h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sounds fairly average to me.

Fair enough - can't remember where I heard it in the first place - I should have checked the facts before mentioning it.

A5110958 - HM Queen Elizabeth II

I've added it to the trivia section at the end, anyway

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I'm sorry I can't do that. 1977 was *my* annus horribilis. The worst year of my life so far.

I'll do the Golden Jubilee with pleasure, I enjoyed it immensely and there's a wealth of info at the BBC News website.

Hi, Galaxy Babe!


This is looking really good already!

A few small points:
----"When Princess Elizabeth was just 13 she met a distant cousin, handsome naval officer Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, another descendant of Queen Victoria."
This makes it sound like it was Prince Andrew who was descended from Queen Victoria, but actually it was his wife, Philip's mother. Philip was Elizabeth's third cousin through descent from Queen Victoria on his mother's side, and a second cousin once removed through the Danish Royal family on his father's side. Only people who have a strong interest in genealogy are likely to worry about it, but you could rephrase it as:

"When Princess Elizabeth was just 13 she met handsome naval officer Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten who was a distant cousin on both sides of his family. His father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was a first cousin of George V, while his mother, Princess Alice of Battenburg, was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria."


----"Just before the wedding HRH the Prince Philip was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh (he is also the Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich) by the King."
Didn't he also renounce his Greek titles and citizenship, and convert from Greek Orthodoxy to the Church of England?

----"Prince Andrew (born 1960) and Prince Edward (born 1964), were the first children to be born to a reigning monarch since Queen Victoria."
It's not completely clear whether you mean Victoria's children or herself. This would be clearer:
"Prince Andrew (born 1960) and Prince Edward (born 1964), were the first children to be born to a reigning monarch since Queen Victoria's youngest daughter (born 1857)."

----"The Lady Louise Windsor (born 2003), the daughter of Prince Edward."
Thats "The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.." Apparently it was a sore point with Prince Philip that his children would get his wife's surname, not his, and some time in the 60s the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was suggested as a possibility for their grandchildren. But only Prince Edward seems to have used it.

----"George III (1738 - 1820) - he ruled for 60 years before being judged insane..."
The 60 years of his reign included those years where he was mad: his son was Regent but he was ruling on behalf of George III.
"George III (1738 - 1820) - he ruled for 60 years but for the last ten years he was judged insane and his elder son the Prince of Wales (the future George IV) acted as Prince Regent until his father's death."

----"the more you watched her, the more you felt endeared to her."
I think that verb is the wrong way round:
"the more you watched her, the more she endeared herself to you." or
"the more you watched her, the more endearing she seemed"

Another point for the trivia at the end: Queen Elizabeth has never made a state visit to Ireland. She's visited former enemies like Germany and Japan, and former colonies like India, but the legacy of the split between Northern Ireland and the present Republic prevented any possibility of a state visit until recently.


Azara

Hi again,

Azara wrote:
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which got me thinking - and web-searching...
Here's the quotation from the royal web site ( http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page3379.asp ):

"However, in 1960, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh decided that they would like their own direct descendants to be distinguished from the rest of the Royal Family (without changing the name of the Royal House), as Windsor is the surname used by all the male and unmarried female descendants of George V.
"It was therefore declared in the Privy Council that The Queen's descendants, other than those with the style of Royal Highness and the title of Prince/Princess, or female descendants who marry, would carry the name of Mountbatten-Windsor. (In 1947, when Prince Philip of Greece took the Oath of Allegiance, he became naturalised, and assumed the name of Philip Mountbatten as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.)
"The surname Mountbatten-Windsor first appeared on an official document on 14 November 1973, in the marriage register at Westminster Abbey for the marriage of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips."

I'm not suggesting you put any of the detail in, but you might want to cherry-pick it.


Going back to being pedantic

--"Queen Elizabeth has visited every country in the commonwealth"
Almost correct, but not quite. From the royal web-site again:
"She has visited all the countries in the Commonwealth except Cameroon, which joined the Commonwealth in 1995."

In the section about HM's official birthday & Trooping the Colour, I'd replace "her guards" with "The Household Division". It consists of five infantry regiments - the Scots Guards, Coldstream Guards, Grenadier Guards, Irish Guards and Welsh Guards - and two cavalry regiments - the Lifeguards and the Blues & Royals. If you put the list in the footnote, keep the order I've used, as that's their seniority order - saves any army dudes getting annoyed.


And finally...
AlexAshman wrote something about stages being modified for HM. If she is on stage with other people, no-one is allowed to sit higher than her, which I guess sometimes means putting her seat on a small step. I think that's probably what he was thinking about. Don't know if it's worth putting into the entry though.


IMO this is a great example of PR in action - take an already good entry and make it better with our help (or hindrance ).
for Galaxy Babe!

Thanks - will update when I get back from parents' shopping trip

Nice interesing and informative Entry GB

Would it be worth mentioning some things that are named after Queen Elizabeth II?

Such as the QE2 ship and Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing, over the River Thames from Thurrock, Essex to Dartford, Kent. I'm sure there's much more named after her, I can only think of those two off-hand.


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I'm sorry I can't do that. 1977 was *my* annus horribilis. The worst year of my life so far."

