The Queen’s English Society changes its name
At its Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, The Queen’s English Society voted on a Resolution to change the Society’s name to The King’s English Society.
The Resolution was carried by 75 votes to 7.
Over the next few days, this change will become apparent in the changing contents of this website, as each section is modified to take account of the implications of the Resolution. The website address will become: kingsenglishsociety.org
Why the change? Four years ago, the Society began to consider the course it should take following the inevitable death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Sentiment at that time steered the members towards wanting to keep the name unchanged indefinitely. Since the Queen’s death in September 2022, the Society has noticed a marked downturn in applications for membership.
“It’s simple,” says Chairman Adrian Williams. “Most of our new members find us via the Society’s website. Before now, they have found the website by searching ‘Queen’s English’. Now they’re searching ‘King’s English’ – and not finding us. We need new members, to keep the Society active and growing in its mission to promote worldwide appreciation of the English language. Respect and affection for our late Queen are understandable; but now we have a King, and members of the public are becoming accustomed to a new era.”
The Society's name: The King's English Society
'The King’s English’ or ‘The Queen’s English’ is a colloquial term that, in common parlance, denotes ‘standard’ or ‘correct’ English; its use is metaphorical, not signifying any literal proprietorship by the monarch. Indeed, the English actually used by the monarch in speech has been commonly heard over our airwaves for less than a century.
Our Society was formed during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II and named The Queen’s English Society to echo its purpose in upholding the standards that the Queen’s English was held to represent.
In 2021 the possibility was put to the members of the Queen’s English Society that the Society’s name might change upon the sad event of her death, and a resolution was passed by a majority of 96% of voting members to retain the name with which the society had been formed. At the Society’s AGM in September 2022, after the Queen’s death, that decision was upheld as a mark of respect, although it was always open for reconsideration in future.
At the Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, a Resolution to change the name to The King's English Society was carried by 75 votes to 7.