The Alexander Palace Time Machine Discussion Forum

[50s]

I hope I'm as active when I hit my 50s! LOL

This was on tumblr so I don't know where or when the quote originated:

"“She is the only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me and my ambition is to weld the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good.” -Prince Philip."

Edubs31, I agree. Leo is a very popular actor these days!

GDella, Leo is around 5ft11 I think, 1.83m. He's quite tall. And I didn't know Rasputin was that tall! I just looked it up, he's 6ft4 exactly, 1.93m, so there would be 5 inches height difference. 

Tom Baker did a great job in N&A in my opinion.

I looked it up and one site said 6'. I didn't realize he was that tall--he always seemed more about 5'8"-5'9" to me. Put a small lift in and it should work.

Well, since by the mid-90's, the Russians had withdrawn from Eastern Europe (the Warsaw Pact itself was dissolved in 1991), there really wouldn't be a need for so many U.S. troops in Germany.  I suppose some U.S. troops will be there as long as NATO exists.

Yes, exactly. It was part of the 'peace dividend' of the Cold War ending. I would imagine there will always be a base there--at least in my lifetime. Between NATO and the new AFRICOM (African Command--designed to respond to threats, etc...in Africa) as well as being the mid-way point for transport to the Middle East, there is still a need for some presence.

I picked Bob up from the airport this morning.   Of course, now I'm back at work until 7:15 tonight. LOL Our time together will kick in this weekend but it was great just to see him in person again. Skype is a good thing but nothing like the actual person. It was a surprise to the kids (who are off today) as they were expecting him home tomorrow. That was a wonderful scene.

Those nose thing will be easy enough and the beard should do a bunch of the rest. However, Leo isn't very tall and wasn't Rasputin a good few inches over 6'?

Not nearly as sizeable as the 80s-90s but Ramstein is still a large base--it's the main European hub and is also where one of the NATO facilities is. A lot of bases were closing even when we were there and more have closed in the decade since. I don't think Ramstein will ever shut down though. Of the 8 jobs listed in Germany, I think most, if not all, were at Ramstein or Stuttgart (USAFE command and Special Ops Command). Stuttgart has EUCOM and AFRICOM and thus has been identified as one of the few "enduring communities" where the United States forces will continue to operate in Germany. Stuttgart is still Army but is increasingly joint.

There are 21 altogether but the majority are pretty small. There is 1 joint base, 2 USAF, 17 Army, 1 Marine. Some of these bases are broken down into subsidiary ones--many of which are scheduled for closing this year through 2016.

If you look at this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_installations_in_Germany

you can see the dozens that have shut down. Almost all the closings happened in the '90s through now.

From The Telegraph:

"Her Majesty took her husband a birthday card, addressed to “HRH The Duke of Edinburgh” as he continues to recover from surgery at the London Clinic. After a 35-minute visit, she left, looking relaxed and happy, as she shook hands with her physician, Prof John Cunningham, who is in overall charge of the Duke’s treatment. Buckingham Palace said the Duke was “progressing according to plans at this early stage” and is “comfortable and in good spirits”. He is still awaiting the results of tests carried out during an exploratory operation on his abdomen on Friday, and will remain in hospital for another two weeks before “taking a period of convalescence of approximately two months”, the Palace said. Earlier in the day the Earl of Wessex became the Duke’s first visitor since his operation when he spent 20 minutes by his bedside, also taking a birthday card with him. As he left the hospital he was asked how his father was doing, and replied: “Well, thank you.”
The fact that the Duke is feeling well enough to receive visitors suggests he is making a good recovery from his operation.

"Aides had earlier said that members of the Royal family would only visit the Duke if his doctors said he was strong enough to have company. The nature of the Duke's complaint is not known, but doctors decided he should have the exploratory operation following a regular health check carried out in the past fortnight. The Queen dismissed concerns for his health when she visited the BBC on Friday, telling the Today programme presenter John Humphrys he was "not ill".

