© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

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Union. There are also two other matters of controversy, which are much less publicised. Firstly, the argument that the monarch was addressed as Your Grace, rather than Majesty, in pre-Union Scotland and secondly, that the preferred title had been King/Queen of Scots rather than of Scotland (although this was by no means unknown).

At the royal opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the presiding officer David Steel referred to her as "not only the Queen of the United Kingdom but seated as you are among us in the historic and constitutionally correct manner as Queen of Scots".

Future British monarchs will be numbered according to either English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher. Applying this policy retroactively to monarchs since the Act of Union yields the same numbering. See List of regnal numerals of future British monarchs.

Following a decision by Commonwealth Prime Ministers at the Commonwealth conference of 1953, Queen Elizabeth uses different styles and titles in each of her realms. In each state she acts as the monarch of that state regardless of her other roles.

Properly styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" (and when the distinction is necessary e.g. "Her Britannic Majesty", "Her Australian Majesty", or "Her Canadian Majesty"), her previous styles were:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York ( 21 April 1926 – 11 December 1936 )

• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth ( 11 December 1936 – 12 June 1947 )

• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, CI ( 12 June 1947 – 11 November 1947 )

• Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, KG, CI ( 11–20 November 1947 )

• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI ( 20 November 1947 – 5 March 1951 )

• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI, CD ( 5 March – 4 December 1951 )

• Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh, KG, CI, CD, PC ( 4 December 1951 – 6 February 1952 )

Though Ladies of the Garter now use the post nominal letters “LG”, a Lady of the Garter was not a full member of the Order back then. Thus, the post nominal letters "LG" were not used, so Princess Elizabeth used “KG”.

Personality and image

Elizabeth has never given press interviews, and her views on political issues are largely unknown except to those few heads of government who have private conversations with her. She is also regarded privately as an excellent mimic. Rather conservative in dress, she is well known for her solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd. Although she attends many cultural events as part of her public role, in her private life Elizabeth is said to have little interest in culture or the arts. Her main leisure interests include horse racing, photography, and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis.

Elizabeth has given an annual Christmas Message to the Commonwealth every year apart from 1969 since she became Queen.

In diplomatic situations Elizabeth is extremely formal, and royal protocol is generally very strict. Though some of the traditional rules for dealing with the Monarch have been relaxed during her reign (bowing is no longer required, for example) other forms of close personal interaction, such as touching, are still discouraged by officials. At least three people are known to have broken this rule, the first being Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia, when he was photographed with his arm around the Queen in 1992 (and was afterwards dubbed the "Lizard of Oz" by the British tabloids). The second was Louis Garneau, who did the same ten years later. [2] However the Queen took no offence at their actions, and Keating stayed as the Queen's guest in her private Balmoral home. The third was John Howard, the conservative Australian Prime Minister who succeeded Keating. It is noteworthy that on this occasion the tabloid press did not protest.

Her former prime ministers speak highly of her. Since becoming Queen, she spends an average of three hours every day "doing the boxes" — reading state papers sent to her from her various departments, embassies, and government offices.[3] Having done so since 1952, she has seen more of British public affairs from the inside than any other person, and is thus able to offer advice to Tony Blair based on things said to her by John Major, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Winston Churchill and many other senior leaders. She takes her responsibilities in this regard seriously, once mentioning an "interesting telegram" from the Foreign Office to then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill, only to find that her prime minister had not bothered to read it when it came in his box.

Always a popular figure in the United Kingdom, not to mention other countries, opinion polls have almost always shown that she has an excellent approval rating, often higher than that of her elected Prime Ministers.

In 2006, the Queen came close to an orthodox interview when she agreed to be portrait-painted by the popular Australian artist and personality Rolf Harris, who engaged in small talk with her, on film, and with Palace permission. It was shown on the BBC. However, their conversation ventured little beyond previous portraits of the Queen and Royal art history in general.

The journalist and BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys has long stated that his career ambition is to get the first full interview with the Queen.

Coat of arms

The Queen's coat of arms is known as the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Every British monarch has used these arms since the reign of Queen Victoria. The shield is quartered, depicting in the first and fourth quarters the three lions passant guardant of England; in the second, the rampant lion and double tressure fleury-counter-fleury of Scotland; and in the third, a harp for Ireland. The crest is a lion statant guardant wearing the imperial crown, itself on another representation of that crown. The sinister supporter is a likewise crowned lion, symbolizing England; the dexter, a unicorn, symbolizing Scotland. The coat features both the motto of British monarchs Dieu et mon droit (God and my right) and the motto of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame whomever thinks it evil) on a representation of the Garter behind the shield.

A separate coat of arms exists for use in Scotland, which gives priority to the Scottish elements. The Scottish arms feature the Order of the Thistle and its motto Nemo me impune lacessit (No one provokes me with impunity).

The Royal Standard is the Queen's flag and is a banner of the Royal Arms. In some of the Commonwealth Realms, the Queen has an official standard for use when acting as Queen of that realm. Australia, Barbados, Canada, Jamaica, and New Zealand each have their own Royal Standard which is a defaced banner of the country's coat of arms, including the Queen's personal badge of a crowned letter E inside a circle of roses on a blue disc. This badge was also used in the Queen's personal flags in former realms, and also forms the flag used by the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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