Everyone knew that it was the Queen's English but before today it was widely assumed to be just another one of the things she owned and didn't really know about. Like America, which is still technically Liz's is she ever wanted to use it. With just days to go before her diamond jubilee though, the Queen has revealed her love of the language.
It began with the surprise announcement from Buckingham Palace that she intended to celebrate the jubilee by blowing a long blast on a ram's horn. This is to be done in deference to the etymological roots of the word 'jubilee' which go back to the 'yobel' meaning 'ram's horn trumpet'. In accordance to the original Jewish tradition, she was also going to proclaim that all country homes would be reverting to their original owners and that all debts were cancelled. Nice one Liz.
Surprise turned to bewilderment a few hours later when another proclamation left Buckingham Palace. The Queen had also decided to scrap the flotilla, a bad idea and boring Spanish word, in favour of a parade of a thousand grices. It turns out that 'grice' is a word she is particularly fond of and wanted to have involved in the big day. It means an object collected or place visited by a railway enthusiast. So the plan now is to have a thousand pieces of trainspotting memorabilia dragged passed her. It is to include the first ever sandwich made for sale on a train, which it turns out was still sitting on a GNER trolley.
There will then be a 'Royal Kerfuffle', kerfuffle being another of HRH's words that is close to her heart. This part of the day has been left deliberately vague in the planning in order to create a suitable sense of confusion when the time comes.
The celebration are to be rounded off with an evening of 'bevvying'. Eyebrows have been raised at this as both 'bevvy' and 'kerfuffle' are Scottish words. Is her majesty making a statement about her opposition to Scottish independence and the consequent exodus of beloved Scottish words from her language?
Her final message was that she would like all her subjects to pay their respects to her by acting out her number one word: 'gherao': a form of industrial action in India where workers imprison their bosses until all their demands are met. David Cameron reacted to this worrying news by saying, 'the doddering old bint has lost it. Everyone is free to enjoy the jubilee responsibly and shout 'huzza'. But anyone attempting any militant industrial action at the bidding of that dried up old cunt will be harshly dealt with.'
We will wait and see!
Well done Lizzy!
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