Sex Pistols Frontman John 'Johnny Rotten' Lydon Gives Surprising Tribute to Queen Elizabeth

By Stephen Andrew

Many have come out to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth, in the wake of her death, including former Sex Pistols John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon. In a surprising move, Lydon took to Twitter to share a photo of the late monarch, writing, "Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II. Send her victorious."

The line "Send her victorious" is from Britain's nor-former national anthem "God Save The Queen," which says: "God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the Queen." Lydon post is surprising because the Sex Pistols are famous for an iconic 1977 punk song, also titled "God Save The Queen," in which Lydon would screech, "God save the queen. The fascist regime. They made you a moron, a potential H bomb. God save the queen. She's not a human being, and there's no future, and England's dreaming." The track was notoriously anti-monarchy, which may make it jarring for some Sex Pistols fans to see Lydon now taking such a sympathetic position toward the Royals.

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning royal monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on Thursday at 96 years old. Her death comes just under 18 months after the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, her husband of more than 73 years. The Queen died at Balmoral, her beloved palace in the Scottish Highlands, which was purchased by her great-great-grandfather Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1852. She was surrounded by her children and grandchildren. King Charles, her eldest son, succeeds her as leader of the British monarchy.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow," the palace said in a statement. "Flags across the U.K. were lowered to half-mast ahead of a national minute's silence and the start of an official period of mourning."

Born on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth assumed the throne in 1953 after the death of her father, King George VI. She is survived by her four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. The Queen is also survived by many grandchildren, including Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who is married to former American actress Meghan Markle. In addition, Queen Elizabeth also had eight great-grandchildren.

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