We were in Germany from 1999-2002 and LOVED it. Kate was 4-7, Drew was 1-4 and I was expecting Ella when we left. I would love to take them back at the ages they are now (18, 15, 11). Kate would only be there during college break unless she took some time off. I was a European history major in college so I was happy as a pig in slop. LOL Bob loved it too. We missed family but some came over to visit. We've tried a few times to get back but, with the preferential follow on, this is the best chance. If the USAF decides to mess with Bob, there'll be hell to pay! LOL It's supposedly guaranteed but the military does what it wants--we've learned that.

We are at Dover AFB from 1996-1999 (that's where Drew was born) and it was fine. It was cool to be by family but we'll be retiring in Newark (we are in the process of trying to obtain a mortgage for my grandparent's house--fingers crossed) so we'll have the rest of our lives to be in DE!

So, this time next week, we'll be lolling at the beach.   We've never had a deployment this long (12 mos) so I've never done a midtour. I hope it doesn't feel like going back to scratch when he leaves again. We did a calculation and between his deployments and the geographic separation during his Pentagon tour, he's spent more than half his time away from his family in the last 8 years. We've all kept busy and, as usual, the Forum and my buddies here help me out when I'm blue.   I think I ever became a mod during on of his prior deployments. But we're looking forward to be a united family again--well, semi-united since our eldest will be at college.

Marlene wrote that everything is progressing according to plans for right now and that the Prince "is comfortable and in good spirits". While he will remain in the hospital for up to 2 weeks, his entire convalescence could take about 2 months.  Give the man all the time he wants at his age! It's time to hand a bunch of stuff off to Charles and William. Philip has worked his rear end off for 60 yrs for the country, let him just relax now.

No, Dover isn't because of his rank and career field. The only spots for a Lt Col would be squadron or group command and he's not eligible for those. We're really hoping for Europe and that's what he's put on his preference sheet. Doing a 365 unaccompanied is supposed to give your priority in your selection. The list came out in May and there are 11 spots in Europe (8 Germany, 2 Belgium, 1 Netherlands) and he listed all of them, followed by Hawaii, followed by Japan. This is probably his last assignment before retiring and we want to go out big!   If he could, he would love one final assignment after overseas and that would be heading up the ROTC detachment at the University of DE (our alma mater) but that could hinge on the timing.

You still haven't addressed the nose problem lol  That will one amazing prosthetic 
Of course Leo is a fine actor...that's not in question . Perhaps this movie will be " Rasputin, the prequel  "  lol

Well, he played fat old J. Edgar Hoover.

VMH was more pragmatic than most--I'm not surprised that she had concern. Two of her granddaughters (Philip's sisters) were all married off young. Cecile was 20 while Sophie had only turned 16 a few months prior. VMH herself married just a couple weeks past 19, Ella was 19.  Then Ernie was 26 and just as immature as VM. Alix was 22 and would've married years earlier if she had come around on the religion issue.  I think it just depends on the people involved and their circumstances.

Thanks, everyone! And thank you, FA for the kind words. I've so enjoyed being a mod here--it's no hardship.   He's on his way to the airport now and should be home about 9:30 am tomorrow. I'll be on half-days at work Thurs (my own Ella's elementary school graduation--she was just a baby when I started here and now she's going to middle school!) and Fri (Kate's high school graduation). We leave on Sun for Phase 1 of the Great Family Vacation. I'll be back at work the following Mon (6/24) and he leaves on Thurs (6/26). So I'll be able to check in while I'm at work. Then he'll be gone for another 6 mos and then we'll move (parts unknown until Jul) in Jan.

This may answer my question, actually: (from RJOTWMB)

""On this forum someone has linked to an article in which the late Duchess of Halland told that her jewels would be inherited by the Crown Princess. So to Victoria personally and not to the Bernadotte Foundation. It is also possible it was given to the Bernadotte Foundation with an instruction by Princess Lilian, for an example that Princess Victoria has the first hand.

The rest of the estate of the late Duke of Halland (the villa, etc.) was for Prince Carl Philip.

Maybe Princess Madeleine got a certain share too (in money or so)."

If true, I'm sure we will see the lovely and historic necklace again. I'm glad the jewelry (save perhaps for some individual, personal bequests) would stay in the Swedish royal family. So many historic pieces in the British RF have exited through the lesser branches. I wish the BRF had a foundation ala some of the Scandinavian houses to keep some pieces permanently in the ruling line with junior members able to borrow from them as needed.