I don’t see any way of explaining the point more clearly than happydog and Faldage have, so I won’t attempt to, but I’m with them.

I’m struggling to understand, though, why posts in a forum which has always supported evolution of word meaning through common usage are now saying that someone else’s words should mean what they, not the speaker, think it should mean.

That’s very well, but what _does_ the Queen mean? That’s what I’m trying to ascertain.
_Has_ the meaning of humbling changed so that it means elevating, buoying, some other meaning that would suit this context? If so, huzzah! I hope the dictionaries are updated soon.
Or is the Queen uttering a common white lie? I can’t read her mind, and in any case this is not just about this one instance: this is a continuation of a yuku thread in which plenty of other examples are given.

She got it by simple virtue of being the eldest daughter of a man who was king, a king with no male heirs.  Whether she did anything that required great effort on her part I wouldn’t know, not being aware of any of the finer workings of the United Kingdom, but even if she had I could easily see that she might not think they were anything more than what any reasonably competent person would have done in her circumstances.

Whether or not the Queen is deserving of her post or the adulation she is receiving would be a political matter somewhat beyond the scope of this forum, I would think.

And yes, nice to see you back, Eliza. :-)

Receiving the cheers of tens of thousands is in no way a humbling experience.

No, it isn’t if you think it’s yours as of right.  But if you’re a very religious person (as the Queen is), cheers and adulation after a lifetime of privilege might make you at least reflect on your own small place in the natural order of things as opposed to the divine right of kings of old to be greeted with cheers and adulation.  It was a very touching remark.

If you’re determined not to see this, then I can’t explain it any better to you.

(And thank you all for your welcome).

Thanks to Doonesbury, I have learnt a word relevant to this thread:

humblebrags

What a useful term! Some days, Facebook is filled to overflowing with humblebrags.

The second entry on urbandictionary covers it well:

2.  humblebrag 125 up, 37 down

The lowest, most despicable and loathsome form of self promotion, often delivered in a terse one or two fragmented sentences on social networking sites. A typical and popular approach is to use a disingenuous complaint about something, a self-deprecating statement or a comment on something completely innocuous, as a vehicle to deliver the real message, which invariably shows the person in a favourable light. In fact it shows what an attention seeking and insecure person they really are.

Uriah Heep clearly has a multitude of descendants.

Not that I particularly wish Richard to come back, but if he read this thread (or, Lord knows, any of a great many others) it might correct his misapprehension that we’re a bunch of sycophants who always agree with Dave.