Ben Fogle's idea for the Queen's birthday hasn't exactly gone down well

The TV presenter has united the nation – though not in the way he hoped to 
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Kimberley Bond16 April 2020
The Weekender

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Ben Fogle has found himself on the receiving end of Twitter jibes today, after a well-intentioned tweet was painfully ill-received.

The 46-year-old broadcaster and adventurer was trending on the social media platform after he called for the nation to unite in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s 94th birthday next week.

He suggested to his 462,000 Twitter followers: “At 9am 21st April, we are calling on the whole country to sing Happy Birthday from our windows and doorsteps. Let our song bring good cheer not just to Her Majesty but to the whole nation #singforthequeen.”

If Fogle was hoping to unite the country during lockdown, he certainly succeeded – but not in the way he probably planned.

Celebrities supporting Clap for Carers to battle Coronavirus

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Amassing over 4,000 replies in less than three hours, Fogle soon found out what people thought of his novel idea...

Some people straight-up declined to sing for the Queen:

Others had a few ideas for what else we could do that day:

And some just found the whole idea a little strange, particularly in light of the current situation:

Ben Fogle-bashing aside, the nation has managed to come together during the coronavirus crisis, with people from all across the UK going outside to clap for carers and NHS workers every Thursday evening at 8pm.

Numerous famous faces, including the Beckhams, Kate Garraway and John Boyega, shared videos of themselves joining in.

A less well-attended clap for Boris Johnson also occurred last week, as people rooted for the Prime Minister to recover from coronavirus and leave intensive care.

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