# How much does the Queen of England tip?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 28, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437 "2012-12-28T23:00:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/1 "2012-12-28T23:00:46Z")
I’m sure she has handlers to take care of bills, but when she dines out what is the typical royal tip? Is there some sort of formal etiquette? Does it vary based on HRH opinion of the service?
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### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/2 "2012-12-28T23:21:14Z")
When she dines out, it’ll be at a special function, not a public restaurant.
Also tipping etiquette in the UK is very different from the USA.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/3 "2012-12-29T05:24:04Z")
Nitpicks: She’s the Queen of the United Kingdom, not England, and she’s HM (Her Majesty), not HRH (Her Royal Highness).
I’ve read quite a bit about the Queen in recent years while researching a Staff Report, and came across no mention of her _ever_ tipping.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/4 "2012-12-29T05:26:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Nitpicks: She’s the Queen of the United Kingdom, not England, and she’s HM (Her Majesty), not HRH (Her Royal Highness).
Right. Nobody ever calls Obama “The President of Indiana.”
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/5 "2012-12-29T05:40:41Z")
> [@tellyworth](#):
>
> When she dines out, it’ll be at a special function, not a public restaurant.
>
> Also tipping etiquette in the UK is very different from the USA.
She did eat in a restaurant in San Francisco once. (The plans for her to travel from LA by sea were changed because of a storm and new arrangements had to be made on the fly.)
> [@panache45](#):
>
> Right. Nobody ever calls Obama “The President of Indiana.”
If 84% of Americans lived in Indiana, and “Indiana” had been an accepted way of referring to the US for centuries even in the US (at least in Indiana), and the president had publicly called himself the “President of Indiana,” lots of people would, especially overseas in places where we exported our language but not minute-by-minute updates on our local cultural issues.
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### Author:  [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/6 "2012-12-29T06:08:32Z")
I don’t know that she carries money. I imagine she doesn’t concern herself about a tip and lets the person with the money tip an appropriate amount.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/7 "2012-12-29T07:13:53Z")
> [@Pai325](#):
>
> I don’t know that she carries money. I imagine she doesn’t concern herself about a tip and lets the person with the money tip an appropriate amount.
Right, I’m sure if the situation ever arose there would be a courtier at hand to take care of it. I’m not even sure that the Queen would ever carry any money. Why would she need it?
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### Author:  [@aa2070](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aa2070)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/8 "2012-12-29T07:31:47Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> Right, I’m sure if the situation ever arose there would be a courtier at hand to take care of it. I’m not even sure that the Queen would ever carry any money. Why would she need it?
Identification.
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### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/9 "2012-12-29T09:03:38Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> I’m not even sure that the Queen would ever carry any money. Why would she need it?
For the [collection plate](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/790/what-does-queen-elizabeth-carry-in-that-purse).
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### Author:  [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/10 "2012-12-29T09:17:26Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#):
>
> If 84% of Americans lived in Indiana, and “Indiana” had been an accepted way of referring to the US for centuries even in the US (at least in Indiana), and the president had publicly called himself the “President of Indiana,” lots of people would, especially overseas in places where we exported our language but not minute-by-minute updates on our local cultural issues.
Up to the minute? I seriously doubt there’s been a king/queen of the UK who has styled him/herself as “King/Queen of England” since [1707](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707). Can you provide a cite for any more recent use by anyone except Americans?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/11 "2012-12-29T09:41:08Z")
[1953:](https://www.royal.gov.uk/ImagesandBroadcasts/TheQueensChristmasBroadcasts/ChristmasBroadcasts/Christmasbroadcast1953.aspx)
> [@](#):
>
> So this will be a voyage right round the world - the first that a Queen of England has been privileged to make as Queen.
Calling the whole of the UK “England” didn’t originate with Americans.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/12 "2012-12-29T12:45:42Z")
> [@Pai325](#):
>
> I don’t know that she carries money.
