Her Majesty E-Book

Brian Hoey

• Herausgeber: The Robson Press
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Queen Elizabeth II is the most famous woman in the world - but she is also the most private. Now, to mark her sixtieth year on the throne, royal expert Brian Hoey takes a searching look at Her Majesty's long reign, at her likes and dislikes, her triumphs and disappointments, and at what drives this most extraordinary of individuals. Using unrivalled access to those closest to the royal family, Hoey uncovers the principles and convictions, quirks and foibles that define The Queen and her family. Affectionate anecdote is combined with impartial analysis to provide an enthralling glimpse into the life of a woman who has earned both global respect and the admiration of her subjects. The last ten years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign have been no less eventful than any other decade: two wars, recession and royal marriage have all made their mark as The Queen prepares to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. Yet, as this lively, authoritative and revealing account makes clear, Her Majesty continues to display a resolute determination to steer her country on the right course - to protect her people, the Commonwealth and, perhaps above all, the institution of monarchy.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Title Page

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1: A Typical Day

Chapter 2: Queen Regnant

Chapter 3: A Family in Crisis

Chapter 4: Lilibet – The Early Days

Chapter 5: Elizabeth and Philip

Chapter 6: Buckingham Palace – The House

Chapter 7: Friends – The Inner Circle

Chapter 8: Family Ties

Chapter 9: The Impact of Diana

Chapter 10: The Camilla Factor

Chapter 11: Mother and Daughter

Chapter 12: A Woman of Faith

Chapter 13: Hostess to the World

Chapter 14: With Her Ministers – At Home and Abroad

Chapter 15: Royal Money

Chapter 16: The Sport of Queens

Chapter 17: The Case Against the Monarchy

Chapter 18: Royal Protection

Chapter 19: The First Eleven

Chapter 20: The Public Image

Chapter 21: World Traveller

Chapter 22: Royal Style

Chapter 23: The Sixth Decade

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Plates

Copyright

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. ‘Princess Lilibet’. Cover of Time magazine, 29 April 1929.

2. Princess Elizabeth with friends in 1930. Reproduced courtesy of Lady Butter.

3. Wedding photograph of The Hon. Patricia Mountbatten and Captain Lord Brabourne. Reproduced courtesy of Lord and Lady Brabourne.

4. Christening of Michael-John, second son of Lord and Lady Brabourne. Reproduced courtesy of Lord and Lady Brabourne.

5. Princess Anne helping her mother, Queen Elizabeth, to adjust the bridle of the pony Greensleeves at Balmoral Castle. Pets & Animals Book, 1960.

6. King George VI and Douglas Fairbanks Jr in Scotland during the Second World War. Reproduced courtesy of Mrs Vera Fairbanks.

7. Queen Elizabeth II and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane at the Royal Ball, Brisbane, 1954. State Library of Queensland.

8. Prince Charles with Lady Diana Spencer at Balmoral, May 1981. Press Association.

9. President George Bush and Barbara Bush welcome The Queen and Prince Philip, May 1991. Susan Birdie, George Bush Library, US National Archives and Records Administration.

10. The Queen and Prime Minister Edward Heath are joined by President Richard Nixon and Pat Nixon, October 1970. White House photo by Ollie Atkins.

11. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush with The Queen and Prince Philip at the White House, May 2007. White House photo by David Bohrer.

12. The Queen and President Ronald Reagan on a ride through Windsor Home Park, 1982. Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library.

13. The Queen and Prince Philip visiting NASA, May 2007. NASA/Paul E. Alers.

14. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, in their Garter robes, escorted by Her Majesty’s Silver Stick-in-Waiting, Colonel Andrew Parker Bowles. Private Collection.

15. Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince William. Vincent Lyon-Dalberg-Acton.

16. The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, 29 April 2011.

17. The Queen during the Trooping of the Colour, June 2007.

18. Balmoral Castle. Stuart Yeates.

19. Windsor Castle. David Iliff.

20. The Queen stepping out of the Australian State Coach. Graham Down.

21. The Queen meets President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Pete Souza.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The preparations for this book began more than ten years ago, when I was researching a project concerning The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Some of the men and women I spoke to then are no longer with us, but their contributions were so valuable I believe it is important and apposite to include them now.

I am indebted to a great many people for their contributions and other assistance during the preparation of this book. Past and present members of the royal household have been generous with their time and expertise: some I am able to name; others have asked me to respect their confidentiality. Friends of The Queen and Prince Philip spoke openly and also provided me with some unique photographs.

Among those to whom I am particularly grateful are the following: Ronald Allison, Harry Arnold, Dame Jocelyn Barrow, James Beaton GC, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, ex-President George Bush and Mrs Barbara Bush, Lady Myra Butter, the late Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Carrington, Marge Champion, Geoffrey Crawford, Michael Dannenhauer, Lady de Bellaigue, the late Lord Deedes, Oliver Everett, Paul Flynn MP, Bryan Forbes, the late President Gerald Ford, the late Princess George of Hanover, Geordie Greig, Lorna Hogg, Sir Bernard Ingham, the late Lady Georgina ‘Gina’ Kennard, Lord (Neil) Kinnock, Dr Henry Kissinger, Lee Kuan Yew, Austin Mitchell MP, Christina Neuman, Lord (David) Owen, Andrew Parker Bowles, Colin Parker, David Rankin-Hunt, Maureen Rose, Ashley Walton, the late James Whitaker, Alan Williams and George Wiltshire.

I was also fortunate enough to be allowed to speak to the late Lord Runcie just a few weeks before he died. Although in considerable pain, he gave no indication of his discomfort. I am glad to record my appreciation of his unfailing courtesy and good humour.

Similarly, the late Douglas Fairbanks Jr and his wife Vera were equally kind in corresponding with me in spite of his illness.

My thanks must also go to Sam Carter and Jessica Feehan for their constructive editing and to their colleagues at Biteback Publishing; to Gordon Wise and his colleague John Parton at Curtis Brown for their unfailing efforts on my behalf; and to Janice Robertson, to whom I owe a massive debt for her extraordinary energy and perception when editing the original manuscript.

