An unlooked-for honour
June 2, 2010 12:38 PM   Subscribe

Patrick Stewart has been knighted. One can only hope that he had tea with the Queen.
posted by Anonymous (99 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
One can only hope that he had tea with the Queen.

And that all her clothes fall off. Oh, she'll try to cover up, but he'll have seen everything.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:42 PM on June 2, 2010 [78 favorites]


I have commanded men in battle. I have negotiated peace treaties between implacable enemies. I have represented the Federation in first contact with twenty-seven alien species. But none of this compares with my solemn duty today

*Queen rolls eyes*
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:45 PM on June 2, 2010 [13 favorites]


If he had tea and cakes with the Queen, here's hoping the cakes were erotic. His intonation of that word on Saturday Night Live was heartfelt and just a little excited.
posted by adipocere at 12:46 PM on June 2, 2010 [4 favorites]


Damnit, Parasite Unseen!
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:46 PM on June 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


Did he tell her to make it so?
posted by spicynuts at 12:49 PM on June 2, 2010 [5 favorites]


You know, I just realized Shatner doesn't have an OC. Get on it, Michaëlle!
posted by Sys Rq at 12:51 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


For some reason I thought this happened years ago.
posted by kafziel at 12:51 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Seriously, I'm pretty sure Parasite Unseen just beat everyone to the punch. Sure, we all tried to cover up, but it was too late. Parasite Unseen had seen everything.
posted by shmegegge at 12:52 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Same here, kafziel.
posted by brundlefly at 12:54 PM on June 2, 2010


So now we can look forward to him and Ian McKellen meeting in jousting tournaments. This could bring about a whole new era in popularity for the struggling sport.
posted by Naberius at 12:55 PM on June 2, 2010 [18 favorites]


"Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn't it?"
posted by solipsophistocracy at 12:56 PM on June 2, 2010


"There are FOUR LIGHTS!"

But if Your Majesty says there are five, I'm cool with that.
posted by tommasz at 12:56 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


God, he irritated me so badly so many times on that show-- but I still love him.

Congratulations, Sir Patrick!

(Not that I would mind hearing you were the first person in recorded history to be attacked by a pack of royal corgis, you understand.)
posted by jamjam at 12:56 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


damn spicynuts you stole my line...

but keep in mind that he's played Hamlet and they do tend to get knighted...
posted by infini at 12:57 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Woah, he's 69 years old? Dude never seems to age, but learning how old he actually is makes me tear up a little.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 12:59 PM on June 2, 2010


My eyes first read this as, "Patrick Stewart has been kidnapped". It was a scary 10 seconds.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:03 PM on June 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


I guess he got used to everyone calling him "Sir" on the Enterprise.
posted by Bromius at 1:03 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


jamjam- Picard irritates you? I feel personally insulted.
posted by kittensofthenight at 1:04 PM on June 2, 2010


Here's an interview from earlier this year where Stewart talks more about Cecil Dormand, the English teacher he dedicated his knighthood to. How classy to have given this man such public and heartfelt credit for his influence.
posted by EvaDestruction at 1:04 PM on June 2, 2010 [2 favorites]




One can only hope that he had tea with the Queen.

Only if she had Earl Grey, hot.
posted by Danf at 1:09 PM on June 2, 2010 [10 favorites]


Interesting headline "An unlooked-for honor".

How about actually an unlooked-for honor? Like in - all the people who were offered this and other British honors and declined them? For example, David Bowie decline the Knighthood in 2003 and also declined the CBE in 2000. Certain other famous musicians accepted with alacrity. Some actors actually declined too. Interestiiiiiiig...
posted by VikingSword at 1:10 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


To baldly go...
posted by fuq at 1:13 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


But he's French!
posted by Artw at 1:13 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


My eyes first read this as, "Patrick Stewart has been kidnapped". It was a scary 10 seconds.

