The Queen of England...
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Queen Elizabeth II kick off the Diamond Jubilee tour of the U.K. in Leicester
on March 8 Photograph by Matt Cardy/Getty Images...
Expect more spangles and sparkles than you saw during Liberace’s ‘90s comeback tour. Anticipate more cheesy pomp and circumstance than heralded Liz Taylor’s entry into her Styrofoam Rome back in the 1963 movie Cleopatra. It started last week, and it will go on for months and months. I am talking about the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, the only British monarch other than Queen Victoria to have hit the 60-year mark. Go Brenda! Brenda?
This is the Queen’s nickname, courtesy of Private Eye magazine. In 1971, a column in the satirical rag revealed that the Queen “is known as Brenda to her immediate staff.” This sent shockwaves of hilarity through the population. ‘Ere long all the royals were enjoying similarly quotidian nicknames: Princess Margaret was dubbed Yvonne, Charles was Brian, when Di came along she was dubbed Cheryl. Over the years these unaristocratic monikers have fallen out of popular usage. The only one that stuck is Brenda. The name Brenda proved to be as enduring as the lady herself, as exemplified by the fact that Keith Richards, in his recent autobio, revealed that he rewards Mick Jagger’s sometimes regal behavior by addressing him as “your majesty” or “Brenda.”I also command you to check out the official online store at www.2012queensdiamondjubilee.com. You can snag everything from a 5,000-pound Wedgwood Brenda vase to a 4-pounds 99-pence Brenda-emblazoned thimble. And, yes, there are horrid little commemorative spoons. The various “party packs” seem to offer the best value. On June 3, why not pay homage to Brenda, take the day off work, festoon your apartment with bunting and balloons, and invite your pals over to watch Liz Windsor have her Liz Taylor moment on the telly.More
