The Queen of England recently visited the frigate HMS Lancaster, however one usual crew member was not on board---the resident pet, an African Grey named Sunny. It was feared that Sunny's foul mouth--who swears like a sailor, literally-- might offend Her Highness, so the parrot was put into "retirement."
The mascot's salty utterings included "a**e", "feck" and phrases such as "Zulus, thousands of 'em," and "You ain't seen nothing, right?"
She is now living with Tony Sawyer and his wife in Penarth, South Wales.
Tony said: "She goes through quite a repertoire but we are trying to tone the language down a bit."
A Navy spokesman said: "It's true that Sunny had picked up a rich navy vernacular and we wish her the best in retirement."
- Log in to post comments
More like this
This Grey Matters is just slightly off-topic, as this week's episode involves a macaw rather than an African Grey. But, I hope you find it interesting nonetheless!
Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England, died in 1969 but (according to legend) was outlived by his pet parrot,…
tags: talking parrot, African grey parrot, streaming video
This video is a follow-up of the story I linked to earlier from Birds in the News 102 where Gloucester UK residents, Taffy and Jean Howells' African grey parrot, Severiano Ballesteros, is a big rugby fan [1:19]
AN avid rugby lover's pet…
I'm the lone female in a house of men - when new housemate Phil moves in next month that will make six guys in my home and well, me. There are assorted female creatures on my farm - to be precise, one dog, two cats, two rabbits, 7 dairy goats, 12 ewes (seasonal) and about 40 female birds of…
tags: Alex, African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, cognition, learning, speech disabilities, Irene Pepperberg
Alex, the African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus,
who worked with Irene Pepperberg for more than 30 years.
Image: Mike Lovett/Brandeis University [larger size]
Alex, the African…
"Zulus, thousands of 'em,"
I imagine the Queen is used to remarks like this; she is, after all, married to the Duke of Edinburgh.