Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

by Sally Bedell Smith

  52. With help from her husband: Sunday Times, Dec. 22, 1957.

  53. The following year marked the last: Fiona MacCarthy, Last Curtsey: The End of the Debutantes, pp. 1, 17–18.

  54. “those who mix socially”: Malcolm Muggeridge, “Does England Really Need a Queen?,” Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 19, 1957.

  55. He was harassed: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 229.

  56. She used a TelePrompTer for the first time: Washington Post, Oct. 14, 1957.

  57. “shy, a bit bashful”: New York Times, Oct. 14, 1957. 131 “I want to talk to you”: Washington Post, Oct. 14, 1957. 131 “taking part in a piece”: New York Times, Oct. 15, 1957.

  58. “there does seem to be a much closer”: Queen Elizabeth II to Anthony Eden, Oct. 11, 1957, Lord Avon Papers, Birmingham University.

  59. “devoted friendship”: The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: NATO and the Campaign of 1952, Vol. 13, letter to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Feb. 7, 1952, p. 947.

  60. he liked to recount: “Suggested Remarks: Welcome for Prince Charles and Princess Anne,” July 15, 1970, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

  61. “We all dived under the table”: Daily Mail, Jan. 15, 2011, citing unused footage from the 1969 documentary Royal Family.

  62. “If [Eisenhower] and his party”: Rhodes, p. 57.

  63. “was so staggered”: Daily Mail, Jan. 15, 2011.

  64. A crowd of ten thousand greeted: Illustrated London News, Oct. 26, 1957.

  65. “enlightened and skilled statesmen”: Washington Post, Oct. 17, 1957.

  66. As they waited to take off: Wiley T. Buchanan, Jr., with Arthur Gordon, Red Carpet at the White House: Four Years as Chief of Protocol in the Eisenhower Administration, p. 130.

  67. “He was flustered”: Ruth Buchanan interview.

  68. “the little British sovereign”: Washington Post, Oct. 18, 1957.

  69. “very certain, and very comfortable”: Ruth Buchanan interview.

  70. “staggering amount”: New York Times, Oct. 19, 1957.

  71. “rather startling ideas”: Richard Nixon to Queen Elizabeth II, Oct. 19, 1957, Nixon Library.

  72. “match”: Washington Post, Oct. 19, 1957.

  73. “could see how American housewives”: New York Times, Oct. 20, 1957.

  74. Dressed in a $15,000 mink coat: Buchanan, p. 132. 134 “perturbed”: Washington Post, Oct. 20, 1957.

  75. “parade of industries”: New York Times, Oct. 20, 1957.

  76. “How nice that you can bring your children”: Washington Post, Oct. 20, 1957.

  77. “Good for mice!”: Ibid.

  78. “amazed and scared”: Ibid.

  79. On their final day: Ibid., Oct. 21, 1957.

  80. “as it should be approached”: New York Times, Oct. 22, 1957.

  81. “Wheeeee!”: New York Daily News, Oct. 21, 1957.

  82. “a row of great jewels”: Alistair Cooke, Manchester Guardian, Oct. 22, 1957.

  83. “Hi Liz”: Washington Post, Oct. 22, 1957.

  84. “I never realized”: New York Daily News, Oct. 21, 1957.

  85. “a teaser”: New York Times, Oct. 22, 1957.

  86. “a thunderous standing ovation”: Washington Post, Oct. 22, 1957.

  87. “kept standing up”: Ibid.

  88. “tremendous”: New York Times, Oct. 22, 1957.

  89. “the evening sky was purple”: Manchester Guardian, Oct. 22, 1957.

  90. eating striped bass with champagne sauce: Anne Pimlott Baker, The Pilgrims of the United States: A Centennial History, pp. 128–29.

  91. Guests could watch: New York Times, Oct. 22, 1957.

  92. “one time during the program”: Ibid.

  93. “straight as a ruler”: Buchanan, p. 149

  94. “Philip … look at all those people”: Ibid., pp. 149–50.

  95. “You both have captivated”: Dwight D. Eisenhower to Queen Elizabeth II, Oct. 20, 1957, Eisenhower Library.

  96. “extraordinarily successful”: New York Times, Oct. 22, 1957.

  97. “has buried George III for good and all”: Horne, p. 55.

  98. “Why did she have to cross”: Washington Post, Oct. 27, 1957.

  99. “gone beyond the stage”: Prince Philip, Selected Speeches, 1948–1955, p. 55.

  100. “Television is the worst of all”: Queen Elizabeth II to Anthony Eden, Oct. 11, 1957, Lord Avon Papers.

  101. Philip, who had urged her: Sunday Dispatch, Oct. 6, 1957.

  102. “more vivacious”: Daily Mirror, Oct. 11, 1957.

  103. Philip took a particularly active role: Sunday Times, Dec. 22, 1957.

  104. In addition to getting the knack: Sunday Graphic, Dec. 22, 1957.

  105. “My husband seems to have found”: Daily Express, Dec. 27, 1957.

  106. A few days before the broadcast: News Chronicle, Dec. 27, 1957.

  107. The Queen spoke: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 1957, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  108. her husband standing behind: News Chronicle, Dec. 27, 1957.

  109. “post-Altrincham royal speech”: Daily Express, Dec. 27, 1957.

  110. “unstrained and natural”: News Chronicle, Dec. 27, 1957.

  111. “All her charm”: Daily Express, Dec. 27, 1957.

  112. “lovely statement”: News Chronicle, Dec. 27, 1957.

