Worked better than that terrible musical "history" of 10 second snippets (with clueless dancers), which included the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen", so the queen herself could hear:

"God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming"

Considering the politically correct atmosphere of the U.K. with muslim's organizing in the streets with bullhorns yelling 'Death to the west!' and Jacqui Smith, ex-homeland security head totally ignoring the dangers, a more appropriate opening ceremonies would have included the Kinks song, "Living On A Thin Line."

All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there's no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
All the lies we were told,
All the lies of the people running round,
They're castles have burned.
Now I see change,
But inside we're the same as we ever were.
 

The song is actually about divorce and how hard it can be on a child.  It is written for the child.  The original title was Hey Jules, for Julian Lennon.  The symbolism in the lyrics have long since been over played.  Like all Beatles songs it is rather simple in meaning and origin.  The song was a good pick for Beatles fans.  The original recording started with one instrument and ended with 50.  It turned out to be the most successful song the Beatles ever released.  Nevertheless, I was hoping Paul would perform Maybe I'm Amazed, since this is about the break up of the Beatles and was very personal for Paul and is the one song he hopes he is most remembered by.

As for the Olympic opening show.  I don't blame Her Majesty for cleaning her nails.  Bully for her.