Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s most famous Syracuse fan

On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II, of the United Kingdom, visited with hospitalized victims of this week’s horrific terrorist attack in Manchester, U.K. That, in and of itself is news. And there is no making light of what occurred on Monday evening.

But for this blog’s purposes, there was some potential Syracuse Orange fodder that we have to address.

The Queen was sporting a very orange and blue outfit, including an orange hat that would not feel out of place at all were it donned at the Carrier Dome. One could potentially just chalk it up to her selecting a wardrobe that conveyed brightness and positivity amidst tragedy. But we have a better idea:

She’s obviously a closet Syracuse fan.

It’s just harder for her to express her fandom in the same fashion the rest of us do. Has anyone ever seen the Queen just hanging out in a t-shirt, the official wardrobe choice of most Orange fans? Of course not. She’s also across an ocean, which isn’t a deal-breaker, but makes things more difficult from a fan perspective.

There’s also the matter of being the U.K. head of state. She can’t simply endorse one random (to locals) college team. Sports work differently there, especially at the university level. People don’t wear college shirts or stake out entire days of the week to watch teenagers play a game on television? That sort of behavior’s reserved for soccer alone.

If Queen Elizabeth were to endorse the Orange, the value of the ACC Network would increase exponentially, annexing all of London in the footprint. Londoners would want to know all about the Orange, and what set them apart from the Orange they know best, the Dutch.

The entire country, honestly, has its own history with the color orange that could seal this once and for all. William of Orange was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 until his death in 1702. Though there’s no goofy 44 stuff about him, he was preceded by James II. James (or Jim) is a name we’re pretty familiar with around these parts.

It would only make sense that his reign left a mark with regard to the color orange -- one that would be cashed in down the road as a certain college athletic program in Central New York came to prominence. But because the Queen can’t play favorites, it remains a secret.

The next time the Queen wears orange, someone in a Syracuse shirt should quickly ask her what time it is. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, she’ll respond with the accurate hour and minutes, followed by a subtle “and Georgetown still sucks.”