When I got to "Patrick Stewart has been k . . . ," I froze in horror for a couple of beats.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:13 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


But then Bowie went ahead and accepted something from the French government: In 1999, he was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Hmm. Brits no but Frogs yes? What is happening????
posted by VikingSword at 1:15 PM on June 2, 2010


Camelyarde! Camelyarde!
posted by Esteemed Offendi at 1:22 PM on June 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


I would have called him "Sir" anyway
posted by hellslinger at 1:24 PM on June 2, 2010


He's also been given an unlooked-for honour by Brazil.
posted by Ufez Jones at 1:29 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


VikingSword (eponysterical?), I think that the difference is that the French order technically isn't nobility, since France is a republic. Belonging to the nobility in Britain carries with it some serious cultural and class baggage, I think (just from the bits that I've picked up; a lot of this rick-rack is impenetrable to me), and while obviously there are quite a few artists and musicians who are perfectly OK with it, that list that you linked to is really fascinating in terms of its breadth (and also for the people who later changed their minds).
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:31 PM on June 2, 2010


He's actually been a knight since 1980.
posted by Artw at 1:32 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I hope the ceremony went slightly better than this.
posted by HumanComplex at 1:34 PM on June 2, 2010




I hate Stewart for going along with the whole "Earl grey, hot" nonsense. Earl Grey is bad tea. It's goddamn awful. But now every trekkie from here to Sheboygan thinks it's refined and aristocratic. It's not. It's tea ruined with the oil from a fruit too bitter to eat. Battery acid would be better. Get some godddamn Darjeeling you losers. Assam. Some decent Celyonese single-estate.

But for the love of everything holy, just cut it out with the Earl Grey already.
posted by GuyZero at 1:38 PM on June 2, 2010 [18 favorites]


Wait a minute...didn't he use to be affiliated with the Borg?

Why does Obama keep trying to foist his radical Earth-hating Chicago gangster "comrades" on us?
posted by PlusDistance at 1:42 PM on June 2, 2010


My eyes first read this as, "Patrick Stewart has been kidnapped". It was a scary 10 seconds.

Yeah, scary for the kidnappers. Patrick Stewart could bombast them into a pile of goo.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 1:44 PM on June 2, 2010


Jess Fink has ALL of you beat for Patrick Stewart awesomeness.

Warning: SEXXAY
posted by emjaybee at 1:48 PM on June 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


I hate Stewart for going along with the whole "Earl grey, hot" nonsense. [...]

To restate an important point: Captain Picard is French. He don't know from tea.

Some decent Celyonese single-estate.

Hey now, can the Battlestar Galactica shit.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on June 2, 2010 [4 favorites]


GuyZero: "Earl Grey is bad tea. It's goddamn awful."

Perhaps you are simply incapable of making a good cup of tea?

* sips pu-erh, arches eyebrow *
posted by boo_radley at 1:52 PM on June 2, 2010 [5 favorites]


I adore Patrick Stewart (I admit, I used to watch Next Generation as a child) and I could distinctly hear the quotes in his voice. Such resounding authority and Shakespearean sophistication!
posted by chatongriffes at 1:53 PM on June 2, 2010


EvaDestruction: Thanks for that interview. Stewart also spoke out last year about growing up in a violent home and finding a refuge in acting.
posted by Iteki at 1:58 PM on June 2, 2010


Captain Picard is French. He don't know from tea.

The show would have been so much better if he had a dripping, thick French accent when speaking English instead of the Shakespearian accent he used.

Uhhh... ze Romulans, they are nut so good, no? Shit guys, fire ze missles!. Or maybe... the cut worm forgives the plow.

* sips pu-erh, arches eyebrow *

Oh I can see your smirk behind your little bone-china cup there. No one sips pu-erh and defends Earl Grey at the same time.
posted by GuyZero at 2:03 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


I still think Geordie should be a real Geordie - "Haddaway and shite, man, the engine's fooked."
posted by Artw at 2:06 PM on June 2, 2010 [10 favorites]


Or as Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes refer to him, "Old Baldy" who would never stop yakking.

What pisses me off about this (which is totally ancillary to Stewart receiving the honor) is that suddenly BBC America has decided to run Star Trek TNG as somehow being a "british" television series. *grumble* It's not like that show isn't already on at LEAST seven other networks. Can't they find something actually from UK television to run?
posted by hippybear at 2:09 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I guess TNG is cheap and I think there's a law that it has to be on some channel at all times, like Law & Order.
posted by GuyZero at 2:10 PM on June 2, 2010


He was French technically, but in nearly every sense, he was a model of an English captain. Nearly all his references are English or Royal Navy, his accent is clearly British and his manner is entirely in the stereotypical Nelson at Trafalgar model.