This book has not been ‘vetted’ by Buckingham Palace, or anyone else; therefore any opinions that are not attributed are mine and mine alone – as are any errors.

PROLOGUE

It’s hard to believe, but when The Queen came to the throne in 1952 she was younger than four of her grandchildren – Princes William and Harry, and Peter and Zara Phillips – are today.

Her Majesty, who was born in 1926, was just twenty-five when she learned she was now Britain’s forty-second sovereign since William the Conqueror, and only its sixth Queen Regnant. She was also the second youngest to inherit the throne in two centuries – only her great-great-grandmother was younger, eighteen, when she became Queen Victoria in 1837.

On 5 February 1952 she was still Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth. She had been married for just under five years and was the mother of two small children: Prince Charles, born in 1948, and Princess Anne, born in 1950; Andrew and Edward did not arrive until 1960 and 1964. The following day, 6 February, she was informed that she was now Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, following the sudden death of her father, King George VI, at Sandringham, his favourite home in Norfolk.

The Queen had been at the romantically named Treetops Hotel in the Aberdare National Park, Kenya, when the Duke of Edinburgh (he wasn’t even Prince Philip then – it was to be another five years until he was created a Prince of the United Kingdom by his wife) informed her of the change of circumstances that would alter both of their lives forever.

The next day they returned to a grey and sombre Britain to be greeted by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition, Clement Attlee, and the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden. Churchill, who had been born in the reign of Queen Victoria, would later remind his young sovereign that he had first held public office when her great-grandfather, King Edward VII, was on the throne.

Today, Elizabeth II is by far the most experienced states-woman in the world, having occupied her unique position longer than the six popes, twelve United States presidents and countless prime ministers and monarchs elsewhere in the world who have come and gone during her reign. In Britain, two of her last three Prime Ministers – Tony Blair and David Cameron – were not even born when she ascended the throne, while Gordon Brown was still a toddler and had not yet celebrated his first birthday.

The Queen is the first female sovereign to bear the family name of Windsor, which was adopted by her grandfather, King George V, in 1917 in order to avoid mounting public criticism and suspicion of his family’s original name, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, when Britain was at war with Germany. In 1960, in spite of opposition from The Queen Mother, Prince Philip’s surname, Mountbatten, was formally added to the Windsor family name. Like the rest of King George V’s relations, Philip’s ancestors had been forced to abandon their German-sounding names, so Battenberg became Mountbatten.

Throughout the sixty years The Queen has reigned, her success as sovereign has remained unchallenged; her greatest disappointment has been as a parent, facing the divorces of three of her four children: Charles, Anne and Andrew. Earlier in her life, she had also been deeply saddened when the marriage of her only sister, Princess Margaret, to Lord Snowdon broke up in 1978.

The Queen is an affectionate wife, loving mother, doting grandparent and now great-grandparent, but the quality she possesses in abundance above all others is single-minded devotion to duty. Nothing, not even personal or familial happiness, has been allowed to interfere with the never-ending business of monarchy.

Even in her late eighties – three decades past the official retirement age for women – she still carries out more than 500 public engagements each year, both at home and abroad. In 2011, accompanied by her ninety-year-old consort, she travelled halfway around the world to Australia, where she was visibly moved by the reception she received. And she made history by becoming the first British sovereign to visit Ireland since the country became a republic.

Her Majesty is also, surprisingly to some, a realist and a pragmatist, and is determined that the House of Windsor becomes a modern, if not entirely democratic, institution.

Elizabeth II believes in transparency regarding royal finances – her decision to pay income tax was a public relations triumph at a time when critics of royalty claimed that ‘The Firm’ was simply a bastion of privilege and outmoded ceremony.

She has also introduced a personal style of monarchy previously unknown and it is solely due to her that the image of royal remoteness has, in the main, diminished if not entirely disappeared. For example, during her reign men and women have finally been permitted to turn their backs on their sovereign. This came about simply because of an occasion when an elderly diplomat, retreating from her presence, tripped over his dress sword and fell over backwards. Stifling her giggles, The Queen decided there and then that this ridiculous tradition had to go – and it did immediately, no doubt earning the gratitude of many later attendees at formal audiences.

Throughout her reign, Her Majesty has carried out her duties with flawless professionalism and immeasurably strengthened the role of the constitutional monarch, while accepting with grace the reduced circumstances of a once all-powerful position.

Furthermore, in many of her speeches she has displayed a unique ability to say something meaningful without causing offence, even when it comes to uncomfortable topics: the sporadic moves towards republicanism in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada, for example. These are often subjects that so obviously would involve her personally, but no listener could possibly even hazard a guess as to her own thoughts and opinions.

After six decades on the throne very little seems to disturb her – apart from the public reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. The very stability of the monarchy seemed threatened for a time and even her own popularity waned for several days, until she made that remarkable appearance on television and used the phrase ‘speaking as a grandmother’. It defused the explosive situation immediately and restored the people’s affection overnight.

The difficulty had arisen because it was felt that she and other members of the family were displaying a coldness that reflected their lack of feeling. In fact, the truth is that it is the public expression of emotion that is missing from the royal make-up: The Queen was bewildered – and remains so – by the outpouring of national grief that accompanied the occasion. She was confused and surprised when people began throwing flowers on the car carrying Diana’s coffin, and it was obvious that she found the applause that greeted Earl Spencer’s eulogy to his sister deeply disturbing.

However, Her Majesty broke with tradition when she led members of her family to stand outside the North Centre Gate at the Palace, paying their respects as the funeral procession passed by. It was a moving and emotional moment that was later described as a magnificent – and human – gesture on the part of the sovereign.

Otherwise, she takes in her stride the unrelenting and at times tedious rounds of public engagements. Prince Philip was once asked how he and The Queen managed to maintain their apparent enthusiasm after thousands of what must be ‘less than interesting’ duties. His reply was taken to be on behalf of them both: ‘It’s the price we pay for the positions we occupy.’

