So, what's it like to meet a powerful lady, Your majesty? Influential list ranks Queen below Lady Gaga



One is head of the Commonwealth, whose influence stretches across 54 states and takes in almost a third of the world’s population.

The other is an outrageous pop star notorious for outfits including a dress apparently made of raw meat.

Yet, according to a new list of the most powerful women on the planet, The Queen comes far behind Lady Gaga.

Showbusiness royalty: Lady Gaga meets the Queen earlier this year

In fact, Her Majesty manages only a lowly 41st place in the Forbes magazine rankings, beaten by film and music celebrities such as Beyoncé Knowles, who is ninth, and Angelina Jolie, rated 21st. Lady Gaga is seventh.

The poor showing for the Queen reflects the judges’ view that she has not made a significant enough contribution to global events and trends in the past year.

Top of the list is Michelle Obama, the U.S. First Lady and a political campaigner in her own right. Even French First Lady Carla Bruni outranks the Queen, coming 35th.

Forbes has changed the way it calculates the list this year, basing it less on the traditional benchmarks of wealth and position, giving more weight to creative influence and entrepreneurship.



Forbes list: Beyonce is ranked number nine, while Angelina Jolie is number 21



Although an individual’s worth was a factor, the ‘buzz’ they created was taken into consideration for the first time.

The move has seen an influx of showbusiness names at the expense of the executives and politicians who made up the 2009 table.

Mrs Obama replaced German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the top because of her position as the First Lady and her campaigns on childhood obesity and rights for military families.

Lady Gaga made her debut on the list because she has ‘reinvigorated pop music’, the judging panel of the magazine’s editors said.



The singer, 24, whose hits include the No 1 track Poker Face, is also an incredibly successful businesswoman and her Monster’s Ball tour grossed nearly £125million.







Particular attention was paid to those who make use of social ­networking sites such as Twitter, which partly explains why U.S. talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who has five million internet followers, is placed tenth.

The Queen – the only British national to make the list – was 42nd last year but has gone up one place after she addressed the UN for the first time since 1957.

Moira Forbes, vice president of ForbesWoman, said: ‘The women on our list, through their respective realms of power and influence, are shaping many of the agenda-­setting conversations of our day, and have become dynamic ­catalysts for driving meaningful change across the world.’

www.forbes.com/powerwomen