God Save the Queen (Current Version)
Channel: Stephen Griffith
Date: 11/02/2021

There is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the years, but these are rarely used. The words used today are those sung in 1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official occasions, only the first verse is usually sung. Sometimes two verses are sung, and on rare occasions, three. The original second verse that is strikingly nationalistic is rarely sung. Instead, a third verse added in 1946 replaces it.

The words of the National Anthem are as follows:

God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen.

Additional Verse added in 1946

But be God's mercies known
From shore to shore.
Lord, make the nation see
That men should brothers be,
And form one family
The wide world o'er.

The anthem has also never been officially declared as the national anthem of the country, the royal anthem (as this technically is) is used as the national anthem as a matter of tradition, but this is also due to the unique constitutional situation in the United Kingdom, as the nation doesn’t have a formal constitution. The words used are those sung in 1745, substituting ‘Queen’ for ‘King’ (and female pronouns with male ones) where appropriate.