Since The Queen came to the throne in 1952 attitudes to royalty have changed almost beyond recognition. No longer are there the reverence, deference and near adulation that once characterised the public’s feelings towards the royal family. Sixty years ago royalty could do no wrong and no one questioned the ‘divine right’ of an hereditary monarch. It had existed for nearly a thousand years, so it must be right.

These days, most people recognise that the sovereign has few day-to-day powers, but it is this very fact that gives the monarchy its considerable strength. The Queen is a symbol that provides a feeling of national unity which is completely separate from politics and government. It is at Buckingham Palace that the crowds congregate at times of public celebration or mourning. Witness the scenes in April 2011 at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, when a million men, women and children were said to have thronged The Mall and the area in front of the Palace just to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

And Elizabeth II exemplifies all that is required of a constitutional monarch. She is the perfect example of a working sovereign, and has been for sixty years. Her Majesty has clearly demonstrated that she is able and willing to embrace change without showing the slightest sign of personal discomfort. Her demeanour has been impeccable throughout her reign and continues to be so.

The demands are unrelenting, but there is no indication that there will be any change in her belief that it is a job for life. Her Majesty is a realist who understands that compromises are necessary if the monarchy is to be seen to move with the times, but it would be perfectly understandable if she did not welcome the downgrading of certain aspects of her role, not only in Britain but also throughout the Commonwealth. However, the oath she took at her coronation was a sacred trust and one that she will never break. Her sense of duty and devotion to her people has remained unchanged for six decades.

Her Majesty is a woman who has fulfilled – and continues to fulfil – her destiny. It was the late President Ronald Reagan who summed it all up beautifully when he said, ‘We all know that there are other female monarchs in the world, but equally we all know that when we speak about “The Queen” there is only one person we are referring to’ – and that is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

CHAPTER I

A TYPICAL DAY

‘Glenys and The Queen spent half an hour discussing the problems of incontinent dogs.’ Lord (Neil) Kinnock, Labour Leader 1983–1992

It is 7.30 in the morning and Buckingham Palace is starting to stir. The police sergeant sitting outside The Queen’s bedroom is coming to the end of his overnight shift. He used to clock off duty at 6.30, but after an intruder entered the bedroom at about 7 a.m. on the morning of 9 July 1982 when no one was on guard, the extra hour was added. Her Majesty’s personal maid arrives carrying the ‘morning tray’ for her royal mistress. On it are pots of Earl Grey tea and hot water (both in solid silver), cold milk but no sugar and a few Marie biscuits (appropriately named after the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, the wife of Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son, and a former Duchess of Edinburgh). The cup and saucer are of bone china and there is also a fine linen napkin draped across the tray which bears the royal cypher E II R.

The maid gives a light tap on the door, which bears the legend ‘The Queen’ on a white card in a plain brass holder. Without waiting to be called she enters the room and walks quietly across to the bedside table with its family photographs and telephone, complete with ‘panic button’ – the one which was so spectacularly ignored on the morning when Michael Fagan became the only man (apart from her husband) to see The Queen asleep in bed. The large double bed has white linen sheets, measuring 80 x 112 inches and bearing the monogram HM The Queen, exactly 3½ inches high, and feather-down pillows complete with lace border and the same monogram, but this time a more modest 1½ inches high. The colour scheme of the room is pale green, The Queen’s favourite shade.

Putting down the tray, the maid draws back the curtains, revealing the early morning traffic already building up on Constitution Hill and the joggers in Green Park. She switches on the radio, which is tuned to BBC Radio 4 as The Queen likes to wake up to the sound of the day’s early news and politicians being grilled on the Today programme.

Quite often The Queen is already awake – she is an early riser – and she will bid her maid ‘Good morning’ and ask what the weather outside looks like. Then, while Her Majesty is enjoying her first cup of tea, her maid will go into the adjoining bathroom to draw the bath, which has to be exactly the right temperature – tested with a thermometer – while Prince Philip, in his suite a few yards away, hates to waste time and has a shower after drinking the first of many cups of coffee.

Prince Philip’s set of rooms are workmanlike and functional, with an office, complete with state-of-the-art computer, a library, bedroom, bathroom and massive dressing room where his valet stores just some of HRH’s collection of suits, sports coats and uniforms. The bulk of both his wardrobe and The Queen’s, all numbered and catalogued, is housed on the second floor in an entirely separate apartment. Prince Philip also has a fully equipped barbershop for his exclusive use.

Soon a footman returns from the gardens where he has been walking the royal corgis and trying to get them to ‘do their business’. He doesn’t enter the royal bedroom. It is a rule in the royal household that no male servant is permitted to go into a lady’s bedroom when she is there. So he hands the dogs over to the maid who is waiting outside. The corgis, all female, sleep in their own room, next door to the Page’s Pantry, each with her own basket and feeding bowl.

The staff at Buckingham Palace do not share The Queen’s love for her dogs as they are apt to ‘spend a penny’ on the carpets and furniture, causing extra, and very unpleasant, work for the domestic staff. Two of the most useful and used items in the royal household are a plentiful supply of blotting paper and soda water, both excellent for removing stains. A common, though unspoken, complaint is that the royal family do not regard house-training as of paramount importance for their dogs. However, when Glenys Kinnock, wife of the former Labour leader Neil (now Lord) Kinnock, joined her husband and The Queen for tea one afternoon, they spent almost their entire time discussing the problems of incontinent dogs.

While The Queen is in her bath, one of her three dressers lays out the first outfit of the day in the adjacent dressing room with its floor-to-ceiling mirrors and walk-in wardrobes. She knows exactly what is needed as she is given The Queen’s daily programme the evening before. Depending on the engagements for the day, The Queen may have to change as many as five times, but she rarely makes her own choice; that is what she pays her dressers to do. The dresser removes the clothes The Queen has worn the night before and each article is examined and brushed before being returned to its place in one of the giant wardrobes on the floor above.

