I wonder if it is ackward for the Queen to sit through God Save the Queen when in essence they are singing about her
Elizabeth was crowned 62 years ago. She’s also the head of state for 15 countries besides Great Britain. I’m sure any embarassment she might have ever felt has long since been turned numb.
And Presidents have to listen to Hail to the Chief.
I think she’s still able to stand:
I guess that if she has to start sitting, it will be a bummer.Prime Minister: Your Majesty, I wonder if it is becoming more ackward for you to spend so much time on your feet at the age of 89. It may be prudent to delegate affairs of state to your son and grandsons, ma’am.
Queen Elizabeth: Ackward?!? The fuck does that mean?
Off to MPSIMS.
As someone else mentioned in a thread some years ago, she can’t sing her own country’s national anthem because it’s about her (“God save our gracious Meeee…”).
But among all the various ritualistic nonsense through which she has to keep a straight face, this is trifling.
I don’t think she has much trouble keeping a straight face…
Has anybody, anywhere, ever seen Queen Elizabeth smile?
Now, the Queen mum was famous for her happy face.Almost made me wish I was British…
But Elizabeth the Twoth…not so much.
The anthem is about the position of the monarch not the current person holding it.
I believe HM smiles plenty in the company of her family, although the public aren’t generally invited to witness it.
She seems to have quite a range of smiles. I don’t know why we don’t see those photos more often. Perhaps formal state occasions are less likely to raise a chuckle.
So I’ve gathered – in such private-and-personal life as she gets, she’s reputedly quite a fun person in her quiet way. My brother used to teach at a very upper-crust private girls’ school in England: the families of some of his pupils there, were on first-hand socialising terms with the Royals. To these pupils, the Queen was “Auntie Liz”, which I find rather sweet.
Wouldn’t she walk out at the lyric “…and the facist regime?”
Wow…So she actually has a nice smile, but refuses to show it? I find that kinda depressing.
You Brits are a lot more formal than them damn rebellious Yankees…but still, what’s wrong with appearing human?
She shouldn’t stoop as low as the US presidents–who join late-night comedians on chat shows.
But what harm comes from showing a nice smile towards your subjects?
Refuses to show it?
Have you not seen any photos of her at the races?
None I can see:
Then there the royal guffaw:
But is it an ackward position? That’s what we’re trying to figure out.
There are dozens of monarchs on this planet, and they are all probably in the same boat of having to listen to their national anthem ad infinitum. Maybe someone could write super-polite letters to each asking the question. If the letter is sufficiently witty, I predict that at least one will reply. Most of them do know English. This can get someone started:
I predict the answer is: No.
P.S. on #17: I guess you’ll have to first check to see that the anthem actually mentions the monarch, but most of them do.
I’m sure she smiles a lot in public. It’s just that for her (and many other people) her face does not default to smiling and most candid pictures will catch her not smiling. Which is unfortunate for someone in her position, especially since it’s one of those things where a woman gets judged much more harshly.
(It doesn’t help that she lived most of her life in the shadow of her mother’s permanent beatific smile.)
Does she still have subjects? Didn’t the UK finally introduce citizenship a while ago?