LIFE Queen Elizabeth at 90: The Story of Britain’s Longest Reigning Monarch

109 Pages·2016·6.18 MB·English

DAVID BOYER/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE/CORBIS
HER SUBJECTS SALUTE THEIR NEW QUEEN Queen Elizabeth II returns home to Buckingham
Palace after her June 2,1953, coronation. The British government spent $4.5 million on the
ceremonies.
QUEEN ELIZABETH AT 90
THE STORY OF BRITAIN’S LONGEST REIGNING MONARCH
ROTA/CAMERA PRESS/REDUX
SHARING WISDOM ON HER DIAMOND JUBILEE “The experience of venerable old age can be a
mighty guide but not a prerequisite for success in public office,” the queen (here, at Buckingham
Palace on June 4, 2012) told Parliament.
CONTENTS
Introduction
By Simon Perry
A Child of England
The War Years
The Love of Her Life
Ruling Great Britain
Windsor Family Values
Canines and Equines
Annus Horribilis
The Royal Red Carpet
The Queen Today
FRONT COVER: QUEEN ELIZABETH, JULY 16, 2015. PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES WHATLING/SPLASH NEWS/CORBIS
PHOTOGRAPH FROM REUTERS/CORBIS
WHEN A PRINCESS BECAME QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN St. Edward’s Crown, made of gold,
sapphires, and other precious stones in 1661, was placed upon Elizabeth’s head on June 2, 1953.
PHOTOGRAPH BY HORST FRIEDRICHS/ANZENBERGER/REDUX
She wore this coronation glove.
INTRODUCTION
A QUEEN FOR ALL TIMES
BY SIMON PERRY
A SUBTLE DISPLAY OF HER LOVE FOR SCOTLAND The Scottish National Gallery
commissioned this portrait, taken in a private study at Buckingham Palace in 2014. The queen’s gold
and diamond brooch depicts the thistle, Scotland’s national emblem.
For those of us who have covered many of these events, it was a typical royal
engagement. On the blustery, gray afternoon of September 9, 2015, in
Tweedbank, Scotland, about 1,000 people, including schoolchildren waving
flags and a brass band playing Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” gathered to watch
the 89-year-old Queen Elizabeth II officially open the new $500 million Scottish
Borders Railway line connecting Edinburgh with smaller commuter towns to the
south.
September 9, 2015, was also the day Elizabeth eclipsed Queen Victoria’s 63-
year, seven-month record to become Britain’s longest reigning monarch. The
queen and her staff had been downplaying the occasion as just another milestone
in a long list of achievements. “Business as usual,” is how they put it.
The rest of the world begged to differ—more than 63 years on the throne
The rest of the world begged to differ—more than 63 years on the throne
should not be taken lightly. But the queen was having none of it. “Inevitably, a
long life can pass by many milestones; my own is no exception,” she told the
crowd. And now, she said, she would turn to the “business at hand” and formally
declare the new railway line open. That task accomplished, she returned to
Scotland’s Balmoral Castle, a royal family residence since 1852, for a quiet
dinner with her grandson Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of
Cambridge.
Perhaps—after nationwide celebrations of her coronation on June 2, 1953; her
Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees; the diamond anniversary of her marriage
to Prince Philip, 94, who stood by her side in Tweedbank that day—Elizabeth
felt entitled to keep at least one turning point in her life relatively under the
radar.
If it were not for a quirk of historical fate, her life would have been one of
Edwardian grandeur, an extension of her childhood spent paddling in streams,
walking her dogs, riding her horses. But when her uncle King Edward VIII gave
up the throne to marry a commoner, her father became King George VI, and
Elizabeth became the direct heir to the throne.
Her stoic nature and determination exceeded the expectations of many. The
array of world leaders she has met and influenced boggles the mind. Her first
prime minister was a man more than twice her age, Winston Churchill; 11 more
prime ministers followed. Some, such as Harold Macmillan, became favorites.
Others, such as Margaret Thatcher, did not. Elizabeth has reigned during the
terms of a dozen American presidents, from Harry Truman to Barack Obama.
She has officially hosted more than 110 state visits from leaders from around the
globe.
The British Empire on which the sun never set may not exist today, but the
United Kingdom is still part of the group of 16 nations, including Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand, that call her queen, and she is the head of the
British Commonwealth which includes another 37 countries, including India and
South Africa.
From her home in Buckingham Palace, she is a nonpolitical beacon in times of
national celebrations or national tragedies. Her annual Christmas messages offer
inspiration to her subjects; her public appearances often encourage a smile.
Every summer, she hosts at least three garden parties at the palace, inviting
people from all walks of life (as many as 30,000 attend) to enjoy tea, cakes, and
a stroll through the grounds. As she prepares for her 90th birthday, she is more
beloved than ever.
It has not always been easy, especially in her personal life.
It has not always been easy, especially in her personal life.
The sorrows are clear. The marriages of her children Charles, Anne, and
Andrew fell apart (although her son Edward remains happily wed to former
publicist Sophie Rhys-Jones). When Charles’s ex, Diana, Princess of Wales,
died in an automobile crash in Paris in 1997, the public disapproved of the royal
family’s initial reluctance to show any signs of grief. Elizabeth overcame that
disapproval by touring the floral tributes to Diana placed at the gates of
Buckingham Palace and addressing the nation on the eve of Diana’s funeral.
“Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones;
my own is no exception.”
—QUEEN ELIZABETH
In 2002 her sister, Margaret, passed away; a month and a half later, her mother,
Elizabeth, died as well. As the nation mourned the double loss, there was a noted
increase in affection for the surviving Queen. Elizabeth’s own attitudes were
softening, too. She accepted Camilla Parker Bowles into her family as Prince
Charles’s second wife in 2005; they share a love of horses as well as a love of
Charles’s second wife in 2005; they share a love of horses as well as a love of
Charles. And the wedding of her grandson William to the middle-class Kate
Middleton in April 2011 introduced a new energy to the family, as well as
strengthening the line of succession. With the arrival of Prince George in 2013
and Princess Charlotte in 2015—bringing her tally of great-grandchildren to five
—she rests assured of the future of the House of Windsor.
But as she enters her 10th decade, age is finally catching up with her. She still
attends more than 300 public engagements a year, but the appearances are
tailored accordingly, with less walking about.
So what makes Elizabeth special? Perhaps her grandson Prince William put it
best in the preface he wrote to a recent biography of the queen, Elizabeth II: The
Steadfast, by Lord Hurd:
“After almost 90 years, we find ourselves in a world that has changed
dramatically, almost beyond recognition to the world that The Queen was born
into, but where the role of charity, family, duty and compassion perseveres. I
think I speak for my generation when I say that the example and continuity
provided by The Queen is not only very rare among leaders but a great source of
pride and reassurance . . . The Queen’s kindness and sense of humour, her innate
sense of calm and perspective, and her love of family and home are all attributes
I experience first-hand . . . I am privileged to have The Queen as a model for a
life of service to the public.”
High praise indeed. The kind of words the queen herself might dismiss as
unnecessary, like on that day in Tweedbank, when she preferred to get down to
her duties instead of ruminating on the record-breaking length of her reign.
This much is known. Elizabeth will turn 90 on April 21, 2016. And she will
take it in stride. “I am looking forward to a busy 2016,” she told her subjects at
the close of last year, “though I have been warned I may have ‘Happy Birthday’
sung to me more than once or twice.”
Simon Perry covers the British royal family for People magazine.