Once The Queen has dressed, her hairdresser brushes and arranges her hair in the style that hasn’t changed in decades. Breakfast is served promptly at 8.30 in The Queen’s own private dining room, where she is joined by Prince Philip. Another footman has brought the food on a hot-plate – a silver ‘muffin dish’ with the food on top and hot water underneath – and once he has served the couple he leaves the room, but remains within hearing distance, so they can eat in peace. It might be the last time that day they will get the opportunity to be alone together.

As with everything The Queen uses, the breakfast utensils are of the best, the cutlery solid silver, the crockery Sèvres bone china and even the butter imprinted with the royal cypher. The milk will have been delivered early that morning from the royal dairy at Windsor, in bottles again bearing the royal cypher. The Queen is said to have remarked once that the first time she really realised she was Queen was when she saw those milk bottles with E II R on them.

The Queen has a healthy appetite, but these days she does not care for a ‘full English’ at breakfast time, occasionally enjoying a plate of scrambled eggs but more often preferring toast, marmalade and tea. Prince Philip eats as he does everything – in a rush, with coffee, served black, his favourite drink. He rarely drinks tea – Earl Grey or any other brand.

A selection of the morning’s newspapers, carefully ironed to prevent newsprint getting on royal hands, will have been placed on a side table and The Queen and Prince Philip glance through them all as they eat. The Queen prefers the Daily Telegraph, while Philip scans all the papers making loud comments on items that irritate him. Otherwise, early morning conversation is kept to a minimum, but they like to talk over the plans each has for the remainder of the day. Meanwhile, at 9 a.m., a lone piper from one of the Scottish regiments prepares to march up and down on the terrace below. The Queen loves the music of the bagpipes and every morning she listens to some of her favourite tunes.

By 9.30 The Queen will be seated at her desk in her sitting room-cum-office, accompanied by a couple of her corgis, ready for two solid hours of paperwork. The room is comfortable rather than luxurious, with armchairs and sofas upholstered in country-house-style chintz. The Chinese carpet is another shade of green. The room is very much as it was in the King’s day and, like his daughter, George VI preferred this colour to any other. Much earlier that morning the Palace florist arrived to arrange fresh flowers, which are in profusion around the room. The desk is Chippendale and The Queen brought it with her when she moved from her earlier home at Clarence House in 1952. It is cluttered with personal treasures and family photographs, including one of The Queen Mother taken during the Second World War and another of ‘Granny’ – old Queen Mary. There is also a favourite small, leather-framed folding album showing a young, smiling Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. A heavy crystal double inkwell contains the black ink that The Queen uses to sign official documents and the special green colour she likes for personal letters. She rarely uses a ballpoint pen, insisting on her favourite old fountain pen with a heavy gold nib. There’s also a pristine sheet of blotting paper (destroyed every day), black in colour so that one cannot see what she has written by holding it up to a mirror. A leather folder, again with the royal crest, contains Her Majesty’s stationery; there is a sponge for dampening envelopes and memo pads for writing notes to her staff.

This is very much a working desk. As a former page says, ‘It may appear cluttered and untidy to the average eye, but The Queen knows where everything is and hates it if anything is moved without her permission.’ The Queen’s chair is made of solid mahogany with an upright back and wide arms.

Her press secretary will have already clipped any items of interest from all the morning newspapers and prepared a digest of the day’s news from the early morning radio and television bulletins. Once she has read this and any other papers she might have needed to see, she presses a button on the console in front of her, which connects her directly with several members of her household. Usually the first person she calls is her private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt. He is waiting in his office on the ground floor and when he hears the words ‘Christopher, would you like to come up?’ he knows it’s time to start the day’s work. Carrying a small wicker basket containing the documents The Queen has to read and initial, he enters the room, gives a brief neck bow and says, ‘Your Majesty.’ Thereafter, he addresses her as ‘Ma’am’ – to rhyme with ‘ham’ not ‘smarm’. Sir Christopher and his colleagues have already read all the letters and telegrams that arrived overnight and filtered out those they are able to handle themselves. Even so, The Queen’s mailbox normally runs to scores of items every day, so it’s fortunate that she has mastered the knack of ‘scanning’ or speed-reading. Now, sitting in a chair alongside the desk, Sir Christopher goes through the day’s programme and offers a briefing on any visitors expected. These written briefs are short, concise and sometimes quite irreverent. A heavyweight diplomat was described as ‘rather like an overweight bear, so don’t invite him to sit in one of the armchairs; he’ll never get up again.’

If guests are expected at the Palace, the housekeeper is summoned so that the domestic arrangements for their comfort can be discussed. But although the housekeeper is in charge of all the housemaids and cleaners in the royal household, The Queen always checks the rooms of her guests herself before they arrive. And while her housekeeper will let The Queen know, through the Master of the Household, if an item of furniture needs repair or a carpet or some bed linen should be replaced, Her Majesty herself has to give her approval for the money to be spent if it’s a major piece of expenditure.

Later in the morning the duty lady-in-waiting is called into the sitting room. The Queen shows her some of the letters she has received that require a personal reply. Those from children and the elderly get special attention and the lady-in-waiting writes the letters and signs them on behalf of The Queen. Personal friends who write to Her Majesty put their initials in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope and when the staff see these they know they are not to open them, for The Queen likes to open her personal mail herself.

Official guests, such as incoming or outgoing foreign emissaries coming to present their credentials or take their leave, have an audience at noon. This takes place in the Audience Room, also part of The Queen’s suite, and lasts for around ten minutes. The Queen might also be seeing commanding officers of the regiments of which she is Colonel-in-Chief as they assume or relinquish their posts. Certain senior naval and Royal Air Force officers also have the right to be received by the sovereign, and when this happens, The Queen pays them the compliment of wearing the brooch or emblem of their particular service unit.

Around twenty times a year an investiture is held in the State Ballroom (with one other being held at the Palace of Holyroodhouse) when up to 150 men and women receive their honours from The Queen or, occasionally, from the Prince of Wales. This ceremony starts promptly at midday and lasts exactly one hour. The Queen has performed this particular royal duty over a thousand times, yet she still manages to make it appear as if it is the first time for her also, and that she is enjoying the occasion as much as the recipients.

