Accents - All groups - The changing accent of the Queen.

What is a cut glass accent? What does a clipped accent sound like?

The link below will take you to an article that appeared this week on the web. There you can listen to speeches made by Queen Elizabeth II throughout her 64 year reign. Linguists believe that her accent has changed over time, moving from a very strict aristocratic form of R.P. with a wide range of vowel sounds to something closer to a middle class English accent with a narrower range. Can you hear the change? Listen to the way she pronounces the "a" in that, the "y" in family or the vowel in poor. How have these sounds changed?

Link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3439129/How-Queen-s-cut-glass-accent-slipping-Videos-reveal-monarch-shifted-speech-recent-years-sound-like-one-us.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Why do you think the Queen's cut glass accent is slipping?