The Queen at 95
We celebrate Her Majesty’s birthday with a look at the woman beneath the crown
For millions across the world, Elizabeth II is the embodiment of monarchy. And yesterday, she was due to celebrate her first official birthday without her beloved Duke of Edinburgh by her side.
Her long life spans nearly a century of national and global history, from a time before the Great Depression to the era of Covid-19. In an elegant new biography examining the longest-reigning sovereign in British history, acclaimed royal author Matthew Dennison traces Her Majesty’s life – the joys and triumphs as well as the disappointments and heartache.
Here, he reveals some fascinating insights and uncovers precious gems about our very own Queen of Hearts in celebration of her special day…
Behind the public mask
“She’s probably the only person who can distinguish between her as Lilibet and her as the Queen – and I suspect that Lilibet hasn’t really changed all that much over the years. She has a very clear understanding of what it means to be Queen. My feeling is that the private woman is still diffident and shy but that she’s become more confident in her role as Queen. That confidence happened quite quickly – by the 60s people were saying she was very at home in her skin.”
Abdication rumours
“The Queen told her cousin Margaret Rhodes that she wouldn’t abdicate unless she had Alzheimer’s or a stroke. That was clearly a true statement then and I think it’s probably true now. She’s always been consistent. There are family issues at the moment but most of her family are fully supporting her. While this continues to be true and her health remains good, she will go on. If the senior advisers all said, ‘Ma’am, I wonder…’ she might listen, but she doesn’t regard monarchy as a job, rather as something more special.”
Her relationships with Diana and Meghan
“The Queen doesn’t talk about her own feelings and she doesn’t encourage others to talk about their feelings either. Diana had meeting after meeting with the Queen, who ultimately felt it was the same conversation happening over and over again. Diana never forgot who her mother-in-law was and that provided a barrier that was not of the Queen’s making. I don’t know if Meghan was overawed in that sense because Meghan was a grown woman with experience of life when she joined the royal family whereas Diana was a young girl. But I think both women wanted something from the Queen that they didn’t get.”