Lunch is usually eaten alone. The Queen is occasionally joined by a lady-in-waiting, but rarely by another member of the royal family, even if they happen to be in the Palace. Formality exists between mother and children, so there’s no question of just popping a head round the door or dropping in for a bite to eat. If The Queen wants one of them to join her, her Page of the Backstairs is dispatched to deliver the invitation.

Her Majesty favours light meals. Poultry and fish are preferred to the heavier red meat dishes – though a great favourite is lamb cutlets with artichokes – eaten with fresh vegetables and salad and very few potatoes. But although the dishes may be simple they are superbly presented, every sprout, carrot or potato exactly matching its neighbour in shape and size. The Queen does not have a starter and neither does she care for stolid desserts. She is not a great lover of cheese either, so fresh fruit is more often her choice. And during the day she doesn’t drink alcohol, sticking instead to her favourite still Malvern water, of which she is said to drink ‘gallons every day’. If the Duke of Edinburgh is at home, he joins her and perhaps drinks a glass of beer with his meal.

At the start of the week the royal chef sends a complete list of suggestions – including three alternatives – for every meal over the coming seven days. The Queen ticks those she prefers, occasionally making choices of her own. So, she knows on Monday afternoon what she is having for dinner on Thursday evening. In addition, all menus continue to be written in French.

Immediately after lunch, The Queen likes to walk in the gardens with several of her dogs. Household staff know they should keep well out of the way at this time. She doesn’t welcome company or want to see anyone else in the gardens. Only the gardeners may remain, and they only speak if first addressed by The Queen. Sometimes she might ask why a particular plant or bush is being moved, but more often than not she prefers solitude. Then she relaxes for half an hour with the SportingLife and Racing Post, the ‘bibles’ of the racing fraternity; and several times a week she also speaks on the telephone to her racing manager.

Sometimes there are engagements in the afternoon. They will usually be in the London area, and when The Queen is ready to leave, her page telephones her personal police officer, in his office on the ground floor, to warn him to be waiting at the Garden Door with the car door open. The Queen’s chauffeur never leaves his place behind the wheel. As Her Majesty walks downstairs – she rarely uses the ancient lift – a small knot of people materialises and waits to see her off. These are her private secretary and several of the household. They will also be there when she returns.

All afternoon engagements are scheduled to finish before 4.30 so that The Queen can be back at the Palace in time for tea at five. It’s an immovable feast and the meal she enjoys the most: tiny sandwiches, cut to precise size, without crusts; warm scones with cream and strawberry jam; and, always, her favourite Dundee fruitcake. The ritual never changes and neither does the fare. However, Her Majesty doesn’t eat the scones herself; they are ordered solely for the corgis.

There may be liveried footmen at her beck and call twenty-four hours a day, but, as with breakfast, The Queen likes to serve herself at teatime. She insists on pouring her own cup of tea, which she replenishes from a kettle mounted on a swivel stand, designed for her by Prince Philip so she wouldn’t have to lift a heavy kettle full of boiling water.

After tea, Her Majesty returns to her office for another hour. Most of the clerical staff at Buckingham Palace finish at 5.30 or 6 o’clock, but the senior members of the household – her private secretary, the Crown Equerry, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, the Master of the Household and the press secretary – are often at their desks until well after seven.

If there is no evening engagement, The Queen retires to her own rooms just after six to rest before changing for dinner. The exception is Tuesday evening, when the Prime Minister arrives for his weekly audience at 6.30. It used to be an hour earlier, but when Prince Charles and Princess Anne were small The Queen liked to spend that time with them, so she changed the appointment – and it has remained so ever since. The meeting is official, so it takes place in the Audience Room, on the north-west corner between the Royal Closet and The Queen’s Dining Room, and lasts for no more than half an hour.

The Queen and Prince Philip do not dress for dinner when it is just the two of them. They simply change into something more comfortable. For her it’s a short dress and for him a lounge suit or smoking jacket. It’s all a far cry from the days of King George V, who not only donned a frock coat for dinner every evening, but also wore the Garter Star, with Queen Mary in full-length gown and diamond tiara.

Dinner for The Queen and Prince Philip is the most relaxed meal of the day and they both enjoy a couple of glasses of their favourite German wine. The meal consists of three courses, again with no red meat. Roast beef and Yorkshire puddings have been off the royal menus for some years. Prince Philip often has a separate engagement in the evening, but The Queen rarely accompanies him. She likes to remain in her private quarters, reading or watching television in the sitting room next door to her office. She also enjoys solving jigsaw puzzles and in each of her houses there is usually a giant, complicated one waiting to be finished. Frequently she spends part of the evening working on her ‘boxes’ – the official dispatch cases that contain correspondence from government departments in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Every evening a report on the day’s proceedings in Parliament is delivered to her, written by the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a senior MP. At one time it was handwritten and took hours to compose and deliver. These days a word processor is used and the report is electronically transferred to Buckingham Palace, where The Queen invariably reads it before she retires.

Her Majesty is not a late night person. She is usually in bed by eleven, but she likes to read until quite late. So, often the last lights seen shining out of the north side of the Palace are those in her rooms. They are easy to identify; they are the only ones with bow windows, overlooking Constitution Hill.

CHAPTER 2

QUEEN REGNANT

‘I believe it’s a tribute to The Queen’s professionalism that she has developed the monarchy to what it is today – a steady fixture in our lives.’ Lord (Neil) Kinnock

‘By the sudden death of my dear father I am called upon to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty.’ With this simple yet exceptionally moving accession speech, made in London on 8 February 1952, the former Princess Elizabeth became Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, forty-second sovereign of England since William the Conqueror, yet only its sixth reigning queen.

