Kowtow came into English in the early 19th century to describe the bow itself, but its meaning soon shifted to describe any abject submission or grovelling. The kowtow was a significant issue for diplomats, since it was required to kneel and in the presence of the Emperor of China. It was part of the complex imperial court tradition that meant total submission before him. The British emissaries of George Macarthney, 1st Earl of Macartney (1793) and William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl of Amherst (1816) had a grave problem as they were the official representatives of the King of England it was as if the King himself was bowing and submitting totally. This act would mean their King was acknowledging that he was a subject of the Chinese Emperor.

The British diplomats developed a special form of bow that would save face where instead of kneeling on both knees in front of the emperor they negotiated a special form of bow where only one knee was bent down, in wearing long coats you could not see if both knees were on the ground.

Take a special look at this photo from the front page of last Wednesday’s front page of the FT. there was no mention of the word KowTow in the article or anything about its significance.

I believe it’s a veiled message by the editors of the FT to basically say look our Queen is submitting to the present day ruler of China. Her knee is bent at 90 degrees and her head is bowed.