Day the Queen Mum used her parasol as a truncheon

KING GEORGE VI’s worries about Philip’s suitability for his daughter were among the many stresses of life for a monarch who had never wanted the responsibility of the role thrust upon him by the abdication of his elder brother Edward.

As it became clear that the strain of office was having a terminal effect on his health, it was hoped that the South African tour in the spring of 1947 would give him a holiday of sorts, but during it the King’s behaviour grew ever more erratic and volatile.

He was already given to outbreaks of temper — his ‘gnashes’, as they were known — at anything from the failings of politicians to insufficient deference; he once lost his composure because a man walking past him at Sandringham did not remove his hat in his presence. He had also been known to kick a corgi across the room at Windsor.

In South Africa, the continual heat and travel in the confined space of the Royal Train did nothing to improve his mood. At one point during the trip, he and his family were being driven by equerry Peter Townsend in an open-topped Daimler, engaging in the usual routine of smiling, waving and impersonal interaction.

On this occasion, the King snapped and began to shout incomprehensible instructions at Townsend who, goaded beyond manners, shouted: ‘For Heaven’s sake, shut up, or there’s going to be an accident.’

On another occasion, as they arrived in the town of Benoni, some 20 miles east of Johannesburg, Townsend saw a man ‘sprinting, with terrifying speed and purpose, after the car. In one hand he clutched something, with the other he grabbed hold of the car, so tightly that the knuckles of his hands showed white’.

It was with admiration that Townsend recalled how ‘the Queen, with her parasol, landed several deft blows on the assailant before he was knocked senseless by policemen. As they dragged away his limp body, I saw the Queen’s parasol, broken in two, disappear over the side of the car’.

Even an incident of this nature could not curtail the royal progress, however. Townsend noted that ‘within a second, Her Majesty was waving and smiling, as captivatingly as ever, to the crowds’.

The show went on.