Forgive me for asking this but I truely don’t know… I’m an American and truely don’t know what to call “The Queen of England” except just that. Could someone please tell me the proper title?
Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
or:
Elizabeth II, Dei Gratia Britanniarum Regnorumque Suorum Ceterorum Regina, Consortionis Populorum Princeps, Fidei Defensor
No kidding?! Wow! Queen of England is so much easier to remember than all that. Is there no shorter title? Seriously.
She has many official titles depending on the context – see List of titles and honours of Elizabeth II - Wikipedia – the most common abbreviation is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. Government documents shorten it to HM The Queen. She signs her name Elizabeth R (or ER) (R for Regina). “The British monarch” will do in a pinch.
You could call her the queen of the United Kingdom.
If you call her “Queen of England”, everyone will know what you mean. But a pedant will point out that England as a distinct kingdom ceased to exist in 1707, when England and Scotland were united into a single kingdom called Great Britain. Then, in 1801, Great Britain and Ireland were united into a single kingdom called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which is now known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Of course England, the country, is wholly included within her realms, so she is in that sense the queen of England.
I just call her the English queen. Everyone knows who I mean, and even a pedant will find it hard to dispute that she is English, and she is a queen.
Yes, but James II predates the Act of Settlement, which provides that the crown devolves to the heir of Sophia, Electress of Hannover, being Protestant.
The current heir of Sophia is the present Queen, and she is indeed a Protestant. On her death, assuming she is survived by Charles, Charles will be heir and, if he is then a Protestant, he will be king. His disinclination to perform the duties of the office would not alter the fact that, legally, he would still be Sophia’s heir and, therefore, would still be king. If he wants not to be king he will have to assent to an Act of Parliament modifying the Act of Succession, just as Edward VIII did. And the UK Parliament will not pass such an Act without the consent of the parliaments of the Commonwealth realms.
If you’re talking to your friends, “Queen of England” will be perfectly well understood. In more formal contexts, “Queen of the United Kingdom” is better.
Well, here in America, we do refer to her as the Queen of England. In fact, it would be hard to find anyone who actually knows what her proper title is here. I was just reading this thread about the NBC reporter and it seemed you found it amusing that he/she referred to the Queen in that manner. I just wouldn’t want to be laughed at or seem ignorant in sophisticated company.
Can someone also explain the whole Protestant thing to me? Must one be Protestant to be heir to the throne?
I’m reading between these posts and just read that the Queen doesn’t generally use a surname, but when she does it is the adopted name of “Windsor”. Does this mean that Prince Wiliam’s (adopted) surname is Windsor too? Will Kate / Catherine be a “Windsor” once she marries William? This is fascinating.
Yes. And furthermore one must not marry a Catholic. Both are explicity requirements of the Act of Settlement 1701, which regulates the succession to the crown.
The Act of Settlement specifically prohibits Catholics and people married to Catholics from occupying the throne.
I wonder, though, what would happen if a potential successor were not a Catholic, but neither a Protestant, nor even a Christian of any kind. Eastern Orthodox? Muslim? Hindu? Atheist?
Why the hard feelings against Catholics? Can a Royal marry a Jew, Hindu, or Muslim? Would that be OK?
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Because the country was torn apart by a 10-year civil war one of whose causes was a king who married a Catholic. And this followed on decades of wars between Catholics and Protestants during the Tudor and Stewart periods. The Catholics lost.
So far as I know, this question has no official answer.
“And whereas the said late King James the Second…”
Heh. Even though he still lived, he was dead to them!
Yes, yes, I know. “Late” can also mean “former.”
There’s no legal obstacle, and such a marriage would not rule someone out of the succession. The Act only bars marriage to Catholics.
The present Queen married an Orthodox Christian, though he converted to Anglicanism in preparation for his marriage. Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, married an Orthodox wife. So far as I know she did not convert, and Prince Alfred’s place in the line of succession was unaffected.
Just “the Queen” is enough in most contexts. Most people will know which queen you mean, unless they’re Dutch or from some other country that has its own Queen.
QE2 is all you need to type (or say) if you want to be specific, again everyone will know who you mean. You could say “Queen Elizabeth the Second” if you need to spell it out.
If you’re actually talking to Prince Charles, saying “Your mum” is apparently acceptable. At least, a TV presenter here in Australia famously asked Charlie “How’s your mum?” and got the answer “Her Majesty is well, thank you.” Not “mom” though, that’s too American.
Of course, when Her Majesty is exercising her authority in relation to one of her overseas realms, the title changes. For example, when she appoints a new Governor General for Canada, she is acting as the Queen of Canada.