Jess Hardiman
The lyrics for the National Anthem are now due to be changed, following the death of Queen Elizabeth - who passed away at the age of 96 earlier today.
‘God Save the Queen’ is the national anthem in the UK, British Crown dependencies and a number of Commonwealth realms and their territories.
But with a female monarch no longer on the throne, will the lyrics have to change? In short, yes.
For the past several decades, people have sung the following as the first – and arguably most well-known – verse of the anthem:
God save our gracious Queen,
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Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
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God save the Queen!
However, this version is not actually the original, as the song was first adopted in 1745 for King George IV. At the time, the lyrics were:
God save great George our King,
God save our noble King,
God save the King!
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Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King!
But the rhythm of the song obviously does lend itself well to all monarchs’ names – Queen Victoria or King William IV, for example – meaning the third and fourth words were changed to ‘gracious’ instead:
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God save our gracious King!
Long live our noble King!
God save the King!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
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Long to reign over us,
God save the King.
With Prince Charles now King, The British and Commonwealth anthem is expected to revert to the male version that was in use before Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne.
Earlier today, the Royal Family confirmed that 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth had passed away at her home at Balmoral.
A post from the Royal Family's official Twitter account said: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
"The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."
The tragic news came after the Palace revealed that Her Majesty was under medical supervision due to concerns over her health.
It now means that 'Operation London Bridge' has come into effect, marking a 10-day period leading up to the Queen's funeral and Charles' ascension to the throne.
This comes to an end with a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on the 10th day, with processions due to take place before the Queen is buried in Windsor Castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel.