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Seth Rotherham
  • No Corners On Sandwiches And Some Other Rather Peculiar Royal Traditions

    30 May 2016 by Sloane Hunter in Lifestyle, Royalty, The Queen, United Kingdom
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    As the years go by, you do get into the habit of forming some weird idiosyncrasies. While that may apply to many old(er) people, the Royal Family has them too – and the money to fund the most random.

    The first is that the Queen has two birthdays – one celebrated on the actual day she was born and the other, by long tradition, on the second Saturday in June. The Trooping of The Colour will see the Queen process from Buckingham Palace down the Mall.

    Here are a few other random “traditions”:

    A Piper Wakens The Queen

    Unlike myself, the Queen must really like bagpipes, for a piper plays under her window every morning between 7am-9am, depending on her location, schedule, and how much she had to drink the eve before (kidding).

    The formal role of ‘Piper To The Sovereign’ goes back to Queen Victoria’s reign. She first heard bagpipe music in 1842, when she and Prince Albert visited the Highlands for the first time, and decided that thenceforth she did not wish ever to be deprived of it. Pipers are serving non-commissioned officers, so, technically, members of the British army, of which the Queen is the titular head. While the Piper becomes a member of the Royal Household, he retains his military rank for the duration of the secondment.

    Paying the Rent

    The City of London Corporation has to pay an annual rent since 1211 of, get this, two knives (one sharp, one dull), six horseshoes and 61 nails.

    The Dukes of Marlborough and Wellington also have to pay a form of rent for their country homes, which they were given by the Monarch to recognize their roles in winning the Battles of Blenheim and Waterloo. Each duke still presents the queen with French flags for display at Windsor Castle every summer on the anniversary of each battle. Marlborough only gets a cup of tea, while Wellington is still entitled to a sumptuous banquet with the queen.

    Hostage Taking

    While the Monarch and Parliament sure play different games, they are still on the friendly side. But once upon a time they were complete foes in England’s bloody civil war. You see, Charles I was put on trial for treason and executed. Now, when the Queen makes her annual visit to Parliament, a few precautions are put in place:

    The houses are searched thoroughly to make sure Guy Fawkes’s latter day peers aren’t taking another crack at blowing her up, and a serving member of parliament—a ‘hostage’ is sent to the palace, and held there until the Queen is safely delivered from the clutches of Parliament.

    No corners on sandwiches

    Yup. If you have ever attended a British tea, you would know that sandwiches are served with no right angle corners. Sure, this doesn’t always happen, unless you’re a Royal.

    This is believed to stem from a superstition of Queen Victoria’s husband Albert that it was unlucky to eat anything in the shape of a coffin. Finger sandwiches at Buckingham Palace garden parties have rounded corners.

    Other traditions include ravens swearing an oath, a Toothpaste Squeezer in Chief, and the measuring of potatoes and sprouts.

    Read about them here.

    [source: dailybeast]

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