Paul McCartney Said The Beatles’ ‘Her Majesty’ Was a ‘Cheeky’ ‘Irreverent’ Look at the Monarch They Thought Was ‘Quite a Babe’
Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “Her Majesty” was a “cheeky” “irreverent” look at Queen Elizabeth II, who they thought was “quite a babe.” The group first met the monarch in 1965 when she awarded them MBEs.
The singer-songwriter looked up to the monarch as a kid
Following the queen’s death on Sept. 8, 2022, Paul spoke about the many times he met her in a post on Facebook. He revealed that he looked up to her as a kid. When he was 10 years old (the year of the queen’s coronation), he entered an essay competition and won his division for his essay about the queen. “So I have been a fan for a long time,” he wrote.
By the time of the coronation in 1953, everyone on Paul’s street had a TV and watched in fascination.
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul said he greatly admired the queen. He also thought she was quite sensible, intelligent, straightforward, and funny. However, as a 20-something, Paul had different thoughts on the monarch that are reflected in The Beatles’ “Her Majesty.”
Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ ‘Her Majesty’ was a ‘cheeky’ look at the queen
In The Lyrics, Paul wrote about writing The Beatles’ “Her Majesty.” He called it a “little fragment” that was “tongue-in-cheek.” He was treating the queen as if she were “just a nice girl and not bothering with the fact that she would become the longest-reigning monarch ever in the U.K., or that she was queen of the nation.”
“It’s just being cheeky,” Paul continued. “‘Her majesty’s a pretty nice girl / But she doesn’t have a lot to say’ – that seemed to be true.” Paul said he didn’t think the queen said much except for her annual Christmas speech and the opening of Parliament.”
It was an accident that the song found its way onto the end of Abbey Road. “It would be a nice little afterthought, a little irreverent look at the monarchy by a young man in his late twenties,” Paul wrote.
Paul added that he thought part of the secret behind the queen’s popularity, at least for his generation, was that she was “quite a babe.” The queen was 27 when she ascended the throne, so “in our boyish ways, we rather fancied her,” Paul explained. “She was a good-looking woman, like a Hollywood film star.”
Paul and The Beatles’ ‘Her Majesty’ wasn’t the only cheeky thing between the group and monarch
Apparently, The Beatles’ “Her Majesty” wasn’t the only cheeky thing that transpired between the group and monarch.
In The Lyrics, Paul said he and The Beatles first met the queen “in a line-up somewhere.” It must have been at the Royal Command Performance (Royal Variety Performance) in 1963. However, the queen didn’t attend that year. The Beatles performed for Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, and Princess Margaret.
The Beatles first met the queen when she awarded them their MBEs in 1965. Paul remembers that a palace official took the band aside and showed them the correct protocol. When the queen stopped in front of The Beatles, she said, “Where are you playing next?” Paul said, “Slough, ma’am.”
The queen had a witty remark. “Oh, that’s just near us,'” she said. Paul wrote, “She made a little joke like that. It’s near Windsor Castle.”
Paul had a few witty remarks for the queen during a couple of their meetings over the years. He loved her sense of humor. Later, Paul got to play The Beatles’ “Her Majesty” for the queen. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but she didn’t have a lot to say,” Paul wrote.
