Age is just a number for Queen Elizabeth.
The 95-year-old monarch politely turned down The Oldie magazine’s Oldie of the Year award with a characteristically regal (and ever-so-slightly cheeky) response.
“Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such the Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept and hopes you find a more worthy recipient,” Tom Laing-Baker, the Queen’s assistant private secretary, said in a letter shared by the magazine on Tuesday.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband who died in April at age 99, was named Consort of the Year at the awards in 2012.
“There is nothing like it for morale to be reminded that the years are passing — ever more quickly — and that bits are beginning to drop off the ancient frame,” Philip said in response, according to the Evening Standard. “But it is nice to be remembered at all.
The Oldie is a monthly British magazine aimed towards the elderly “as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity,” according to their website. Each year, they hold a tongue-in-cheek awards ceremony, with past recipients of the Oldie of the Year prize including David Hockney, Eileen Atkins, Stanley Baxter, Peter Blake, Glenda Jackson and Moira Stuart.
The Queen is set to mark 70 years on the throne with a Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
