What will the national anthem be when Her Majesty The Queen dies?

4 February 2022, 08:26

When Her Majesty the Queen dies, Britain and the Commonwealth will no longer sing ‘God Save the Queen’.

When our long-standing monarch Elizabeth II dies, the British and Commonwealth anthem will revert to its male version, which was used before she ascended to the throne.

It goes as follows:

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.

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

Read more: What are the lyrics and history to ‘God Save the Queen’?

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).

Read more: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s contribution to classical music

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.