What will the national anthem be when the Queen dies?

7 June 2018, 14:45 | Updated: 7 June 2018, 16:21

When the Queen dies, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth will no longer sing ‘God Save the Queen’.

When Elizabeth II dies, the anthem will revert to its male version, which was used before she ascended to the throne:

God save our gracious King!
Long live our noble King!
God save the King!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King.

The male version hasn’t been used as an anthem since 1952, when her father George VI died and she acceded to the throne.

Who composed ‘God Save the Queen’?

The composer of the UK and Commonwealth national anthem is unknown. It was adopted as an anthem in September 1745, during the reign of George II (1727 – 1760).

Has ‘God save the Queen’ always been the UK’s national anthem?

When ‘God Save the King’ was adopted in 1745, the lyrics were:

God save great George our king,
God save our noble king,
God save the king!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the king!

However, the third and fourth words were soon changed to ‘gracious’ after they realised that William IV and Victoria’s names (who succeeded George IV) didn’t scan.

Which countries sing God Save the Queen?

‘God Save the Queen’ or ‘God Save the King’ is the national anthem in the UK, British Crown dependencies, a number of Commonwealth realms and their territories.