Some thirty-six hours earlier she had been a contented 25-year-old wife and mother, enjoying the pleasures – and climate – of a Kenyan summer, when she learned that her beloved father, King George VI, had died in his sleep at the age of fifty-six. She was immediately flown back to an icy Britain to be greeted at London Airport by 77-year-old Winston Churchill, her father’s, and now her, Prime Minister. Waiting at Clarence House, determined to be the first member of the royal family to pay homage to the new monarch, was Princess Elizabeth’s 84-year-old grandmother. Queen Mary, widow of King George V, gave a deep curtsy as she kissed her granddaughter’s hand. It was an emotional and moving experience for those who witnessed the brief ceremony, particularly as she was the only queen to see her granddaughter become sovereign. Queen Mary would live for only another year, missing the coronation by two months, but insisting in her final weeks that the ceremony should go ahead in spite of the traditional period of Court mourning.

Elizabeth II is now the longest-reigning British sovereign after her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, the last Queen Regnant, who had occupied the throne for more than sixty-three years when she died in 1901 and whose empire covered one-fifth of the earth’s land surface and a quarter of the world’s population. Their joint ancestor, the first Elizabeth, reigned for just under forty-five years (1558–1603).

Born on 21 April 1926 in a private house in London when her parents were then the Duke and Duchess of York, Princess Elizabeth was ten years old when her father became King George VI and she became Heir Presumptive. If a son had been born to her parents, even if he was younger than her, he would have become Heir to the Throne.

Crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, Her Majesty’s full title is: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. She is not, and never has been, Empress of India. By the time she came to the throne India had won its independence. The title, which related only to India, had been created for, and at the insistence of, Queen Victoria in April 1876 and was adopted by every sovereign since. But it disappeared forever in 1947, when King George VI was forced to relinquish it.

There is a little-known story about The Queen’s wedding that exemplifies the human side of this very public figure. She and Prince Philip were eager to hear the radio commentary when they were travelling in the procession from Westminster Abbey. This was long before transistors made it possible for tiny sets to be hidden in a pocket, so the then Crown Equerry, Sir Dermot McMorrough Kavanagh, who had held the post since 1941, arranged for what passed for a ‘portable’ wireless set to be installed inside the Irish State Coach. The trouble was that even ‘portable’ radios needed huge – and very heavy – batteries, so these were fitted underneath the seats on both sides of the coach. The reception wasn’t terribly clear, but at least The Queen and Prince Philip were able to hear the scene being described by the BBC commentator as they waved to the crowds. The radio set was a secret known to only a few inside the Palace, but The Queen later said it added to her enjoyment of the day tremendously and also helped to fend off any nervous feelings.

Elizabeth II is recognised as monarch or Head of the Commonwealth by fifty-four countries throughout the world, mainly in what was once the British Empire. These range from the sub-continent of India with its 1.2 billion people, to tiny island dependencies in the South Pacific whose populations are smaller than those of many London boroughs. The monarchy is Britain’s oldest secular institution, predating Parliament by 400 years and the Law Courts by 300. The Queen can trace her descent directly back to King Egbert, the first Monarch of All England in 829. She is the latest in a line that stretches for over a thousand years with a continuity that has been interrupted only once: when Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth ruled from 1649 to 1660.

One of Her Majesty’s titles, Defender of the Faith – first granted to Henry VIII by the Pope, when the faith he was supposed to defend was Roman Catholicism – seems strangely archaic in a land where fewer than one in twenty now professes to be a practising Christian, and where there are more Hindus and Muslims attending their places of worship than belong to the Anglican Church of England, of which she is Supreme Governor.

She is among the most experienced monarchs in British history and during her reign she has been served by eight private secretaries, and seen twelve Prime Ministers arrive and depart (thirteen if you count Harold Wilson’s two terms of office).

She is said to have no political power, yet when Harold Wilson’s Labour Party won the 1974 election by a very small majority she still sent for the defeated Ted Heath, as the sitting Prime Minister, and gave him the opportunity to form a Conservative–Liberal coalition. It wasn’t until he failed in this that she invited Wilson to form a government. She had been reluctant to summon Heath at first, although he had requested the opportunity, as she realised the choice would be seen by some quarters as the monarch overruling the wishes of the democratic electorate; and indeed it was mistakenly believed that she had shown her own political leanings. However, there is little evidence that she prefers Conservative politicians to Labour. James Callaghan is believed to have been one of her favourite Prime Ministers, while Margaret Thatcher was never considered to be the most popular, an opinion voiced mainly by her opponents, never by the Palace.

Even here there is a contradiction. The Palace officially denied a well-publicised difference of opinion between The Queen and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, even though the source had been one of Her Majesty’s senior courtiers. And both The Queen and Prince Philip attended Lady Thatcher’s seventieth birthday party in 1995; hardly the action of someone who disliked her former Prime Minister.

Sir Bernard Ingham, who was Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary throughout her time at No. 10, had this to say about his former boss’s relationship with The Queen: ‘They got on very well. Mrs Thatcher [as she then was] held royalty in almost God-like awe. She had a traditional feeling of reverence for the royal family and willingly paid obeisance to The Queen. As far as I am aware there was only one area where there were disagreements and that was over the Commonwealth. Mrs Thatcher never held the Commonwealth in quite the same degree of affection or importance as The Queen. Mrs Thatcher felt it to be an expensive luxury with few benefits for Britain, while The Queen obviously regards her position as Head of the Commonwealth as of prime importance. But on a personal level, The Queen showed her appreciation of Mrs Thatcher quite soon after she left office, giving her the Order of Merit and making her a Lady of the Garter. I feel this was to put paid to the rumours – mostly started by courtiers at the Palace – that The Queen did not relish the thought of having to deal with a woman Prime Minister.’

Another myth relating to The Queen’s relationships with her Prime Ministers is that she preferred Winston Churchill to all the others. In the very early days of her reign, The Queen was said to be occasionally irritated by what was described as ‘Winston’s patronising attitude’. However, it did not take Churchill, ever a pragmatist, many months to effect his well-documented sycophantic ‘adoption’ of his young sovereign.

