King's tribute to late Queen Elizabeth

[FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar]

"...for the love and support...shown to my wife and myself..."

Awful.

Arghhhhhh!

Thank you! How did someone official not spot this and correct it immediately?

I spotted that! It's everywhere....

@WimpoleHat my thoughts exactly!

Ha ha. I've just read the statement and IMMEDIATELY came here to see if it had been noted!

Of course it had

I wonder if he was loath to put "my wife and me" because the idiots would say you have to say my wife and I. Many people seem to think "X and I" is correct even when it isn't. It's a shame to pander to idiots though.

What a wretched example to set - hardly the King's English!

Maybe that's the point. He's not speaking "The Queen's English", this is a new reign, this is "The King's English"!

Ha ha- yes I though that sounded odd but agree that perhaps HRM didn't want to use " and me". So many people who claim to be grammar experts get the ".. and I " rule wrong including someone who was leading SPAG teacher training when the tests for this first came in!
I have been corrected by elderly relatives when saying " and me " when it is correct who will just not accept they are wrong!

perhaps HRM didn't want to use " and me".

That makes sense, actually - I see what you mean. Surely, though, someone should’ve told him just to rephrase the sentence? Why not “My wife and I are deeply grateful for all the love and support shown to us…..” or “I am deeply grateful for all the love and support that my wife and I have been shown”…… Basically anything that isn’t grammatically incorrect!

I agree. There are so many other ways to say it. I advised a friend writing a eulogy to say "...the love given to my sister and TO me" so that people wouldn't incorrectly correct her.

Do you explain it to them?

@upinaballoon
Yes of course- but they are still convinced I am wrong!

UK monarchs seem very reluctant to use first person pronouns in a normal plebian way. Cf the Queen's overuse of 'one' in place of 'I'; and Victoria's substitution of 'we' in place of 'I'
I think it is because the normmal use of me/I is jut too intimate, naked, for god's chosen head of state. It seems to invite mere subjects to look too directly into the light of theDivine Form.

This particular use of 'myself' doesn't jar with me, though I can see that falls outside of the grammar rules that people like to reify. It is different from the pompous 'estate agent' style misuse. And I think it is mildly euphonic in the way that it echoes 'my wife' earlier in the sentence, which might be part of the reason for its use.