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Perhaps the first encounter the Beatles had with Queen Elizabeth II was Nov. 4, 1963.
This is the day the Beatles performed at the Royal Variety Show in London, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
It was at this show that John Lennon famously said, '“For our last number I’d like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.”
John had intended to drop the f-bomb right before the word “jewelry,” but Paul McCartney and the group’s nervous manager Brian Epstein talked him out of it.
In 1965, all four Beatles met the Queen at Buckingham Palace to receive their MBE medals (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire).
John Lennon would send back his medal in 1969 as part of a war protest.
The letter that John Lennon wrote to the Queen read:
Your Majesty,
I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts.
With love,
John Lennon of Bag
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The Beatles recorded a song about the Queen called Her Majesty, which appeared as a hidden track on the Abbey Road album. This was originally supposed to be included in the side 2 medley.
Paul McCartney was knighted by the Queen in 1997. Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) was knighted in 2018 with Prince William performing the ceremony.
In 2000, George Harrison was set to receive an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) medal from the Queen, but declined to accept it. He thought if Paul McCartney was knighted (a higher honor), than he should be too. George died a year later.
Source: Ultimate Classic Rock
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