A lot of people around the world have experienced some difficulties adapting to the big change that was the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Many lamented the loss of stability and wisdom, and others remarked how much they would miss her sense of humour.
And, especially in the days immediately following the death announcement and the funeral, many Brits struggled to make “God save the King” their re-worded national anthem.
It seems that the struggle carried on to Qatar because England midfielder Mason Mount mistakenly began his anthem singing with “God save our gracious Queen” rather than “King,” as it has been since the 8th of September.
Many on social media were quick to isolate and post the footage, making it go viral in a matter of hours. Some were understanding; others posted pointedly ironic comments like “Someone should probably tell Mount the news” and “Does he know?”
It is, however, a mistake that was very common in the UK in the days that followed the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many members of the public saying to the media that were present outside the venues of the various official engagements that preceded the funeral that they were struggling to keep in mind the new word of their anthem.
The symbol of the nation became “God save the Queen” in 1952 and remained that for the next 70 years, until Her late Majesty’s passing at Balmoral Castle, less than 48 hours after her last official engagement – the parting with outgoing PM Boris Johnson and the welcoming of new Prime Minister Liz Truss, who ended up resigning just 44 days after.
England played its first match of the FIFA World Cup against Iran and won a whopping 6-2, for the joy of fans in Qatar and, mostly, at home.
For fear of retributions from local officials and FIFA itself, the team opted to play without their rainbow armbands, which they usually don for every match as a symbol of rejection of any form of discrimination, a campaign that has also seen the Prince of Wales involved, with his participation in ads and conversations that were then posted on social media.
On their part, the Iranians also had a national anthem moment of their own. All players on the pitch refused to sing it, in support of the protests that have been sweeping their nation for the past two and a half months, since the death of Jina Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing her head scarf “improperly.”
Surprisingly, most of the Iranian fans in the stadium booed their players when they realised they weren’t singing, while a few of them sowed support by displaying signs that said things to the effect of “Freedom for Iran.”