When Elizabeth came to the throne Harry Truman was President of the United States. Since then, as previously stated, she has seen another eleven occupants of the White House, and she must have lost count of the other heads of state who have come and gone. But Buckingham Palace has a record of every single one, including when and where they met The Queen, what they spoke about and the gifts they exchanged. Such is the attention paid by the Palace to the most minute detail that they probably also know what Her Majesty was wearing at the time and what she had for breakfast that day.

The former United States President George Bush Sr recalls a visit to Buckingham Palace in 1989 when he noticed an unusual three-legged silver dish that intrigued him: ‘“What is that?” I asked Her Majesty. She replied, “I don’t know. You gave it to me.”’

Another former US President, Gerald Ford, formed a warm friendship when he welcomed Her Majesty to Washington. After the official banquet they opened the dancing (to the tune of ‘Getting to Know You’) and he recalled, ‘I was dancing with The Queen of England [sic]. It sure was a long way from my origins in Omaha, Nebraska.’ This was in 1976 when The Queen and Prince Philip paid their first state visit to the United States for nearly twenty years. That first visit had been in 1957, when President Eisenhower was tenant of the White House. Dr Henry Kissinger recalls some of the highlights of the 1976 occasion: ‘There were a number of celebratory events to mark the bicentenary of America and The Queen and Prince Philip came to several; first in New York, another at the White House and there was one splendid evening when she returned President Ford’s hospitality and invited us to dinner on board the royal yacht. Britannia was anchored off Newport, Rhode Island and it made a magnificent spectacle, dressed overall and with the Royal Marines Band playing. She appeared to enjoy it and we certainly did. I was lucky enough to be seated next to The Queen twice, which made it even more enjoyable.’

It was during the 1976 visit that Dr Kissinger made his memorable remark about The Queen ‘being a very interesting lady with a lot of savvy’. ‘The reason I made this assessment of her was that I had sat next to her shortly after she had returned from one of the Commonwealth Conferences. She painted vivid word pictures of various leaders, which showed how completely in tune she was with what was happening in these countries. We also discussed other aspects of foreign policy when she displayed a keen knowledge. She is a serious woman who is world class in her understanding of international affairs, and she is able to make shrewd judgements of people. And, far from being the mere figurehead she sometimes appears to be, she also knows a great deal about the electoral system in Britain. She knows all about the arithmetic needed by the different parties and how much of a majority is required to form a working government.’

A former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger has known The Queen and Prince Philip since just after Richard Nixon was first elected President in 1968. ‘This was when I first met The Queen. Nixon was making a visit to England, which was not a state occasion. I accompanied him and The Queen asked us to a lunch at Buckingham Palace. I thought from her public image that Her Majesty would be a very formal lady; very aloof and stern. But from the moment I met her – and this was confirmed on subsequent occasions – I was struck by how lively and animated she was and also her great sense of humour, without sacrificing any of her dignity.’

Henry Kissinger was once on the board of Twentieth Century-Fox, and Ronald Reagan, a former movie star turned politician, used his connections to arrange a function at the Hollywood studios at which both The Queen and Henry Kissinger were guests. ‘It was the idea of Nancy Reagan, and on this occasion I was nowhere near The Queen or Prince Philip. Someone, in their wisdom, had decided, with appalling bad taste, that the only people who would sit near The Queen would be those who were the major fundraisers for Reagan. Anyway, we were all lined up in two rows, along which The Queen and Prince Philip walked, acknowledging the applause and stopping to have a word with some of the stars they recognised. Prince Philip paused to chat to me for a few moments. Immediately, a rather officious executive plucked at his sleeve urging him to continue the procession. He was having none of it, retorting, “Surely I can stop for a second to talk to an old friend without someone trying to pull me back into line?”’

One of the nicest occasions during which Henry Kissinger met The Queen was when she knighted him. (Dr Kissinger was made an Honorary Knight Commander of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George on 25 June 1995 for his services to international diplomacy, though, as a United States citizen, he does not use the title Sir.) As he recalled: ‘The Queen was most gracious and gave me lunch at Windsor. It was during the meal that Prince Philip saved me from making what could have been a faux pas. Towards the end of lunch The Queen’s corgis came in and sat at her feet. Now I am very fond of dogs – in fact I regard myself as a “dog nut” – and for the moment I forgot where I was, calling across the table to my wife, Nancy, who was sitting next to Prince Philip, “Look what’s sitting under the table.” There was complete silence and everybody – there were around forty of us present – stopped what they were doing. Prince Philip jumped to my rescue, making a remark about them being the bane of his life and everyone laughed. He had said it in a joking fashion that defused the situation straight away and I was very grateful.

‘On the same occasion, during Royal Ascot week, I was invited to ride with The Queen and Prince Philip in an open carriage as they processed down the racecourse in front of the grandstands and waved to the crowds. Even though I have never thought of myself as a man who is easily intimidated, I have to confess I was slightly overawed. What happened was that we left the castle in a fleet of cars and drove down the Long Walk to the entrance to the racecourse, then changed over to the horse-drawn carriages for the final mile. It was fascinating because as we were being driven, The Queen was making comments about little mistakes she had spotted – but which nobody else would have noticed. She didn’t do it in a nasty way; more humorous and witty. For example, she noticed that the band had started a couple of beats too soon, little things like that. She made the whole thing very enjoyable.’

Dr Kissinger also observed the attention to detail that accompanies all things royal: ‘When we arrived at the Royal Box everything was meticulously arranged. There was no scrabbling around looking for seats, everyone had an appointed place and The Queen knew exactly where everyone and everything should be. To the outsider it all looks so spontaneous, but the planning is brilliant and all done with excellent taste. She is a wonderful hostess.’

Henry Kissinger also has a great respect for Prince Philip and, despite Philip’s reputation for being aggressive and overbearing on occasion, enjoys his company: ‘I’ve never found him to be difficult. He’s always the same to me. I like his honesty and the way he says what he believes.’

Britain has long liked to think it enjoys a special relationship with the United States. Henry Kissinger believes the character and personal qualities of The Queen make a significant contribution. ‘Whenever I see her with American Presidents, I cannot believe she can behave the same way with every other country. She has made a unique and enormous contribution to Anglo-US relations. There is no doubt in my mind that she is admired and respected here more than any other head of state.’

