present herself as an old lady,’ observes former Lord Chancellor Jack Straw. Now that the First World War generation has disappeared and the veterans of the Second World War dwindle to a noble handful, it becomes ever more extraordinary to think that the Monarch who sits and mulls over the state of the nationwith David Cameron on Wednesday evenings used to do the same with Winston Churchill. When President Sarkozy of France and Britain’s Gordon Brown neglected to invite the Queen to mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, there was a public outcry. But it was not confined to Britain and it was not a row about ‘snubs’ or diplomatic niceties. It just seemed extraordinary to omit an invitation to the one surviving head of state who actually wore uniform during the Second World War.
The Queen’s visit to Virginia in 2007 to mark the 400th anniversary of the English arriving in Jamestown generated true euphoria. To have a monarch was exciting, naturally. But that wasn’t the point. The big deal was the fact that the Queen and Prince Philip had been guests of honour at the 350th.
Similarly, the packed United Nations Assembly which rose to its feet to salute the Queen in 2010 was not applauding her words. The main attraction was the fact that this particular speaker had already stood on the same stage to address the same organisation long before half of today’s delegates were born. Her reign not only spans twelve British prime ministers but also twelve American presidents and six popes.
Just like her late mother before her, though, the Queen does not welcome attempts, however well meaning, to curtail her engagements.
So, does anyone ever try to say: ‘Your Majesty, would it not be a good idea to take it easy?’ ‘We all do,’ Prince William replies with a smile. ‘We all try and sit down with her. My father and her children say it a lot to her. For the grandchildren, it’s a bit difficult for us to say, “Take it easy” when she’s so much older than us and has done so much more. We do hint at taking some things off her but she won’t have anything of it!’
What about the word ‘retirement’? ‘I’ve never heard it,’ says the Duke of York. ‘It’s not that it is “not open for discussion”. It’s just that it’s not necessary. There’s just a great deal of concern to make sure the Queen’s programme is managed in a suitable fashion.’
Today, people are often surprised by their own emotional response to the mere sight of the Queen. A typical example occurred as she arrived at the 2010 Wimbledon Tennis Championships after an absence of thirty-three years. ‘Oh God,’ announced a woman in the crowd, astonished by her own vulnerability, ‘I think I’m going to cry.’
‘I always believed that, much as she would miss her mother, the Queen would actually find life in public easier,’ says a former senior adviser. ‘In the past, you had the throne being squeezed by the dazzling young generation and the dazzling old generation. Now, the Queen has inherited the mother-of-the-nation role and William is looking like a paragon whileit is Prince Charles in the middle. It’s a very tough role. And I think the Queen found it quite tough sometimes.
‘Of course she misses her mother every day because they talked every day, they wrote letters to each other all the time. They were a tremendous double act but it wasn’t a comfortable role for the Queen, always to be told how marvellous her mother was.’
He sums up the Queen’s approach to the job today as follows: ‘There’s a serenity about her. But I think if you are of an age, you have a pretty old-fashioned faith, you do your best every day and say your prayers every night – well, if you’re criticised for it, you’re not going to get much better whatever you do. What’s the point of worrying?’ Ruminating on the way the Queen has reigned for more than half a century, Prince William believes that his
The Queen’s visit to Virginia in 2007 to mark the 400th anniversary of the English arriving in Jamestown generated true euphoria. To have a monarch was exciting, naturally. But that wasn’t the point. The big deal was the fact that the Queen and Prince Philip had been guests of honour at the 350th.
Similarly, the packed United Nations Assembly which rose to its feet to salute the Queen in 2010 was not applauding her words. The main attraction was the fact that this particular speaker had already stood on the same stage to address the same organisation long before half of today’s delegates were born. Her reign not only spans twelve British prime ministers but also twelve American presidents and six popes.
Just like her late mother before her, though, the Queen does not welcome attempts, however well meaning, to curtail her engagements.
So, does anyone ever try to say: ‘Your Majesty, would it not be a good idea to take it easy?’ ‘We all do,’ Prince William replies with a smile. ‘We all try and sit down with her. My father and her children say it a lot to her. For the grandchildren, it’s a bit difficult for us to say, “Take it easy” when she’s so much older than us and has done so much more. We do hint at taking some things off her but she won’t have anything of it!’
What about the word ‘retirement’? ‘I’ve never heard it,’ says the Duke of York. ‘It’s not that it is “not open for discussion”. It’s just that it’s not necessary. There’s just a great deal of concern to make sure the Queen’s programme is managed in a suitable fashion.’
Today, people are often surprised by their own emotional response to the mere sight of the Queen. A typical example occurred as she arrived at the 2010 Wimbledon Tennis Championships after an absence of thirty-three years. ‘Oh God,’ announced a woman in the crowd, astonished by her own vulnerability, ‘I think I’m going to cry.’
‘I always believed that, much as she would miss her mother, the Queen would actually find life in public easier,’ says a former senior adviser. ‘In the past, you had the throne being squeezed by the dazzling young generation and the dazzling old generation. Now, the Queen has inherited the mother-of-the-nation role and William is looking like a paragon whileit is Prince Charles in the middle. It’s a very tough role. And I think the Queen found it quite tough sometimes.
‘Of course she misses her mother every day because they talked every day, they wrote letters to each other all the time. They were a tremendous double act but it wasn’t a comfortable role for the Queen, always to be told how marvellous her mother was.’
He sums up the Queen’s approach to the job today as follows: ‘There’s a serenity about her. But I think if you are of an age, you have a pretty old-fashioned faith, you do your best every day and say your prayers every night – well, if you’re criticised for it, you’re not going to get much better whatever you do. What’s the point of worrying?’ Ruminating on the way the Queen has reigned for more than half a century, Prince William believes that his
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