A capital question facing 'the queen'

Sir, – The Irish Times’s house style of all lower case “queen” for Queen Elizabeth, as if she were a common noun, is an anachronism…

Sir, – The Irish Times’s house style of all lower case “queen” for Queen Elizabeth, as if she were a common noun, is an anachronism. The good people of Ireland are unlikely to confuse her with other Queens. Promoting her to a proper noun as in “the Queen” without always applying the archly distancing “Britain’s Queen Elizabeth” would be in accord with the new atmosphere since her state visit and a small act of respect for pluralism in Ireland. Perhaps even Martin McGuinness might use it. It would put her on level terms with the Pope, though I realise this may no longer be a clincher. – Yours, etc,

BRIAN WALKER,

Gordon Road,

London, England.