The original creators may have had one idea, but the writers had another, and it was better. As far as I'm concerned, Picard is British with a surname that points to some distant French relation. I ret-con from there.
posted by spaltavian at 2:12 PM on June 2, 2010


What pisses me off about this (which is totally ancillary to Stewart receiving the honor) is that suddenly BBC America has decided to run Star Trek TNG as somehow being a "british" television series.

I've been rather enjoying that, TBH, though I find it a little puzzling. At least it's not an awful reality show about house cleaning. Oh, and many TNG episodes are so painfully earnest that they are embarrassing to watch.

There really is fuck all decent SF on telly other than Who these days, isn't there?
posted by Artw at 2:13 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


*le sigh* Tea nerds, I swear.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:15 PM on June 2, 2010 [6 favorites]


As far as I'm concerned, Picard is British with a surname that points to some distant French relation. I ret-con from there.

Other than all those episodes where he goes to his French family estate, complete with vineyards, and hangs out with his brother who has a slight French accent.

Perhaps it's just the American writers who were confused about the outcome of the Hundred Years' War.
posted by GuyZero at 2:17 PM on June 2, 2010


I just ran out of my UK tea and had to resort to buying some American teabags from the store around the corner. What a surprise! They taste like dirt! At least when you get the Earl Grey ones it disguises their hideous flavor.
posted by Artw at 2:18 PM on June 2, 2010


Earl Grey tastes like the milk left over at the bottom of a bowl of Froot Loops.

Everyone knows this.
posted by Rat Spatula at 2:18 PM on June 2, 2010 [7 favorites]


Other than all those episodes where he goes to his French family estate, complete with vineyards, and hangs out with his brother who has a slight French accent.

Those bits are so awful that in a perverse way I actually really like them.
posted by Artw at 2:19 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Take that, Q!

My eyes first read this as, "Patrick Stewart has been kidnapped". It was a scary 10 seconds.

Strange, my eyes did too.
posted by chemoboy at 2:21 PM on June 2, 2010


Hopefully the queen refrained from picking her royal nose.
posted by fourcheesemac at 2:45 PM on June 2, 2010


"Dudes, it's pretty clear that at some point during or after WWIII, Britain just re-conquered the FUCK out of France."

Nah man, they won it in, like, a poker game. And the French are living in Wales.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:49 PM on June 2, 2010


Earl Grey, hawt.


Shit guys, fire ze missles!



BA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! XD
posted by darkstar at 3:19 PM on June 2, 2010


Back in high school, my friends and I rented a lot of bad movies, amongst them was Masterminds (1997). It was a wacky "rebellious hacker kids save the day" movie, with Sir Patrick Stewart as the mustachioed villain, who ends up swimming in "poo water". My friends made up a song on the spot about that scene, and that notion has been lodged in my head, popping up whenever anyone mentions Patrick Stewart. I'm sorry, Sir Stewart, for whatever lead you to your role on that movie, and I'm even more sorry someone has uploaded the whole friggin' thing to YouTube, because I might watch it again.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:25 PM on June 2, 2010


What pisses me off about this (which is totally ancillary to Stewart receiving the honor) is that suddenly BBC America has decided to run Star Trek TNG as somehow being a "british" television series. *grumble* It's not like that show isn't already on at LEAST seven other networks. Can't they find something actually from UK television to run?

BBC America ran The Trailer Park Boys. Which was awesome, but not British. At the time, I thought the bar they set was the show had to be from Britain or a member of the Commonwealth. But ST:TNG means the bar must be "show originating or airing in in Britain, a former British territory, or a country on the same planet as Britain".
posted by birdherder at 3:31 PM on June 2, 2010


Patrick Stewart is fucking amazing. I've seen him play Prospero and Othello, and both were fab: he never fails to be glorious.

