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‘The Mummy Returns’1 – or what did the prince say to his monarch?

A personal reflection near Mother's Day

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2014

Extract

It is June, 2002. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has just stepped on to the stage at the end of a concert in celebration of her Golden Jubilee. Her son and heir, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, approaches her. He inclines his slightly greying head to his monarch. He speaks: ‘Your Majesty…’. He pauses for a fraction of a second, and then continues: ‘Mummy …’. A sharp intake of breath is heard across the land. Why?

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

1

Title of the 2001 film written and directed by Stephen Sommers.

References

Notes

2 I am afraid, mamma, he has no real taste.’ Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 No one but my husband can judge that, mama.’ Dickens, Charles, David Copperfield (1850)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Would you mind toasting this sausage for the Aged P?Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations (1860)Google Scholar.

5 ‘When the war is over, mother dear.’ Popular song by Stanley Kirkby 1915.

6 ‘Can yer hear me mother [mʊðə]?’ Yorkshireman Sandy Powell's radio catch phrase, 1930s to 1950s.

7 ‘Please, don't call me “Mother” … unless you happen to be my son or my daughter, in which case feel free!’ The Reverend Claire Maxim (http://clairemaxim1.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/dont-call-me-mother/).

8 The British ‘public school’ is a fee-paying school, often attended by the children of the the very wealthy or the very aspirational.

9 I – I – I've been going to write to the mater, only I – I – I forgot!Bunter, Billy in Billy Bunter's Bolt (Frank Richards, 1925)Google Scholar.

10 Ma, is there any more ice-cream?Larkin, Primrose in The Darling Buds of May (H. E. Bates, 1958)Google Scholar.

11 Gawd A'mighty, Ma, you know we got a beautiful place here.’ Sidney ‘Pop’ Larkin in The Darling Buds of May (H. E. Bates, 1958)Google Scholar.

12 ‘Well, dear mum, I'm feeling good.’ Letter from Lt Francis Joseph Tarrant of the Royal Australian Air Force 1917 (http://www.3squadron.org.au/subpages/Tarrant.htm).

13 ‘A: My father-in-law refers to my mother-in-law as Mummy and I find it a bit strange. B: It does make me cringe … when the dad calls his wife “Mummy/Mum”!’ Chat room exchange, October 2011 (http://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a15894065/adults_calling_their_parents_mummy_and_daddy?cpg=3&csi=2060942584&pd=1).

14 ‘Me mam and dad are coming out’ [miː mæm ən dad ə kʊmɪŋ aʊt]. Recording and phonetic transcription of Yorkshire teenager speaking (http://www.uv.es/anglotic/accents_of_english/section_one/examples_of_yorkshire_english.html).

15 Even by 1948, John Betjeman was using the word to exemplify coy, even cloying, nursery language: ‘ “Prue! Primsie! Mumsie wants you. Sleepie-byes”.’ From the poem North Coast Recollections’, Collected Poems of John Betjeman (John Murray 1958)Google Scholar.

16 Oxford English Dictionary definition: ‘Motherly; homely, conventional’ … if you must use it.

17 ‘Dear Mummy and Daddy, this is my new address.’ Twelve-year-old evacuee Mary Adams circa 1941 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/58/a4989658.shtml).