British Officials Wasted No Time In Making This Major Change To The Anthem
Queen Elizabeth II tragically passed away on September 8, 2022. As per Britannica, the queen was born on April 21, 1926, and ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952. Queen Elizabeth was coronated on June 2, 1953, and a new reign of British monarchy thus began. She, along with Prince Charles, set out to change the public image of the royal family, such as letting royal personal lives be televised for a nation, and paying taxes on private income, despite being exempt. Regardless of whether these attempts worked, the queen tried to break royal traditions and freshen up the image of British monarchy.
Like many other countries, Britain also has its own national anthem, which is titled "God Save The King/Queen." As the official royal website says, this anthem comes from the 18th century respectively, though the origin of the lyrics and melody are somewhat harder to etymologize. But, given the recent passing of the queen, what will the anthem be now? Turns out that the lyrics were actually changed.
The lyrics to God Save the Queen were changed after Queen Elizabeth's death
The British national anthem has a fairly long and wide-reaching history. As per the official royal website, the anthem was used in countries outside of Britain, and had been evoked by 140 musical composers in the past, such as Brahms and Beethoven. The anthem is also not set in stone, as the lyrics are subject to change, and often have had additional lines added to them. The only thing legitimizing the current form of the anthem is purely tradition.
With the passing of the queen, the lyrics have been changed, as Prince Charles has now ascended to the throne. As CBS News reports, the song, for the first time in 70 years, has been changed to "God Save the King" instead of "God Save the Queen." This is done in order to properly reflect gender, and only needs to be done to the title and a few lines within the song itself. This is but one of a few changes that will be done in the days to come, along with a change in currency and so on.