And the thing about Earl Grey tea is, you need to get the kind with natural (rather than artificial) bergamot oil. Drink it without milk and not too strong.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:39 PM on June 2, 2010


Footballer$ Wive$ or ST:TNG, your choice.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:43 PM on June 2, 2010


Drink it without milk and not too strong.

Also it makes you pee.
posted by Artw at 3:44 PM on June 2, 2010


Earl grey is fucking awesome. What's wrong with you people?
posted by archagon at 4:14 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm sorry, Sir Stewart

I'm pretty certain that the correct address is "Sir Patrick" or "Sir Patrick Stewart" but never "Sir Stewart", unless his first name is Stewart.
posted by hippybear at 4:25 PM on June 2, 2010


Earl Grey is horrible, it's like drinking second-rate perfume. Ugh.

And I'm not a tea snob; give me three-bag pot of Tetley's and I'm happy.
posted by jokeefe at 4:30 PM on June 2, 2010


THERE... ARE... FOUR... KNIGHTS.

/that'll be me trying to get in on the star trek punning.
posted by seanyboy at 4:39 PM on June 2, 2010


Wow, between the hot Oberon pictures linked above by emjaybee and the touching domestic violence piece linked by Iteki, I am really in love with him now. As I saw some comedienne say, "Who knew a short bald guy could be so hot?" (Me, I knew this already.)
posted by theredpen at 4:40 PM on June 2, 2010


And I just noticed - someone got in there first. Bah!
posted by seanyboy at 4:40 PM on June 2, 2010


Filthy Light Thief, I don't remember, how, why, where or when I watched that movie but I do remember it! I like both Patrick Stewart and Man Utd - and by extension their jersey - but these two should never have been brought together!
posted by TwoWordReview at 4:41 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Patrick Stewart has been knighted

Okay, I have no idea why but I thought that said he had been kidnapped
posted by delmoi at 5:14 PM on June 2, 2010


Professor X AND Magneto are now knights... finally an end to the Good Mutants/Evil Mutants schism!
posted by Scoo at 5:32 PM on June 2, 2010


A woman I worked with in grad school told me that it was common knowledge that Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley were lovers. I called and call bullshit on that, but the idea was (and still is) hot enough to make my head, and other body parts, explode.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 5:38 PM on June 2, 2010


I saw what I saw! The boy drew the sword. If a boy has been chosen, a boy shall be King!
posted by breezeway at 5:42 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


infini: but keep in mind that he's played Hamlet and they do tend to get knighted...

Uh, no he hasn't. He's been in Hamlet (has now played Claudius twice for the RSC), but he's never played Hamlet.
posted by tzikeh at 5:43 PM on June 2, 2010


ethnomethodologist: A woman I worked with in grad school told me that it was common knowledge that Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley were lovers.

...

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough* BWAHAHAHA *cough* HAAAA!

What color is the sky on her planet?

I called and call bullshit on that, but the idea was (and still is) hot enough to make my head, and other body parts, explode.

There, my friend, I am with you.
posted by tzikeh at 5:45 PM on June 2, 2010


Professor X AND Magneto are now knights.

The X-Men movies star: three Tony-Award winners, two Tony-Award nominees, two Oscar winners, two Oscar nominees, a two-time Oscar nominee, and two Knights of the Realm. I believe that this means the X-Men movies should win Best Picture by default, every time one of them is released.

(Not really. But it's pretty hilarious all the same.)
posted by tzikeh at 5:50 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Congratulations to Sir Patrick. It was a long time coming, but I'm glad Her Majesty's Government saw fit to include him on the honours list this time.
posted by armage at 6:08 PM on June 2, 2010


Hmm. Brits no but Frogs yes? What is happening????

What the French should do is offer him the key to the city of La Barre.
posted by armage at 6:13 PM on June 2, 2010


Earl Grey is bad tea.

Except that in the 24th Century, it's awesome tea.
posted by armage at 6:16 PM on June 2, 2010 [3 favorites]


The X-Men movies star: three Tony-Award winners, two Tony-Award nominees, two Oscar winners, two Oscar nominees, a two-time Oscar nominee, and two Knights of the Realm. I believe that this means the X-Men movies should win Best Picture by default, every time one of them is released.

