 FACT: At the beginning of a meal, the officers toast the King, but  do so while sitting. British serving officers always stood while  toasting the monarch, even though only in the captains cabin of a  large ship would there be enough headroom to stand upright. When  William IV, a naval officer since he was about 13, became King in  1830, he allowed serving officers to toast him while sitting, but  this was more than 30 years too late for the officers of the Bounty.