Annus horribilis
Annus horribilis is a
Latin phrase meaning "horrible year". It is a
pun on
annus mirabilis meaning "year of wonders".
Although cited by the
Oxford English Dictionary as being in use as early as 1985,
Queen Elizabeth II brought the phrase to prominence, in a speech to the Guildhall on
24 November 1992, marking the 40th anniversary of her Accession, in which she
referred to the closing year as an "annus horribilis".
"1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis."She probably used the phrase in allusion to
John Dryden's poem "
Annus Mirabilis" about the events of
1666.
Her most immediate reference was to a fire in
Windsor Castle just four days before, (
20 November 1992) but this occurred after the publicity of several negative events had damaged the reputation of the
Royal Family: In March of that year, it was announced that the Queen's second son, the
Duke of York, would separate from his wife
Sarah. Later in the year, scandalous pictures of a topless Sarah being kissed by her friend, John Bryan, were published in the tabloids. In April, the Queen's daughter, the
Princess Royal, divorced her husband
Captain Mark Philips. Still another painful event occurred in November when one of the Queen's homes,
Windsor Castle, caught fire. The Castle was seriously damaged, and several priceless artifacts were lost. Originally, it was planned that the Government would pay the £40 million bill for repairs, but there was much public outcry against having the Government pay. Later, the Queen agreed to open up several royal residences to tourists, and used the funds raised thereby to pay for the repairs. Finally, in December, the Royal Family faced further difficulties when the separation of the
Prince of Wales and his wife
Diana was announced. The Queen's "sympathetic correspondent" was later revealed to be her former Assistant Private Secretary,
Sir Edward Ford.
Kofi Annan used the phrase in his speech on
21 December 2004.[
1] "There's no doubt that this has been a particularly difficult year, and I am relieved that this annus horribilis is coming to an end", he said. His remarks were widely interpreted (see for instance [
2] from the Associated Press) to have been regarding allegations of corruption in the UN's Iraq Oil-for-Food programme.
In a sad twist of irony, it was during the remaining ten days of 2004 when the year truly did become an
annus horribilis; the
Indian Ocean tsunami struck on
December 26, killing over 100,000 people, and displacing the homes and lives of many more.
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List of Latin phrases