Those guys have to eat too. I can't remember which quintessentially British actor it was (Michael Caine, maybe, or Jeremy Irons) that said something to the effect of "I haven't seen the movie and I'm told it's quite bad, but I have seen the house it paid for and that's quite nice".

I'm glad to see Sir Patrick get the recognition and the honor.
posted by immlass at 6:26 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Now he can walk around yelling:

"I'm Sir Patrick Stewart, your senior acting instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and the last word out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understand that?"
posted by bwg at 7:05 PM on June 2, 2010


immlass, it was Michael Caine in reference to JAWS 3-D.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 9:04 PM on June 2, 2010


It makes me proud to be British when they knight cool people like this.

This is also why I hate the SCA. I say you are not a knight unless the Queen of fucking England says so.
posted by w0mbat at 9:51 PM on June 2, 2010


whatever, he's hot, earl grey is not
posted by infini at 10:12 PM on June 2, 2010


Jean-Luc is French. France is home to Marriage Frères, a company that makes awesome black tea and horrible, baby talc-scented black tea.

The Enterprise's computer could put the finest Darjeeling or essence des Tribbles humide in the cup, and Picard would enjoy it.
posted by zippy at 10:57 PM on June 2, 2010


Oh, Sir Patrick - *schoolgirl flutter* - my secret boyfriend since the late 70's when my parents let me stay up late to watch I, Claudius. He's nigh on to 70 you say? And yet, he's still one of the sexiest beasts on the planet. I think it's the voice. There is something about his voice that makes me weak in the knees.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 6:59 AM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


His voice, his nicely shaped baldy-head, and his sexxxy grey goatee.

Plus that sparkle he has in his eyes. Totally devilish yet trustworthy.
posted by hippybear at 8:55 AM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


*gives up and roflmaos*
posted by infini at 9:21 AM on June 3, 2010


Green Tea, Jasmine, not sugar, hot

Guess it doesn't have the same ring...
posted by mincus at 1:34 PM on June 3, 2010


infini: but keep in mind that he's played Hamlet and they do tend to get knighted...
Oh god no, not Sir ShoutyTennant. The poor old Quin would never be able to hear her corgies again..
posted by coriolisdave at 3:22 PM on June 3, 2010


I like to think that the portrayal of Jean-Luc Picard as a total Anglophile subtly points to a future in which the love-hate cross-Channel relationship has tilted more to the love side.
posted by dhens at 6:23 PM on June 3, 2010


I think he deserves it for no other reason than his stellar work on American Dad.
posted by antifuse at 7:00 AM on June 4, 2010


Uh, no he hasn't. He's been in Hamlet (has now played Claudius twice for the RSC), but he's never played Hamlet.

You're clearly forgetting the finest performance of his career.
posted by eykal at 11:02 AM on June 4, 2010 [6 favorites]


Oh my, eykal, I didn't think I could like Stewart any more, but that just proved me wrong.
posted by darkstar at 12:16 PM on June 4, 2010


its that earnest serious look he has when he gets up to something particularly mischevious
posted by infini at 12:17 PM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


Earl Grey is bad tea.

Wrong; it's delicious. So are many, many other teas.

I say you are not a knight unless the Queen of fucking England says so

Umm, there hasn't been a Queen of England in quite some time, not since the Acts of Union in 1797. EII is "...of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland Queen." (Also Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc etc etc.)
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:58 AM on June 6, 2010


17907

FTFM.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:59 AM on June 6, 2010




Ouch.
posted by Artw at 4:44 PM on June 9, 2010


Does anyone have a link to the full unabridged version of that interaction? I seem to always find the cut version that jumps from bit to bit. James Corden seems to start off as a fairly disrespectful little twat (hands in pockets loitering around the back of the stage) and Patrick Stewart calls him on it and falls a little flat with his jibes (reasonable but they aren't particularly funny...).

Does Patrick Stewart go on for an unreasonable amount of time hence Corden's call for him to get the fuck on with it?
posted by Transparent Yak at 7:04 PM on June 9, 2010


Yes, I am linking to this Family Guy clip in yet another thread.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:02 AM on June 10, 2010


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