Word: queenly
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...pomp and circumstance that surrounded Queen Elizabeth's marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh would have greatly pleased her distant ancestor, Charles I, who insisted that "a subject and a sovereign are clean different things." But when the Queen and Prince Philip celebrate their silver wedding anniversary this week, Charles may be twitching in his burial vault at Windsor Castle. As one part of the celebration, Elizabeth has invited to a commemorative service in Westminster Abbey 100 couples from round the realm whose only connection with royalty is that they share Her Majesty's wedding date...
...folksy gesture is typical of Elizabeth's reign, at least in recent years. Disturbed by signs of creeping apathy toward the crown among her subjects, the Queen, now 46, has tried to make herself and her family seem more accessible to her people and less remote from reality. Perhaps the Queen's most significant attempt to take the mystery out of monarchy was her sanctioning of a candid, 1¾-hour television documentary showing how she and her flock behaved in private. Although still every inch a Queen, she has projected the image of a modestly attractive matron...
...subjects, chatting casually with whomever she bumps into. She has become considerably sophisticated in the years since her coronation when, as one court observer puts it, she appeared to be a "terribly stiff, cardboard figure." On a visit to Stirling University in Scotland a few weeks ago, the Queen kept her cool even though she was jeered and jostled by a mob of angry students. "Did you know that I had to miss school because you're here today?" one of them shouted at her. Elizabeth smiled and calmly replied: "Aside from that, how are you enjoying your work...
...likely to be marked by the strains of something hummable from Rodgers and Hammerstein than by flourishes of trumpets. The investiture of knighthoods, for instance, still takes place in the gilded ballroom of Buckingham Palace, with its enormous mirrors and rows of chandeliers. But two weeks ago, as the Queen tapped the sword on each shoulder of an honored subject kneeling before her, the band implausibly played June Is Bustin' Out All Over...
Pity the poor track and field star. If he is lucky, he may win one of the few college scholarships offered in his sport. If he is good enough to win a few events, he receives about as much acclaim as the runner-up in a homecoming-queen contest. Even if he is the best in the world, he must still sit back at graduation time and watch the football and basketball heroes pick off six-figure bonuses for turning pro. So what is left for him? Trips to a few A.A.U. meets perhaps-or maybe even a crack...