England national team will sing different lyrics in national anthem going forward
England players will sing different lyrics in the national anthem following the Queen's passing.
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in history, died peacefully at her royal residence in Balmoral, aged 96 on Thursday afternoon.
Tributes from around the world have poured in and with the country now in a period of mourning, Premier League football has been postponed out of respect.
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Charles was next in line for the throne and has now become King, addressing the nation in an emotional speech on Friday.
And his ascension means 'God save the Queen' - passionately sung by so many legendary players over the years, has been slightly tweaked and will now be 'God save the King' going forward.
The song was first sung in 1745 for George II and for the first time in 70 years, the altered lyrics have already been on display in a service broadcasted on the BBC on Friday.
The lyrics will largely remain the same but prior to every England game, whether in friendlies or tournaments like the World Cup later this year, "queen" will be replaced with "king", and "she" and "her" will become 'he" and "him" to bring about the correct pronouns.
It will be sung as follows:
God save our gracious King!
Long live our noble King!
God save the King!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King.
'God save the Queen' has been the anthem since Elizabeth became head of state in 1952 following the death of her father King George VI.
It will likely not be sung again for a long time, with Prince William and his son Prince George the next two in line to succeed Charles.
England's first game since the Queen's passing is against Italy on 23 September, before the first Wembley fixture with the new anthem takes place against Germany three days later.
Topics: England, FIFA World Cup
Josh Lawless