Monday 5 October 2015

ABC Wednesday, M for Meathook.



 Some years ago I heard the following story concerning the Queen of Great Britain:

 "The mystery of the handbag

Her Majesty has always a meat hook in her handbag.

Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain celebrated her eighty-ninth birthday on 21st April. I shall never forget this, for my husband’s birthday was on the 23rd of April. And he too would have been 89.

Well, back to the Queen, she is a member of the most colourful royal family of Europe and apart from the Danish, the oldest family. The Danish Queen Margarethe and the British Queen are descendants of Vikings. William the Conqueror, the ancestor of Queen Elizabeth, was a Viking.

Queen Elizabeth is known to carry always a handbag. But something that not everybody knows, is that she uses the bag to communicate with her staff. They watch her bag carefully. If she places the bag on a table during a cosy tête-à-tête it means: Time to go!

Bag on the floor means: This guest is very boring!

What are the contents of these handbags? This question kept journalists busy for years. Anyway it is said that her handbag contains an S-shaped meat hook to hang her bag on. For the rest it contains articles of personal matter. "!

We all have seen documentaries about Queen Elizabeth, who is now proclaimed the Queen who has ruled longer than even Queen Victoria..We now know a lot of het life, but there are still  some facts we don't know. For instance: " The mystery of the handbag".




With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and thanks to Roger. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with M.





26 comments:

Cloudia said...

How interesting, Wil!






ALOHA
ComfortSpiral

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(='.'=)
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Sylvia K said...

You do indeed have such interesting posts, Wil, and this is a great example!! I hope you've had a lovely weekend and have a wonderful new week!!

Roger Owen Green said...

Check out out my Q (for Queen) post in four weeks!

Yours is good stuff,

ROG, ABCW

Leslie: said...

I thought you were going to tell us it was in case someone got through her guards to attack her and she'd use it to gouge out their eyes or something! LOL I had heard about where she places her bag meant things like "get me outta here!" etc. Very interesting how the royals are related to the Vikings!

Leslie
abcw team

Unknown said...

Heerlijk toch... laat alsjeblieft sommige dingen ook gewoon echt 'persoonlijk' blijven, zeker bij mensen die zoals zij niets kunnen doen zonder dat het in de bladen komt....

Pfff ben ik ff blij dat ik niet in die schoenen hoef te lopen!

Fijne week WIl.

Gigi Ann said...

What a delightful post. I love the use of the handbag to tell staff her mood. Now that we all know, I will have to watch where she sets her handbag from now on. And a Meathook inside is an eye opener for sure.

Deepa said...

I didn't know this,interesting fact

photowannabe said...

Secrets of the Palace.
Love the meathook story, and the codes for her people in waiting.

Nonnie said...

interesting bit about the purse's location being a code!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Possibly the most curious M for the letter this week. Interesting use of code words.

Berowne said...

I learned something this week. That handbag info was fascinating.

Photo Cache said...

I'm not into the royalty so much, but this post is very interesting. Thanks for the tidbits.

My ABC WEDNESDAY

Hildred said...

I think many couples have a secret code, even if only with the eyes - 'time to leave the party' for example. I have never had a staff so haven't experienced passing on my wishes with a handbag!

Bikramjit Singh Mann said...

I wonder if she would be able to afford all these handbags , if she was working :)

Bikram's

Trubes said...

Hello Wil,
I have read something similar about the meat hook and the
positioning of the hand bag, On would think one of her
courtiers could arrange a similar gadget for her to hang
her hand bag rather than a dangerous meat hook!
I hope she keeps a small pistol in her handbag, diamond encrusted,
of course! I believe she's a crack shot !
Interesting piece again xx

Best wishes,
Di.
ABCW team.

Lea said...

Very interesting!

Indrani said...

Meat hook? That is so interesting!
Conveying messages with handbag too is interesting. :)
Happy ABCW!

Reader Wil said...

Hi Bikramjit Singh Mann, thanks for visiting my blog. Yes, I also wonder if the Queen has a meathook in each of her handbags and do they have matching colours!?
Have a great week.
Wil, ABCW Team

namaki said...

Interesting indeed !

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

That is so funny! The meathook (in this context) kind of makes sense. I could also believe the communication with the purse... it is more polite than saying to her staff 'come and get me out of this' ;>)!!!

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I like the Queen's handbags. I call the Old Lady Purses. Several years ago someone gave me a vintage one, which I use whenever I go out. It's perfect. I like that the Queen's purse on the floor means Boring!
The View from the Top of the Ladder

Forgetfulone said...

Very interesting! I like reading about the Royal family.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting purse code, Great post, thanks!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

last Sunday in Church, a visitor from Holland came, Her daughter was here as a teenager, and I am not sure if the mother went back to Holland by herself. I wanted to tell her about you, but I didn't get time.

Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil said...

I knew about the meat hook, if only because some enterprising person made a version for all of us in cities to use for parking our purses... but I didn't know about the code! Clever woman, even if I am not enamored of royalty in general. Thanks! Amy

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see what she actually carries in her bag. And the bag code was so interesting.