IANAL, but I wouldn't expect harsher penalties than those for regular defamation. Getting into more trouble for insulting the queen than someone else would mean

IANAL, but I wouldn't expect harsher penalties than those for regular defamation. Getting into more trouble for insulting the queen than someone else would mean that there is no equality before the law, and I wouldn't expect the judgement to hold if taken to ECHR. A cursory googling reveals that the ECHR decides mostly based on whether the limitation to the freedom of speech is necessary and/or proportionate.[1] 1 - http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Reputation_ENG.pdf http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Reputation_ENG.pdf