;)

Another bit of title trivia: The title Prince of Wales is
not automatic for the eldest son. There is a special investiture
ceremony that takes palce, usually after the prince hits
18 years old or so. The Investiture of Price Charles as
Prince of Wales was widely televised. Charles had to learn
Welsh in order ahead of the ceremony, at least enough to
recite the oath and give a little speech.

Nyssa, who can remember the oddest things on any number
of subjects