|
Well.... we live in a newspaper age where headlines are often short to the point that it has become a style. I have never seen a headline like:
"Prime Minister Blair announces resignation"
rather, it would always be given in the format of:
"Blair announces resignation"
There are also cultural issues to take into account. Most of us Brits FROWN when people use titles (even if they have a right to use them), considering it to be pretentious to use both title and name.
Thus you will often hear us refer to the:
The Queen, The Prime Minister, The Defence Minister, Lizzie, (Tony) Blair, (Geoff/rey) Hoon
but almost never:
Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister (Tony) Blair, Defence Minister (Geoff/rey) Hoon
It is NOT a sign of disprect to the office that they hold, rather a distaste in the usage of titles as if the title-holder is somehow 'better' than the rest of us.
The only exception are the princes (Prince Charles, Andrew, Edward, Philip) whose names are curiously linked to their titles. Perhaps it is because we never refer to their surname?
[ 02-04-2004, 03:12 AM: Message edited by: Skunk ]
|