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  • King and Queen

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 3 21:49:05 2025
    Yesterday here (2 June) we had our version of "King's Birthday" -- first
    Monday in June. Some media attention to Charles III (I think he's in
    Canada right now), useful to remind us who have lived all or most of our
    lives with "Queen's Birthday" that things have changed. And a big
    Honours List -- awards bestowed on many persons of distinction in the
    arts, sport, science, business, etc.

    Today, by contrast, is "Queen's Birthday" in Thailand -- actual birthday
    of the actual reigning Queen ("former air hostess"),
    Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana
    Thai: สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสุทิดา พัชรสุธาพิมลลักษณ พระบรมราชินี
    RTGS: Suthida Phatcharasuthaphimonlak
    pronounced [sùʔ.tʰíʔ.dāː pʰát.tɕʰa.ráʔ.sùʔ.tʰāː.pʰíʔ.mōn.lák].
    (That's from Wikipedia. There's a link to a sound file, but
    unfortunately it contains only the "Suthida" part, which is how she's
    commonly known.)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suthida

    The first version of her full name looks very Sanskrity (or maybe Pali-y?).
    But what's RTGS? "Royal Thai General System [of Transcription]", i.e.
    the official way of transliterating Thai script into Roman.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription

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  • From Christian Weisgerber@21:1/5 to Ross Clark on Tue Jun 3 18:19:35 2025
    On 2025-06-03, Ross Clark <[email protected]> wrote:

    Today, by contrast, is "Queen's Birthday" in Thailand -- actual birthday
    of the actual reigning Queen ("former air hostess"),

    Hmm. So a "reigning queen" is not a "queen regnant"?

    --
    Christian "naddy" Weisgerber [email protected]

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  • From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to Christian Weisgerber on Wed Jun 4 17:53:16 2025
    On 4/06/2025 6:19 a.m., Christian Weisgerber wrote:
    On 2025-06-03, Ross Clark <[email protected]> wrote:

    Today, by contrast, is "Queen's Birthday" in Thailand -- actual birthday
    of the actual reigning Queen ("former air hostess"),

    Hmm. So a "reigning queen" is not a "queen regnant"?


    I don't know. All I meant to say was that she was in fact the current
    holder of that title. I don't profess to be an expert in things Royal,
    and "regnant" is not really even in my vocabulary. Dictionaries were not
    very helpful, simply defining "regnant" as "reigning". I thought I knew
    what "reign" meant, but I probably learned that from reading mostly
    about kings. But as helpfully explained by Blackstone (1765), quoted in
    OED, "regnant" means "holds the crown in her own right". So (I guess)
    Suthida is not regnant, does not reign.

    Monarchs, then, can have spouses who do not reign. Could two people be co-regnant? Wiliam III and Mary II, apparently, were co-monarchs
    (1689-1694). I can't remember how that was worked out, though we heard
    about it in high school. Or how William got to be "William III and II",
    as I just read somewhere.

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  • From Aidan Kehoe@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 5 09:56:18 2025
    Ar an ceathrú lá de mí Meitheamh, scríobh Ross Clark:

    [...] Monarchs, then, can have spouses who do not reign. Could two people be co-regnant? Wiliam III and Mary II, apparently, were co-monarchs (1689-1694). I can't remember how that was worked out, though we heard about it in high school. Or how William got to be "William III and II", as I just read somewhere.

    Los Reyes Católicos (Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain) were, fairly famously, this.

    --
    ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
    How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
    (C. Moore)

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