LONDON: What did the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 lay the basis for? Who or what is Vindolanda? Where is the National Horseracing Museum? Name two habits that may start a fight with your neighbor in Britain.
These and other rather esoteric questions are what Meghan Markle, the US actress recently engaged to Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth II's grandson and the fifth in line to the throne, will have to master in order to become a British citizen.
Most Britons, even a prime minister, find them almost impossible to answer.
Markle, who was raised in Los Angeles, plans to seek British citizenship after she marries Harry, Kensington Palace confirmed. It is a lengthy process that culminates in a torturous citizenship test that costs about $65 and is typically flunked by one-third to half of the applicants.
The announcement prompted some British news outlets to pounce on her apparent ignorance of "Britishisms" on a television show last year.
"She only managed to get a measly four out of 15 questions about Britain right," The Mirror, a tabloid, said disapprovingly, adding that she did not know the British word for "sidewalk."
The exam she will take is known officially as the "Life in the UK Test," and it is required for anyone settling in the country or seeking to become a citizen (and, therefore, a subject of the queen).
The quiz, many Britons say, is unfairly difficult, an assertion that was borne out in a scattershot survey one recent afternoon that found many struggling to answer sample questions correctly.
"A what?" Peter York, a prominent social commentator, exclaimed. "What is the Vindolanda?"
"Is that a real question?" he asked, perplexed. "That's extraordinary."
(The answer: Vindolanda was a Roman fort just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England.)
York said he preferred that foreigners study Alan Bennett, the prolific playwright; John Cleese, the comedian famed for the "Monty Python" series; and the punk band the Sex Pistols.
George Jupe, 87, said being British was a question of feeling. "But what makes you feel it, heaven knows," he said, taking leave with a lively "Cheerio!"
These and other rather esoteric questions are what Meghan Markle, the US actress recently engaged to Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth II's grandson and the fifth in line to the throne, will have to master in order to become a British citizen.
Most Britons, even a prime minister, find them almost impossible to answer.
Markle, who was raised in Los Angeles, plans to seek British citizenship after she marries Harry, Kensington Palace confirmed. It is a lengthy process that culminates in a torturous citizenship test that costs about $65 and is typically flunked by one-third to half of the applicants.
The announcement prompted some British news outlets to pounce on her apparent ignorance of "Britishisms" on a television show last year.
"She only managed to get a measly four out of 15 questions about Britain right," The Mirror, a tabloid, said disapprovingly, adding that she did not know the British word for "sidewalk."
The exam she will take is known officially as the "Life in the UK Test," and it is required for anyone settling in the country or seeking to become a citizen (and, therefore, a subject of the queen).
The quiz, many Britons say, is unfairly difficult, an assertion that was borne out in a scattershot survey one recent afternoon that found many struggling to answer sample questions correctly.
"A what?" Peter York, a prominent social commentator, exclaimed. "What is the Vindolanda?"
"Is that a real question?" he asked, perplexed. "That's extraordinary."
(The answer: Vindolanda was a Roman fort just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England.)
York said he preferred that foreigners study Alan Bennett, the prolific playwright; John Cleese, the comedian famed for the "Monty Python" series; and the punk band the Sex Pistols.
George Jupe, 87, said being British was a question of feeling. "But what makes you feel it, heaven knows," he said, taking leave with a lively "Cheerio!"
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