Saturday, December 11, 2004
Mrs Windsor (Part Three)
The row over Leanne Wood's ejection from the chamber for calling the Queen "Mrs Windsor" rumbles on in the letters page of the Western Mail. It now appears that the letter writer, Ian Brown, who wrote on 4 December that Leighton Andrews should be given a knighthood for his sycophancy, may well be Leanne's partner. Further letters appear today, one from Labour AM, Jeff Cuthbert. Jeff is exceedingly generous in conceding that he defends Leanne's right "to say what she believes in, except that is, for her 'smart-alec' remark about the Queen." He concludes that "Leanne Wood's statement was not just discourteous, it betrayed the real contempt that the Nationalists have for everything British."
It occurred to me that perhaps things are getting a bit out-of-hand over a misconception. It is clearly discourteous to call the Queen, Mrs Windsor. After all this is not her real name. So, as a public service I have included below a guide to how she might be addressed if she were just a commoner like me and many others.
The Queen's family name, inherited from her grandfather, George V, is actually von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. This was changed to Windsor in 1917. If, however, she was to take her husband's name, as is traditional in many circumstances then her surname would be von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Please get it right in future.
It occurred to me that perhaps things are getting a bit out-of-hand over a misconception. It is clearly discourteous to call the Queen, Mrs Windsor. After all this is not her real name. So, as a public service I have included below a guide to how she might be addressed if she were just a commoner like me and many others.
The Queen's family name, inherited from her grandfather, George V, is actually von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. This was changed to Windsor in 1917. If, however, she was to take her husband's name, as is traditional in many circumstances then her surname would be von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Please get it right in future.
