Twitter Couldn't Stop Making A Monty Python Reference During The Queen's Funeral
On a day like the date of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, it makes sense that British people would be feeling pretty patriotic. So it's no wonder that the Twittersphere filled up with inside jokes and references to British culture as the ceremony marched on, including references to the classic British comedy film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
First released in 1975, according to IMDb, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is perhaps the most famous work of comedy group Monty Python. The movie is a retelling of the myth of King Arthur — classic British fare — which follows King Arthur as he gathers his knights and eventually heads out to seek the Holy Grail.
The movie is infinitely quotable, according to Movieweb, and contains lots of good jokes that can be trotted out at just about any time. (Anyone else found of saying, "'Tis but a scratch," when they get injured in any way?) But on Twitter, viewers of the queen's funeral found one particular joke to be especially relevant, and it relates to something called the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Why viewers were bringing up a hand grenade
In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioche was a round object with a cross on top of it which King Arthur used in battle. After getting some guidance from the Book of Armaments, King Arthur was able to successfully detonate the strange-looking grenade, per Genius. But why did viewers bring it up while mourning Queen Elizabeth II?
During the queen's funeral on September 19, there was another object on top of her coffin that looked very similar to the fictional grenade. "Security at the Queen's funeral is so tight they've even brought out the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, just in case," one person tweeted alongside a photo of the coffin. Another wrote, "The Queens [sic] holy hand grenade is quite nice. I can see why she wanted it to ride atop her coffin." A third Twitter user asked, "Are they really gonna bury her with the Holy Hand Grenade?"
Of course, the object buried with the queen isn't truly a "Monty Python" hand grenade, but the Sovereign's Orb, according to People, which she received during her coronation in 1953.