Sarah Lyall spent seventeen years in London as the NYTimes correspondent. With British royalty again in the news, her column last Saturday recalled a reception attended by a friend some years ago. It seemed that the Queen was a surprise guest and a reception line was hastily arranged. Her friend had not yet had dinner but she had had several glasses of champagne. As she reached the Queen, the monarch greeted her with "I understand that you're from Texas." The friend, confused by the Queen's clipped accent, thought she said "Have you paid your taxes?" Replying to such a personal question by a British Monarch, the guest uttered "No taxation without representation".
And that was the end of the conversation.....but a diplomatic brouhaha was avoided.
tjs
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