During the sixty years Elizabeth II has sat on the throne she has never put a foot wrong in her public life, and her personal life has also been exemplary. However, the life of her family has not always been so unblemished. With three of her four children divorced and one of them, the Prince of Wales, involved in one of the nation’s most publicised – and criticised – love affairs, her success as a parent has been questioned. For Elizabeth, duty has always come first, even at the expense of her own family’s happiness. At the same time her devotion to her public responsibilities has provided a protective wall against the private emotional grief other parents might have felt when faced with the troubles the royal family has encountered in recent years.

The Queen has a political acumen that has often been underrated. Her influence on affairs of state is recognised by those in authority but rarely fully appreciated by the man or woman in the street. Why should it be, when to many people she is associated only with the pomp and ceremony connected with the ritual of royalty? As Lord Callaghan once said: ‘The Queen has astute political judgement which sometimes seems at odds with the general public perception of her.’

She has also refined into an art form the business of dealing with political leaders whose beliefs may be far removed from her own. One of her oldest and most cherished friends is the former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, a man of singularly independent views. He remembers the first time they met in 1966: ‘She was amazingly good at putting her guests at ease without seeming to do so. It was a social skill perfected by training and years of experience.’

Her sense of humour has also been witnessed by a wide-ranging, if comparatively select, audience. An amusing story is told by the journalist Geordie Greig involving the Nobel Prize-winning West Indian poet, Derek Walcott. When he was about to receive The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1988, Walcott was briefed beforehand by the then Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, who told him, ‘You will find that The Queen is the most relaxed woman you have ever met.’ Once the medal had been handed over, Walcott and The Queen chatted about how Americans speak Shakespearean verse, not necessarily a subject on which one would expect Her Majesty to be expert. They spoke about the American actor Dustin Hoffman, who had recently appeared on the West End stage as Shylock, and then Walcott proceeded to tell her a joke: ‘Ma’am, you know Sly Stallone?’ (The actor known for his mumbling, monosyllabic roles in Rambo and the Rocky films.) She nodded. ‘Well, his version of Hamlet goes: “To be or what.”’ Walcott went on, ‘She just cracked up. Ted was right; she is one helluva relaxed woman.’

Elizabeth’s reign has seen more changes than almost any other period in British history. When she was born, television, which has since become an integral and essential part of everyone’s lives, had barely been invented, and even in the first years of her reign there was only one channel: BBC, transmitting to a limited audience in black and white. Radio was still the main source of news and entertainment; the majority of homes in Britain did not have a telephone or car and the idea of a man walking on the moon was laughable. Developments in technology have meant a vast increase in mass communication throughout the world, and yet Her Majesty has maintained a simple and effective philosophy that has allowed her to keep to her original course.

It has been claimed that The Queen represents all that was once best about Britain: family values, a highly developed moral conscience and concern for the welfare of other people. However, she has also been accused of living in an ivory tower, isolated from the realities of everyday life, surrounded by sycophants who guard her from the problems faced by less fortunate men and women and who tell her only what they think she wants to hear. But in spite of her privileged upbringing and lifestyle, The Queen is a realist who knows, within the limits of her position, that many people have difficulty in living from day to day. She may not ever have had to worry about paying the household bills, but she is aware of the circumstances in which many of the people over whom she reigns have to exist and few doubt that her concern is genuine.

Her circle of true friends is tiny and ultra-exclusive. She has many acquaintances but only a handful of men and women can claim to be real friends – and without exception these are people she has known for over forty years. The royal set is the most difficult in the world to break into and every one of those privileged to be included guards jealously the confidence he or she enjoys. One of The Queen’s oldest and closest friends, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, says of her, ‘She is the easiest person in the world to get on with, but I never for a moment forget she is my sovereign.’

Apart from Prince Philip, there is no one in the world who really understands the enigma that is the true Elizabeth. She is the most regal of monarchs, with a devastating ability to ‘freeze’ anyone she suspects of undue familiarity, yet when she relaxes, she can be the warmest of companions, with a distinct lack of pomposity – and a decidedly unroyal giggle. She is without doubt the most famous public woman in the world and, conversely, its most private. Resisting all requests for interviews, she has managed to maintain the ‘magic of monarchy’ without confusing aloofness with arrogance. As one of her former private secretaries once declared: ‘She may have all the nous of the most experienced political campaigner, but she is not running for election.’

No one doubts The Queen’s intelligence. Almost every morning she completes the crossword in the Daily Telegraph. Yet she is arguably the least formally educated sovereign of the past hundred years. Her own parents were hardly the best example in academic terms. Her father, King George VI, came last in his class of sixty-eight during his final examinations as a naval cadet at Osborne, a position which would have undoubtedly concerned any other parent but which was a matter of complete indifference to his father, King George V.

The young Princess Elizabeth – unlike her own mother, who spent a few months at a select academy in Kensington – was never sent to school. And out of the Princess’s lessons at Windsor Castle, constitutional history and geography were the only subjects in which she needed to shine; everything else was of low priority.

The last half of the twentieth century has witnessed dramatic changes in the monarchy; both in its role and in the way it is perceived. Gone forever is the old imperialist tradition of reverence and obsequious devotion. Fawning has been replaced by cynicism and a meritocracy is gradually replacing even the change-resistant diehards in the royal household. Eton, Oxford and the Guards have given way to lesser public schools, red brick universities and unfashionable Army regiments, or even – horror of horrors – members with no military or naval service at all. It’s a far cry from 1952 when Buckingham Palace still retained two separate kitchens, one for royalty and the other for lesser mortals.

Through it all, The Queen has sailed on majestically, the only sign of any unease at the anger, even contempt, for her family shown by a previously devoted people being a sense of bewilderment. Elizabeth II genuinely believes that she and her family have served Britain and the Commonwealth well, and even though some events of the last decade or so may have caused moments of doubt, there has been no real feeling on her part that her people have been let down.