Nancy in Panama City Beach, Florida, remembers that as a girl, whenever she asked why her mother was looking at her, her mother would respond, “Well, can’t the cat look at the queen?” This phrase goes all the way back to the mid-16th century. A 1652 book of proverbs includes the version “What, a cat may look on a king, you know.” Another version goes, “a cat is free to contemplate a monarch.” This is part of a complete episode.
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What is the name of the book of proverbs? Martha says 1562, but the text summary says 1652. Could it be “The Proverbs and Epigrams of John Heywood” ?
https://archive.org/stream/proverbsandepig00heywgoog#page/n13/mode/2up