Posted on 09/12/2022 8:01:07 AM PDT by george76
Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday after a historic reign as monarch of the United Kingdom, was a steadfast ally of the United States, notably breaking tradition by singing the U.S. national anthem just days after 9/11.
The queen joined a crowd of thousands in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during a memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London for the victims on Sept. 14, 2001. Richard Kay, a columnist for the Daily Mail, wrote at the time about how unusual this was for a monarch, saying, “The Queen does not ‘sing’ national anthems. Her mouth never opens when they are played. It was the ultimate sign of unity, friendship, and support for America.” It is believed to be the first time a British monarch sang the anthem in public.
The British newspaper featured the queen on its front cover that day, pictured at the cathedral, and another photo on the inside showed her wiping a tear from her eye.
During the packed memorial service just days after 9/11, with thousands of mourners gathered inside and outside the historic British cathedral, the queen also reportedly led the crowd when it sang the American Civil War-era song the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which was also sung during the 1965 funeral there for Sir Winston Churchill, which the queen had also attended as a young monarch. That song ended the September 2001 service.
The day before, in another break with tradition, the queen had also ordered the Coldstream Guards band outside Buckingham Palace to play the U.S. national anthem in solidarity with America as a crowd of more than 3,000 people, many of them American tourists stranded in England following the attacks, sang and wept outside, bursting into applause and cheers at the end of the song. According to a biography of Prince William, the band also played "The Stars and Stripes Forever” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” another popular Civil War song.
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Nineteen al Qaeda terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center buildings, the side of the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people, on Sept. 11, 2001. More than 2,600 Americans were among those killed, with victims from more than 90 countries. There were 67 British citizens killed in the attacks.
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The U.S. national anthem was again played last year during a changing of the guard ceremony by the Band of the Welsh Guards, this time at Windsor Castle, followed by a minute of silence.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Her Majesty the Queen for the playing of our national anthem,” Philip Reeker, then the acting ambassador of the U.S. to the United Kingdom, said at the time. “It represents the friendship and solidarity between our two countries, the United States and the United Kingdom, and united is the key word. … Speaking for the United States, we have no closer ally and no closer friend in good times and in bad times, and we are very much reminded of that today.”
Thanks for posting this.
She had class but also the common touch. I think she noticed that feature in Trump as well
Video in article wouldn’t play for me - here’s a Twitter link that does (you do not need a twit account to see it - I do not have one).
https://twitter.com/wcwinc/status/1066953193542885376
I CRY every time I see this. 9-11 left some real scars. As an EMT, when the towers came down, I knew first responders were in there and it was devastating to watch. I’m still not over it.
RIP QE ... bless you for having the Coldstream Guards band play the Star Spangled Banner (lots in the crowd crying) in unity with America.
Considering the content of the lyrics and the context of the time they were written, a courageous and magnanimous tribute on her part.
Class lady. Too bad her son Charles is such a stuck-up jackass; not to mention Andrew!
A morning talkshow host here in Boston (not kuhner) pointed out this morning that Elizabeth fell into the job, she was not expecting to be Queen. Chuckles OTOH was told from day one that he'd be King some day and lived his life knowing that day would come. Elizabeth was classy and a people person whereas Chuckles is a first class snob among other things.
“..Too bad her son Charles is such a stuck-up jackass..”
It is a new day - heavy responsibilities - England with huge problems - maybe he will become a new man and do what needs to be done. We’ll have to him give time, and pray.
Well said.
I will bet an ice cream bar he will be a miserable FAILURE.
—”It is a new day ...”
HEAR! HEAR!
“I am a Democrat. All of my family have been persons of peasant origin, who have wrung a meagre sufficiency from a harsh world by the labour of their hands. I acknowledge no one my superior merely on grounds of a more fortunate destiny, a favoured birth. I did what any such man would do when confronted with Queen Victoria; I fell immediately to my knees.” -
Robertson Davies Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist 1913 - 1995
Class Act right there!!!
I’ll bet a DQ Blizzard he will make some mistakes but in the sum total of all he will make his momma proud.
Ping
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