Queen Mum Was a 'Ghastly Old Bigot'

Delivered ethnic slurs with 'tiara-strength twinkle,' says BBC author
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2008 6:49 AM CST
Queen Mum Was a 'Ghastly Old Bigot'
A little girl receives bananas from Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother during a royal visit to a hospital during World War II.   (AP Photo/PA/file)

Britain's Queen Mother was a "ghastly old bigot" who once referred to some of England's closest EU allies using ethnic slurs that left a BBC newscaster appalled. "The words were delivered with the eyes on maximum tiara-strength twinkle, but I froze," said Edward Stourton, who revealed the incident in his new book, It's a PC World. "The nation's favorite grandmother was a ghastly old bigot. What she said was nasty and ugly." (More British royals stories.)

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