I'm sorry GB, but it does leave a bit of a gap to mention 2002 Golden Jubilee and not the 1977 Silver Jubliee. IMO the difference between the two show the changing attitude in Britain towards the Monach. Where as the Silver was well celebrated with loads of street parties, there was very little (as far as I'm aware) public celebration for the Golden Jubilee. Maybe someone can volunteer to write a papagrath re-Silver Jubilee.

Emmily

Emily, but the QE2 liner wasn't named after HM. She was/is so named because she was the second liner to be called the 'Queen Elizabeth'. ie she's the second ship named 'Queen Elizabeth', not the first ship called 'Queen Elizabeth II' - hope that makes sense.


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How about this as a starter?

1977 - Silver Jubilee Year

The Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 was the first jubilee in Britain since Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It marked the 25th anniversary of her accession to the throne and was celebrated throughout the UK and the Commonwealth.

For three months, the Queen and Prince Philip toured the UK, visiting 36 counties; no monarch before her had visited more of the country in such a short space of time. The tour started on 17 May in Glasgow before moving on to visit other parts of the UK. During the tour, numerous schools were visited, giving countless children the thrill of meeting the Queen.

On 6th June, she lit a bonfire beacon at Windsor Castle, starting a chain of beacons which spread throughout the entire country. Later that day, she renewed her vow of service to her people, saying "...when I was twenty-one I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God's help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret nor retract one word of it."

7th June was the day when city streets and village greens threw elaborate parties to honour the Queen. Many streets hung Union Flag-style bunting from rooftop to rooftop across the street and traffic was stopped or diverted to allow tables to be set up in the middle of streets.

The London Underground's 'Fleet Line' which was under construction at the time was re-named the 'Jubilee Line' in honour of the occasion, although it was not completed until 1979.
[maybe have this as a footnote?]


Most of the info is from the royal website (again ). Hope it's useful.


This is now on the front page!

(Actually, it wasn't the first since 1897 - George V had his silver jubilee in 1935.)

"Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement,"

You have got to be kidding me. "My salad days"? Did she really say that?

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oops
Thanks for the correction, ItTA!

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Apparently so - if I'd found it anywhere except on the official royal website, I'd have doubted it, but I hope they'd get it right .

Now, here's a nitpick about the royal title. It might be an idea to phrase this as being only the title of Her Maj in the UK (or something more intelligible than that). I mean, the government I put up with down here refers to her as 'Queen of Australia, and of her other realms and territories'. Presumably there's a Canadian version of the title, and a New Zealand version, and so on.

I presume Elizabeth is Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen of New Zealand, Queen of Canada, Queen of Jersey and so on, all independently of each other. She's also the Lord of Man, isn't she?

Correct.
The Queen's title *in the UK* is 'by the Grace of God, Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith', but it's different in her other Realms.

The Royal Titles Act of 1953 says that the Queen is Queen of each of her Realms in its own right. Each country decides its own title for her, by its own laws (act of parliament or whatever the local procedure is). Each official title includes a reference to her 'other Realms and Territories' and her title as 'Head of the Commonwealth'.

So, for example, in Australia she is officially: 'by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth'.
In New Zealand: 'by the Grace of God, Queen of New Zealand and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith'.
etc, etc.

She is also Lord of Mann (*not* Lady).

In the Channel Islands she is often referred to as 'The Queen, our Duke' - a reference to when the islands were ruled by the Dukes of Normandy (ie William the Conqueror, etc). However, this is technically incorrect; she rules them in her role as Queen, as the title of Duke of Normandy no longer formally exists (following a treaty of the 13th century between England and France).

When she signs documents, she signs them as 'Elizabeth R', a contraction of the Latin form of her title (Elizabeth Regina, meaning Queen).


One final nit-picking point. The entry states: "her childhood name, coined by her father, was 'Lilibet'". I'm told by a reliable source (well she says she's reliable ) that this is wrong. Apparently it was her grandfather who coined 'Lilibet'.
According to my source (who wishes to remain nameless and isn't a hootoo member (or so she says)), 'he (George V) nicknamed her "Lilibet", and she affectionally called him "Grandpa England"'.
I have no proof of this, so please disregard as you see fit...

After all this reading of titles, etc, I'm off for a

If I remember correctly the hundredth birthday telegram the Queen Mother was given was signed 'Lilibet'. Not really relevant but a nice bit of trivia nonetheless.

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It's Nighthoover isn't it?

To clarify the bit about the Channel Islands, she isn't 'Queen of Jersey' etc; she rules them as Queen of the UK - they're part of the UK, even though they aren't represented in the British Parliament (that's a whole other subject, which I *really* don't want to get into here ).

Taking this from the last time I saw this thread:

I'm sorry GB, but it does leave a bit of a gap to mention 2002 Golden Jubilee and not the 1977 Silver Jubliee. IMO the difference between the two show the changing attitude in Britain towards the Monarch. Whereas the Silver was well celebrated with loads of street parties, there was very little (as far as I'm aware) public celebration for the Golden Jubilee. Maybe someone can volunteer to write a paragraph re-Silver Jubilee.

Not at all. I'll write something for "this" entry - I meant I wasn't going to write about the Silver Jubilee as a separate entry.

Title: Is it: 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:

Correct.
The Queen's title *in the UK* is 'by the Grace of God, Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith' as Casper says?

GB,

I think we've established that the Queen is queen of a number of different countries, and that she has a different title in each. I presume you're not going to list all her titles. Do you want to list her UK title only? In that case, you'll have to put:

"Her title in the United Kingdom is..."