I was just wondering if it was considered tounge-in-cheek to do so. The closest thing we have to a queen is our president (snicker) and we seem to have no problem raz’n him all the time. (as far as sitcoms and stand up comedians go.)
You’ve not seen Spitting Image then?
In my experience Brits are way more disrespectful to the leaders that Yanks.
When it comes to lampooning the leading class they have a lot of practice .
The Queen generally avoids the nastiest treatment; the rest of her family is basically fair game. There’s not really deferential treatment of the institution as a whole, and although the Queen herself is generally subject to pretty respectful treatment (the odd comedy show apart) her position in the Burrell story has led to some murmurings.
I certainly do. Not always tongue in cheek either.
There’s a major difference. The president is democratically elected - more or less - and has political power. The Queen is simply born into the job and has no political role other than to be a symbol of the government (which is democratically elected). So her head is on the coins and things are done in her name (Regina vs Smith in court, a naval vessel is called “Her Majesty’s Ship blah blah”, official inquiries are called Royal Commissions, etc).
It’s arguably unfair to pick on the Queen, because it’s nothing to do with her. Pick on Bambi - sorry, PM Blair - if you want.
Her kids are so ridiculous, it’s impossible not to mock, though there’s mo point.
Long-time mavens of MAD Magazine may remember a flap from the late 50s concerning an article with a comic strip about “Bringing Up Bonnie Prince Charlie,” with artwork, by Wallace Wood, imitating Ernst & Saunders of Mary Worth.
The dialog:
ELIZABETH: Stand up, Charlie! Hold your head up! Stop fidgiting! [sic]
PHILIP: I say, Liz! Leave the boy alone! Stop nagging him!
ELIZABETH: I’ll trust you to mind your own business, Philip! Remember, Charlie will be king someday! he must learn to behave like a king!
PHILIP: But he’s only a boy, Liz…
ELIZABETH: Well, he’s not an ordinary boy!
CHARLES: Why can’t I be an ordinary boy, Mother? Why can’t I go out with ordinary boys and have fun once in a while?
ELIZABETH: Hold your tongue, Charlie! You’re beginning to sound like your father!
The British were not amused at all by this. At least one London newspaper carried the article under the headline “A STUPID INSULT.” When the article was reprinted years later, it was necessary to tear out, by hand, the page with “Bringing Up Bonnie Prince Charlie” before the book (25,000 copies of it) could be distributed in Great Britain, according to Frank Jacobs in The MAD World of William M. Gaines. Jacobs’ comment was, “Clearly, the famed British appreciation of satire did not extend to the royal family.”
There’s been a very big change in opinion betwixt the '50s and the present day. Back then the Queen had just been crowned, and everyone was a Young Elizabethan, gazing into a shiny new, at-peace future (full of hovercraft and monorails). The royals Could Do No Wrong.
Now we know better…
dougie_monty, I think part of the problem there is that it was Americans making fun of our royalty. You get the same defensiveness happen when furriners make fun of Bush.
No one is forced to do a job. She is one of the richest people in Britain through no effort of her own, expects everyone to bow, curtsey and grovel in front of her. I have no sympathy
Just as there are both Americans that mock the President and Americans that defend the President, so are there Brits on both sides. It’s not an all or nothing situation.
On a related note, I was in Canada during the Queen’s recent visit. The Canadian Deputy PM chose that time to make some disparaging remarks about HRH to the press. Well! You would have thought that he’d flung his own feces at her, the way the press and public jumped all over him.
my observation from the Brits I’ve known is that they slam the royals, the Queen included, much more often and worse than we Americans do the Pres.
The answer, it looks like, is yes, some Brits slam the queen. Although not everyone does.
What is different in the UK versus the US is that there are many more people (called royalists) who adore the queen. Somehow having a royal family makes some people feel better. I’ve seen people push and shove each other roughly just to get a quick glimpse of Prince Phillip… Prince Phillip!
How many Americans actually adore Bush or any other recent President to that extent.
Some Reagan-philes could probably give royalists a run for their money in terms of blind adoration.
Welcome aboard the SDMB suotbgi.
I’m no fan of the House of Windsor either, but I must say the constant references to them being foreigners is the one criticism I do take issue with. The queen’s great great grandfather was German. Of course there are people who think that if your great great grandfather was Jamaican or Bengali you’re not British either, but it’s not a point of view that deserves any respect as far as I’m concerned.
You might want to rethink that screen name too, btw, it’s buggering up the page.
Are you sure they were British? Most of the people I’ve seen pushing to see jerks like Phil (or any royals for that matter) have been overseas tourists - especially American ones.
Welcome aboard the SDMB suotbgi.
I’m no fan of the House of Windsor either, but I must say the constant references to them being foreigners is the one criticism I do take issue with. The queen’s great great grandfather was German. Of course there are people who think that if your great great grandfather was Jamaican or Bengali you’re not British either, but it’s not a point of view that deserves any respect as far as I’m concerned.
You might want to rethink that screen name too, btw, it’s buggering up the page.
Are you sure they were British? Most of the people I’ve seen pushing to see jerks like Phil (or any royals for that matter) have been overseas tourists - especially American ones.