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The Queen during her Christmas speech last year John Stillwell

The Queen is now the world's oldest monarch

This comes after the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

THE DEATH OF King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has meant that Queen Elizabeth is now the world’s oldest monarch.

The Queen, who is set to turn 89 in April, is two years younger than King Abdullah was, who passed away at the age of 90.

Prince Charles is set to travel to Saudi Arabia tomorrow to pay his respects to the deceased king who he is said to have counted as a personal friend. 

Longest serving

Queen Elizabeth is still not the longest serving monarch however. That title goes to Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who has held his position for more than 68 years – having become King in 1946. The Queen has held her position for almost 63 years.

The longest serving British monarch of all time was Queen Victoria, who reigned for just over 64 years between 1837 and 1901.

The current Queen is set to surpass the record set by her great-great grandmother in September.

Read: Here’s why everyone’s talking about this drama about the Royal Family

Also: Keith Barry just predicted the Book of Kells will be stolen

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175 Comments
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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    May 26th 2019, 1:45 AM

    Only seemed like yesterday the values were through the floor. I emigrated during the big crash and bought property/set up shop in another country. Now I’m a happy homeowner & landlord. A fair landlord. This housing stuff in Ireland really saddens me. There will prob be a twin tier society over it. People with financial power will overpay. People without financial power will struggle so badly to live. And live in horrible conditions. Very sad. Emigrating was the hardest decision I ever made. But I’m glad I did. Previous comment is correct. Boom bust is common in some places. Usually places rich in natural resources like oil etc. But it’s not something that that suits the Irish economy. Start building high rises could be the solution here

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    Mute Greedylocks
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    May 26th 2019, 2:03 AM

    @Ronan McDermott: well said, not convinced about high rises but you are asking the questions no one wants to answer. Fair play.

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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    May 26th 2019, 3:10 AM

    @Greedylocks: I hear you about the highrises. Ballymun didn’t work out. But on a small island you can’t always build out. Maybe time to build up. Especially in Dublin. Give people somewhere respectable to live and then you’ll see the real value of these 70s style dumps that landlords are currently renting to people at extortionate rates. The value would be sfa. I’m thinking about quality of life here. As right now it’s not very good for so so many people

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    Mute Greedylocks
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    May 26th 2019, 3:36 AM

    @Ronan McDermott: well said.

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    Mute Greedylocks
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    May 26th 2019, 12:44 AM

    This is an extraordinary misleading economical model. We are in a cycle of boom and bust. Eventually nobody will risk lending this country money. Vulture funds are gathering to pick the bones.

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    May 26th 2019, 8:21 AM

    @Greedylocks: the neoliberal model can only produce boom bust cycles, where the wealthy get wealthier as money is siphoned to the top. So they can ride out the storm, unless they fail to save for the inevitable crash, and those at the bottom pay the consequences. A model based on permanent growth on a planet with finite resources, what could possibly go wrong????

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    May 26th 2019, 8:27 AM

    @Greedylocks: the neoliberal model can only produce boom bust cycles, where the wealthy get wealthier as money is siphoned to the top. So they can ride out the storm, unless they fail to save for the inevitable crash, and those at the bottom pay the consequences. A model based on permanent growth on a planet with finite resources, what could possibly go wrong????
    A model based on exploiting human vulnerabilities through advertising, and serving the market, always a volatile thing, so that the market will meet all our needs. We see the failure of it all around us and blindly elect the same parties with the same policies to do the same thing again and again as if this one time it might work…….

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    Mute Quiet Goer
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    May 26th 2019, 2:05 AM

    This has been years in the making by our FG whose primary mission has been to recapitalise the banks. The homeless crisis and the unaffordability of houses is barely a thorn in the side for them.

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    Mute Willy
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    May 26th 2019, 6:02 AM

    @Quiet Goer: Surely you mean FFG .. Media not telling the true story again at local elections as FFG lose more and more ground. The people are slowly awakening….

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    Mute Patrick O Connell
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    May 26th 2019, 1:33 PM

    @Willy: sf lost the most ground

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    Mute William Kelly
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    May 26th 2019, 7:53 AM

    We are bubbling our way to another bust.
    Note that property investment trusts are selling out now to cash in at the top of the market.
    These guys know when to cash in their chips.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    May 26th 2019, 10:41 AM

    @William Kelly: you are correct I’m afraid we will be heading for another slump , housing prices cannot keep going up and up.
    It’s only in Dublin though, most of the rest of the country are still below 2013 levels

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    Mute Quiggers
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    May 26th 2019, 8:57 AM

    a housing bubble inflated by the European central bank policy to give money to the banks for free. we on the other hand must pay interest on that loan and the banks make money by doing nothing.
    who here knows anything about Deusch Bank?
    people wanna get smart very quick to what is going on again……2007

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    Mute Virgil
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    May 26th 2019, 9:10 AM

    Kensington in London, Upper East side in New York, 6th arrondissement in Paris. These Dublin prices are here to stay. It’s nothing to do with ‘neo-liberal’ policies. It’s to do with supply and demand. Why can the hard left never understand this ?

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    May 26th 2019, 10:41 AM

    @Virgil: that’s what they said last time…..

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    Mute Virgil
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    May 26th 2019, 10:48 AM

    @Gus Sheridan: even with a bust, Mt Merrion, Foxrock et al will still be the priciest housing in the country

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    May 26th 2019, 9:58 AM

    Anyone know how many in government own second properties?

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    Mute Mark Plunkett
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    May 26th 2019, 4:00 PM

    @thesaltyurchin: 15 landlords sit in the dail at any given day,but I could be wrong,FG k o Connell has 8 property’s .

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    Mute Gearoid De Nogla
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    May 26th 2019, 10:07 AM

    Our wonderful banks must be approaching solvency so.

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