For a long time it was popularly believed she never carried money, but, according to **QI** , apparently [she does](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QI_%28C_series%29#Episode_2_.22Cummingtonite.22).
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/13 "2012-12-29T14:41:21Z")
She might carry money just to take it out and say “Way cool, I’m on the money!”
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### Author:  [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/14 "2012-12-29T15:27:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Nitpicks: She’s the Queen of the United Kingdom, not England, and she’s HM (Her Majesty), not HRH (Her Royal Highness).
Have to say, I can’t remember hearing anyone call her the Queen of the UK, or even the Queen of Britain (which would also be inaccurate). Can you? I even saw posters on the tube in London that referred to the “Queen of England” recently.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/15 "2012-12-29T15:39:08Z")
She really doesn’t go to places where you need to tip very often. In [Elizabeth the Queen: Life of a Modern Monarch](http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Queen-Life-Modern-Monarch/dp/0812979796/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356795105&sr=1-1&keywords=modern+monarch), they describe an incident where, if I’m remembering right, she’s visiting Ronald Reagan in California, and instead of serving dinner at his house, they went to a restaurant for some reason. She was completely unfamiliar with the concept, and wasn’t quite sure what to do with the menu and other basic restaurant-type things.
Really, her life is very different than what a normal person experiences. If she’s out and about, in general every minute is accounted for. Meals are scheduled and prepared; there’s really no “Oh geez, I’m hungry now, let’s pop into that diner over there.” It’s all stuff like "we breakfast with \ at 8 am, then we inspect the grounds of the new museum, then we have 38 minutes to drive to the dedication ceremony for the new church, then we lunch with \ in the banquet facility next door, then we have 45 minutes to meet with \, etc. etc.
When she’s at home, of course, her meals are prepared by her staff.
Fascinating book if you’re interested in how she lives. I wouldn’t say it’s objective - the rosy picture it paints of the monarchy is absolutely too good to be true - but I have no reason to believe that the ins and outs of her daily life aren’t mostly accurate.
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/16 "2012-12-29T16:06:50Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#):
>
> Have to say, I can’t remember hearing anyone call her the Queen of the UK, or even the Queen of Britain (which would also be inaccurate). Can you? I even saw posters on the tube in London that referred to the “Queen of England” recently.
Do you have a cite for that? Sure it wasn’t an exhibition on Elizabeth I?
We don’t generally refer to HM as The Queen of anything, she is just HM The Queen.
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### Author:  [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/17 "2012-12-29T16:52:20Z")
> [@SanVito](#):
>
> Do you have a cite for that? Sure it wasn’t an exhibition on Elizabeth I?
>
> We don’t generally refer to HM as The Queen of anything, she is just HM The Queen.
Exactly this. Referring to the current queen as “The Queen of England” would be a sure way to guarantee a deluge of complaining letters from irate Scots.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/18 "2012-12-29T16:59:04Z")
Another difference from calling Obama “President of Indiana” is that Obama is not the head of state of Indiana (that would be Mitch Daniels), but Elizabeth is the head of state of England. She’s also the head of state of a number of other places, too, but of each of them severally. Obama, by contrast, is not the head of state of any individual state, but only of the conglomeration of the states as a whole.
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### Author:  [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/19 "2012-12-29T17:09:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Another difference from calling Obama “President of Indiana” is that Obama is not the head of state of Indiana (that would be Mitch Daniels), but Elizabeth is the head of state of England. She’s also the head of state of a number of other places, too, but of each of them severally. Obama, by contrast, is not the head of state of any individual state, but only of the conglomeration of the states as a whole.
Well, but England doesn’t have a head of state any more than Indiana does, if you want to look at it that way. Elizabeth is head of state of the UK.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-the-queen-of-england-tip/645437/20 "2012-12-29T17:24:28Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> She might carry money just to take it out and say “Way cool, I’m on the money!”
Now I want to design a series of Bodoni Bucks and put various family members on them. I think that I want to be on the 25 BB bill.
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