Picture that says it all about the Queen’s will of iron
As she struggles indomitably through another State Opening at the age of 89 . . .
There comes a time in most people’s lives when others take on the heavy lifting for them. So what are we to make of the fact that, in her 90th year, the Queen this week once again donned the Imperial State Crown weighing almost 3lb for about an hour, and steadied herself to read that lengthy speech on behalf of the Government at the State opening of Parliament?
We talk admiringly about the Queen. She is certainly a remarkable woman. Mercifully for a woman of her age and responsibilities, she is in good health, not infirm in any way.
But her 89th birthday was in April, and it was plain to see on Wednesday that to carry out the State Opening with her usual aplomb placed an enormous strain on her, both physically and mentally. The supporting hand of Prince Philip, himself nearly 94, seemed especially welcome.
You could almost read in Prince Charles’s face, an unspoken message which said: ‘I could do it for you.’ No doubt he would love to. This would be a supreme step for the 66year-old heir to the Throne, who has been assuming ever more of his mother’s official responsibilities in recent times. he wouldn’t get to wear the Imperial State Crown, of course. It would be carried before him.
Actually, the idea of Charles standing in for the Queen at the State Opening has been talked about in royal circles for some time — but privately, and in whispers.
‘No one would ever dare suggest it openly to the Queen,’ declares a former senior courtier — ‘she’d be furious. She considers the State Opening of Parliament to be the high point of her constitutional duties. She lives by the maxim: “I have to be seen to be believed.” She would have to be physically or mentally incapacitated to hand it over to someone else — it isn’t going to happen.’
So such a significant shift in the delicate balance of monarchical responsibility shared between an aged Queen and her long-time heir is still a long way off.
BIT by bit, for some time, Charles has been, understandably, taking on more of the Queen’s roles. he chairs meetings of the Privy Council, dispenses honours at investitures, meets foreign diplomats and, of course, Government ministers.
But he does not see State papers, sign Government Bills, receive arriving (or departing) ambassadors and high Commissioners, and does not have a weekly meeting with the Prime Minister. The Queen does all of these herself.
No one is aware more than the Queen just how long her son has been waiting to assume the role for which he was born. But her sense of duty won’t allow her to step away from any of her responsibilities unless she has to. ‘She is holding on to them as long as she can,’ says an aide. ‘She feels able to carry on most things, especially while Prince Philip is around to support her.’ But is she doing too much? Certainly, she is admirably active. In April this year, the Queen was seen riding near her Windsor Castle home; the following month, she confidently manoeuvred her range rover through the muddy grounds of royal Windsor horse Show.
But there are, of course, limitations. Last year, she pulled out of part of a service for knights of the Order of the Bath at Westminster Abbey — following a dress rehearsal, it was reluctantly admitted that negotiating a set of steps in full regalia would be too much.
Not so long ago, to help her continue carrying out investitures, carpenters lowered the dais on which she stands to ease the pressure on her knees when bending down to confer honours. Now comes a further change — the number of people on whom she confers honours is being cut back from 90 a session to 60. This is to ease the heavy physical strain of having to stand, unaided for an average one hour and 45 minutes, to just over an hour. Think of it — more than an hour at the age of 89. Charles, as well as Prince William, now share the investiture load with her.
And for some time, royal chauffeurs have been instructed to pull up as close as possible to the Queen to minimise her walking.
One thing she has virtually given up — and handed over to younger royals — is far-flung foreign visits. But she has not done so for health reasons. The main reason is that long- distance flying has become increasingly difficult for Prince Philip, without whom she is rarely seen and whose support, she believes, has been crucial to the success of her reign.
‘She is anxious,’ says a courtier, ‘for him not to push himself too far.’
She has never forgotten how, after she and Philip spent the entire four hours of the Jubilee river pageant on the Thames three years ago on their feet, braving the wet and cold wind on a day that was more November than June, he fell ill and spent some days in hospital.
It was because she didn’t want to be without Philip that at the last gathering of the Commonwealth heads of government — ten flyinghours away in Sri Lanka, in 2013 — Prince Charles went in her place, accompanied by Camilla.
It also enabled the Prince of Wales to get to know the key Commonwealth political players, and for them to get to know him. This year, when the Commonwealth heads meet in November in Malta, Charles and Camilla will again join the gathering — but so will the Queen and Philip.
There is much more to their decision to attend than the simple fact that Malta is little more than three hours’ flight time away. For these long-married great-grandparents, flying together to Malta will be a particularly sentimental journey.
And if this is to be the last time Prince Philip makes a lengthy flight with the Queen — as it could well be — it just has to be to Malta.
Their reasons are purely romantic. This was where naval officer Philip was based on the destroyer Chequers between 1949 and 1951 and where he and the then Princess elizabeth spent some of their happiest days of their early married lives.
Living on the Mediterranean island as a young couple with two small children (Charles was born in 1948, Princess Anne in 1950) was as close as they ever got to living an ‘ordinary’ life. It has always been a special place for them.
In 2007 en route to Uganda they stopped off at Malta to celebrate their Diamond Wedding. This time they will arrive just a few days after their 68th anniversary, which falls on November 20.
So much for the nostalgia. For the Queen, closing fast by then on her 90th birthday, it will be a working visit as usual, though meeting the Commonwealth leaders has always been one of her favourite duties.
‘ She laughs it’s like being a doctor,’ says a friend, ‘seeing four Prime Ministers in the morning and four in the afternoon, and all wanting to tell her about their problems.’
As for the State Opening of Parliament, in her 63-year reign the Queen has missed a couple — 1959 when she was expecting Andrew, and 1963 when she was pregnant with edward. On both occasions the Queen’s speech was read by the Lord Chancellor (latest holder of that office being Michael Gove).
And so she goes on. Good for you Ma’am — but please, don’t overdo it.