What Queen Elizabeth II Really Thinks Of Mick Jagger
After multiple nominations, Tony Blair finally achieved his dream of having Mick Jagger knighted in 2002. A bemused Rolling Stone report at the time commented on how despite the drug offences and releasing an album entitled Their Satanic Majesties Request, "Queen Elizabeth II knighted Mick Jagger during her birthday celebration in June." Except she didn't. Instead, Queen Elizabeth II was at King Edward VII Hospital. The Express passes on the rumor that "The Queen was said to have deliberately scheduled an operation to remove cartilage from her left knee for the day before Jagger received one of the country's highest honours." The reported reasoning for this purposeful schedule conflict was that the Queen would "much rather be here than at Buckingham Palace knighting a certain party." Instead, Prince Charles tapped Mick Jagger's shoulders with the sword in her place.
There were a few reasons circulating at the time. One was that, in the Queen's own words, Jagger was "not suitable" for the knighthood. Despite desperately wanting to climb the social ladder, Jagger had also embraced the anarchistic image of the Rolling Stones and had apparently called the Queen the "Chief Witch."
According to Far Out Magazine, Keith Richards agreed with the Queen vehemently on this issue: "It's not what the Stones is about, is it? I don't want to step on stage with someone wearing a ... coronet and sporting the old ermine."
The Princess and the Rockstar
Perhaps the biggest beef between Queen Elizabeth and the now Sir Mick Jagger was due to his relationship with Princess Margaret, her little sister.
As Margaret's biographer, Christopher Warwick, told The Cut, part of her status in popular culture is due to the way she broke out of the confines of being a royal: "Margaret was perceived in many ways as a pioneer, as she straddled two worlds: the royal world with all its traditions and protocols and the modern world." A rockstar would certainly appeal to her. And he did. Due to the Stones' rough-edged marketing, the Queen was certainly not amused at the idea of the two scandalously running off together. She no doubt grew less amused at the stories of Margaret partying extensively with Jagger on the Caribbean island of Mustique, as the New York Post reports. Afterward, Mick and Margaret remained friends, but the Queen never forgave Jagger for his impertinence and corrupting influence.