Ringo Starr Worried Queen Elizabeth Would Say 'Off With Their Heads!' After This Comment
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney met Queen Elizabeth in 1965. Starr shared what they said to her when she asked about the band.
In 1965, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr received MBEs from Queen Elizabeth II. The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to receive the honor and awaited their meeting with the queen. While they were nervous, they also cracked a few jokes. Starr recalled one joke he and McCartney made that had him wondering if the queen would punish them.
While The Beatles were surprised to receive MBEs, or Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medals, they agreed to accept them. When they received them, they met Queen Elizabeth II. When the queen asked them questions about the band, Starr and McCartney simultaneously cracked a joke. Starr joked that he worried the queen would hate it so much that she sentenced them to death.“I went up and the Queen said to me, ‘You started the group, did you?’ and I said, ‘No, I was the last to join.’ And then she asked, ‘Well, how long have you been together as a band?’ and without the blink of an eye, Paul and I said, ‘We’ve been together now for forty years and it don’t seem a day too much,’” Starr said. “She had this strange, quizzical look on her face, like either she wanted to laugh or she was thinking, ‘Off with their heads!’”
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
