Queen Elizabeth declines ‘Oldi

A handout still image taken from footage of a video call to mark British Science Week released by Buckingham Palace on March 12, 2021 shows Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor. Image: Buckingham Palace/AFP

Queen Elizabeth declines ‘Oldie of the Year’ award in cheeky letter

‘You are as old as you feel!’ Queen Elizabeth refused the ‘Oldie of the Year Award’ in what is described as ‘the most polite non-acceptance in history’.

Queen Elizabeth declines ‘Oldi

A handout still image taken from footage of a video call to mark British Science Week released by Buckingham Palace on March 12, 2021 shows Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Windsor. Image: Buckingham Palace/AFP

Queen Elizabeth II – who turned 95 last April – turned down an award for “Oldie of the Year” from a British magazine with a polite (yet slightly cheeky) response.

The Queen refuses Oldie of the Year Award 

According to Page Six, the Oldie, a British monthly, has held the Oldie of the Year awards for the past 29 years to celebrate the achievements of those who have made a special contribution to public life while maintaining “undoubted snap in their celery”.

Every year they bestow an Oldie of the Year award in a light-hearted ceremony; previous winners have included Eileen Atkins, Glenda Jackson, Peter Blake, and David Hockney.

After being nominated, Queen Elizabeth wrote to the publication, saying that they should find a “more worthy recipient”:

“Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such the Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept and hopes you find a more worthy recipient,” Tom Laing-Baker, the Queen’s assistant private secretary, said in a letter shared by the magazine on Tuesday, 19 October.

Even though the Queen turned it down, the Queen’s daughter-in-law, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, turned up at Oldie’s awards lunch to hand out honours like Champion Knitter of the Year and Truly Scrumptious Oldie of the Year.

The advantages of ageing – Camilla

In her remarks, Camilla acknowledged the advantages of ageing.

“Watching one’s children growing up; enjoying one’s grandchildren — knowing that they’ll be going home after the visit; finding more time to read; finding time to read The Oldie – and coming to jolly lunches like this one,” Prince Charles’s wife said, according to People.

The Queen’s late husband, Prince Philip also turned down the award in 2011, saying that “I much appreciate your invitation to receive an Oldie of the Year award. There is nothing like it for morale to be reminded that the years are passing – ever more quickly – and that bits are beginning to drop off the ancient frame. But it is nice to be remembered at all.”

A wicked sense of humour?

Earlier this year, the Queen – who is set to mark an astonishing 70 years on the throne with a Platinum Jubilee in 2022 – showed off her sword skills by insisting on cutting a cake ahead of meeting with G7 leaders in Cornwall, England. The Queen smiled and joked with Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla as she swapped a knife for the longer blade at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom. G7 leaders were invited to join the Queen, along with other senior members of the family.

While the three royals were meeting local volunteers of the community to recognise their support for each other during the ongoing pandemic, the Queen walked to the cake with the sword saying: “I don’t think it’s going to work”.

When someone reminded her that there is a knife, she said: “I know there is…This is something that is more unusual.”

The comment – and the cutting of a cake with a sword, of course – caused Camilla, Kate, and others in the crowd to laugh.