Or you could just, you know, call her Queen of the UK.
Or even just QE2, which is universally understood and does not ignore/insult all of the places she’s Queen of that aren’t England. Which includes some quite large countries you might have heard of, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
You know, for a forum that’s devoted to fighting ignorance, some people here seem very insistent on using a name that is demonstrably wrong. You can argue for “Queen of England” all you like, but it’s still not one of QE2’s actual titles.
I think most Americans (including myself when I was younger) do not understand the difference between England, the UK, and Great Britain.
I presume most Americans believe there is a country called England where (a funny version of) English is commonly spoken - just as Spain is where Spanish is spoken, germany where german is spoken, Italy where Italian is spoken, France where French is spoken. Oh - and Greece - they speak Greek there.
We do know there is a city London - and there is a tower called Big Ben (shhh - don’t tell me - that’s what we think).
Once you get past that - our knowledge is a little vaguer. Of course - once you travel there - you learn more things and question things you never thought of before.
Anyway - I don’t think you can really blame us for thinking the Woman who speaks with a funny accent and waves is the Queen of England. Her son after all isn’t called the Prince of England - or the UK, but the Prince of Wales. We do not know why that is. We assume you do. We realize we could look it up. Everyone here knows who we are talking about when we call her the Queen of England. It sounds very wrong to you, but doesn’t to most of us.
We have been calling Native Americans Indians for quite some time as well. And I’m sure most Americans believe they speak Chinese in China.
There are plenty of other things we do wrong as well.
Considering that “Great Anna, whom three realms obey, doth sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea” ceased being [the last] Queen of England in 1707, and has been decomposing since 1714, I presume she would tip completely over.
I think plenty of us are quite aware thank you. “Queen of England” is common usage here. Not out of ignorance. Its just the way we say it. We also don’t put a u in color. So what. I’m pretty sure that ABC isn’t totally ignorant of the UK. Or NBC. Or Forbes. I think you get the idea. You can trace it back to colonial times. Its like being critical of Americans for calling the country Germany instead of Deutschland.
So, referring to her as “queen of the United Kingdom” isn’t enough now, because it is insulting to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada?
You’ll notice that when people say “queen of England,” they don’t add “(one of her actual titles).” “Actual title” isn’t a mandatory requirement of language.
Calm down? I’m not remotely angry and I’m fairly sure I don’t sound it. I’m not sure why stating the purpose of the board annoys you. I mean, it’s not like I made it up.
It’s fine to choose to call her by the wrong title if you like, but accept that it is the wrong title. That’s all.
Very few people in this thread were ignorant about the fact that Elizabeth’s official titles do not include “queen of England.” But you seem to be oblivious to the ignorance that I pointed out, namely, regarding notions of “wrong” and regarding the fact that whether something is official or not doesn’t determine whether something is “wrong.”
I actually genuinely have no idea what you mean or why you’re being so defensive. I’ve said it doesn’t annoy me and you guys are free to use it if you like, and now you’re claiming that using the wrong title isn’t wrong. Informal usages are often inaccurate, no big deal.
Perhaps you and the other guy should pit me or something.
I know this is a joke, but it’s worth pointing out that peerages are now doled out “on the advice of the Prime Minister”, which is a fancy way of saying he gets to pick who gets them.
It’s already been mentioned vis-a-vis Scotland, but QE2 is not the second Queen Elizabeth of any of the places that aren’t England. QEI was only Queen of England and Ireland.