Tourette’s campaigner recalls shouting ‘f*** the Queen’ during MBE ceremony as new film tells his story

John Davidson credited the late Queen's understanding response as a 'eureka moment' for understanding how to raise awareness
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Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson has recalled the moment he yelled “f*** the Queen” when receiving an MBE in 2019.
The 54-year-old Scottish activist, who has had Tourette’s since he was 12, was recollecting on his experience ahead of the release of a film covering his life.
On July 2, 2019, Mr Davidson arrived at Edinburgh's Palace of Holyroodhouse to collect an MBE from the late Queen.
Wearing traditional highland dress for the ceremony, he was to be recognised for his for services to people with Tourette's syndrome - but admitted he was extremely nervous about the royal encounter.
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His Tourette's syndrome, which causes involuntary tics often resulting in expletive lade outbursts, had already caused a stir in the car park when security personnel conducted their checks.
Mr Davidson's neurological condition prompted him to shout "Bomb! I've got a f****** bomb!" at the worst possible moment.
During the ceremony, his name was called out by the herald which prompted another tic, leaving the campaigner mortified.
“At that, I went: ‘F*** the Queen!’ at the top of my voice,” he remembered.
Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson (right) recalled a moment he yelled 'f*** the queen' when receiving his MBE
|PA
The first reaction came from “some of the guys in the military orchestra” who Mr Davidson recalled “trying to play their instruments without p****** themselves”.
However, the late Queen was mercifully not phased by the unexpected moment, which quickly soothed the activist's embarrassment.
He remembered Queen Elizabeth calmly congratulating him at which point he “started to relax”.
“I believe you’ve done lots of television appearances trying to improve people’s knowledge of Tourette’s,” Mr Davidson remembered the queen saying.
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Mr Davidson credited the late Queen's understanding response as a 'eureka moment' for understanding how to raise awareness
|GETTY
"Yeah, ma’am, I’ve done five documentaries,” he responded.
Queen Elizabeth then cooed: “Gee whizz. I’ll have to get the boys to show me some of these one day!”
Mr Davidson credited the late monarch’s reaction as “a eureka moment” for how he felt about his Tourette's while speaking with The Telegraph.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘If the queen of England can accept my Tourette’s, and be in my company, why the f*** should we have to do all this awareness-raising?"
Mr Davidson's life is being dramatised in the upcoming film, I Swear
|GETTY
He realised: “Why can’t ordinary people just accept it in the same way?”
Despite the self-affirming revelation, Mr Davidson was working hard to control his tics during the remainder of the ceremony.
"You’ll be fine. Just concentrate. Read the order of service,” his friend Dottie Achenbach, who was accompanying him, advised.
Mr Davidson recalled: “So, I started reading it. And then I heard the voice, ‘…and for services to waterskiing…’ And I went: ‘F****** waterskiing!’”
Mr Davidson’s life story has been dramatised for the new biographical film titled "I Swear" with Lord of the Rings actor Robert Aramayo taking on the lead role.
The movie, which opens with Mr Davidson's anxiety-filled visit to Holyroodhouse in July 2019, covers the serious challenges and occasional dark humour that characterise his life with Tourette's syndrome.