Perhaps it's a sign of getting older, but I've found myself writing a lot of angry letters recently. My latest victim? The most powerful man in the world and his shaky grasp of modern European history.
Submitted via: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact [23/05/2011]
Dear sir/madam,
I wish to draw attention to President Obama's misnaming of Her Majesty the Queen during his European tour.
He has, during numerous television appearances, referred to Her Majesty as "the Queen of England". Whilst she is (technically) the queen of England, I wish to remind the President that England has not been a sovereign state since the act of union between Scotland and England in 1707, at which time the monarch became the head of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (since 1927, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). In actual fact, this tie goes back a further century, to the union of the crowns in 1603 when James VI, king of Scots, accessioned to the throne of England.
I welcome the President's visit to these islands and I appreciate that his visit to Ireland in particular will be well received by the 40million+ Irish Americans whom he represents. However, his visit to the United Kingdom will also be of significance to the equally large number of Scottish Americans.
I therefore wish to remind President Obama that Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II is not "the queen of England", but the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (and its overseas territories) - and, for that matter the queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
I find it deeply upsetting that he both misnames the queen and speaks of visiting England, disregarding the nation of Scotland, the principality of Wales and the province of Northern Ireland. As a visiting head of state, it is imperative that President Obama correctly names the foreign states that he is visiting. I'm sure he would be equally as upset if we referred to him as the President of Hawaii.
Warm Regards,
Neil Campbell
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