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Saturday, June 17th, 2017

There is Nothing Like A (British) Dame

You really need to be a Brit or an Anglophile to understand the Queens Birthday Honours List and why today people up and dow the country are celebrating that the veteran actress June Whitfield, whose most famous role was playing Edina’s long suffering mother in Absolutely Fabulous, has been made a Dame.  

The Honours although given in the Queens name are decided upon by a special Committee appointed by the Prime Minister, hence the fact that several political cronies are dolled out ‘honours’ in reward for their patronage ie. money.  It gets even more bizarre when many of the honors like June Whitfield’s Damehood is a D.B.E which literally means Dame Commander of the British Empire which has been long gone for decades.

Then to add just another level on confusion the Birthday Honours List is issued on the Queen’s official birthday : the richest woman in the world can afford to have two a year. Actually how it all happened dates back to King George II in 1748 who decided that it was too cold to publicly celebrate his birthday on the actual day he was born – in November – and instead decided to mark the date in the summer – in June due to there being a better chance of good weather. Its a tradition that has been continued ever since, and is always on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

Also on the list of the Good and the Great to be dolled out an honor are another two veteran actresses the camp gay icon the Oscar nominated Julie Walters (who can ever forget her in ‘Personal Services’), and two-time Oscar winner Olivia de havilland who at 101 years old is the oldest woman to be made a Dame. You need to be British to be able use a title like this, and were surprised to find that this star of movies like Gone with The Wind qualified.


Posted by queerguru  at  07:41


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