  113. “The final draft was, in fact”: Pimlott, p. 291.

  114. one year her butler noted: Paul Burrell, A Royal Duty, p. 19.

  115. “the working pieces of kit”: David Thomas interview.

  116. “There is one thing to remember”: Ibid.

  117. “looking like culprits”: Diaries of David Bruce, Nov. 3, 1964, Richmond Historical Society.

  118. “I think I have made the dullest”: Annigoni, p. 181.

  119. “my neck is still feeling”: Ibid.

  120. “many millions of my subjects”: “The Queen’s Speech,” Oct. 28, 1958.

  121. “were scarcely separated”: Lacey, Monarch, p. 214.

  122. “I am going to have a baby”: Pimlott, p. 305.

  123. Mayor Richard Daley rolled the red carpet: Chicago Tribune, July 17, 2005.

  124. “Chicago is yours!”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 311.

  125. “he had never witnessed”: Dwight D. Eisenhower to Queen Elizabeth II, July 7, 1959, Eisenhower Library.

  126. “this will be an insult”: Horne, p. 147.

  127. friends including the Earl of Westmorland: Eisenhower Archives, guest list, Aug. 21, 1959, Eisenhower Library.

  128. “The Queen and Eisenhower got on”: Dominic Elliot interview.

  129. “When there are fewer I generally put”: Queen Elizabeth II to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jan. 24, 1960, Eisenhower Library.

  130. “perfect in every respect”: Dwight Eisenhower to Queen Elizabeth II, Aug. 30, 1959, Eisenhower Library.

  131. Philip gave eight speeches: Prince Philip, Selected Speeches, 1956–1959, pp. 32–34.

  132. “great national awakening”: Ibid., p. 33.

  133. “The Queen only wishes”: Williams, p. 357.

  134. “absolutely set her heart”: Anthony Howard, Rab: The Life of R. A. Butler, p. 276.

  135. “in tears”: Bradford, p. 286.

  136. “de-royalised”: Harold Macmillan, Pointing the Way, 1959–1961, p. 161.

  137. at the urging of Dickie and Prince Charles: Dimbleby, p. 234; Massingberd, p. 148.

  138. “a great load off her mind”: Bradford, p. 286.

  139. “The Queen has had this in mind”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 251.

  SEVEN: New Beginnings

  1. “Nothing, but nothing”: Turner, pp. 46–47.

  2. “Pigmy-Peep-a-toes”: The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, edited by Charlotte Mosley, p. 287.

  3. “slightly explosive drawl”: Strong, p. 158.

  4. “If you missed the ‘royal’ ”: Confidential interview.

  5. “I don’t measure the depth”: Peter Morgan, The Queen, p. 5.<
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  6. “You mustn’t worry”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 847.

  7. “I felt the Queen was not served well: Patricia Brabourne interview.

  8. “whole atmosphere”: Coward, p. 437.

  9. “endless, vivid herbaceous borders”: Ibid., p. 438.

  10. “pale … a bit tremulous”: Ibid.

  11. “scowl a good deal”: Ibid.

  12. “When she is deeply moved”: Richard Crossman, The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, Vol. 2, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons, 1966–1968, Sept. 20, 1966, p. 44.

  13. The £26,000 cost: Bradford, p. 292.

  14. the Macmillan government picked up: Lacey, Monarch, p. 216. 152 refurbished at a cost: Bradford, p. 402.

  15. £50,000 of which was allocated: Anne de Courcy, Snowdon: The Biography, p. 105.

  16. “an opportunity to consider”: Horne, p. 169.

  17. “assiduity with which she absorbed”: Ibid.

  18. “the wind of change is blowing”: Macmillan, Pointing the Way, p. 156.

  19. “The official text is weak”: Horne, p. 205.

  20. “to appeal to de Gaulle’s sense of grandeur”: Ibid., p. 223.

  21. “well informed about everything”: Charles de Gaulle, Memoirs of Hope: Renewal and Endeavor, p. 235.

  22. “Only Rose Kennedy came into the room”: Brian Mulroney, Memoirs, p. 326.

  23. “eaten into [JFK’s] soul”: Isaiah Berlin Oral History, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

  24. “the greatest man he ever met”: Ibid.

  25. “young cocky Irishman”: Horne, p. 288.

  26. “strange character … obstinate, sensitive, ruthless”: Ibid., pp. 281–82.

  27. “We seemed to be able (when alone)”: Harold Macmillan to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Feb. 18, 1964, Harold Macmillan Archive, Bodleian Library, Oxford University.

  28. “surrounded himself with a large retinue”: Macmillan, Pointing the Way, p. 352.

  29. “special relationship within”: Henry Brandon Oral History, Kennedy Library.

  30. “professional statesman”: Raymond Seitz, Over Here, p. 41.

  31. “completely overwhelmed”: Horne, p. 303.

  32. “put on a good show”: Diaries of David Bruce, June 2, 1961.

  33. “pretty heavy going”: Gore Vidal, Palimpsest: A Memoir, p. 372.

  34. “they were all tremendously kind”: Cecil Beaton, Self Portrait with Friends, p. 341.

  35. “the Queen was human only once”: Vidal, p. 372.

  36. He had an Egyptian wife: David E. Lilienthal, The Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. 4, The Road to Change, 1955–1959, p. 338.

  37. “corrupt and tyrannical regime”: Gilbert, p. 1331.

  38. “widespread uneasiness”: Ibid., p. 1330.

  39. “her wish is to go”: Ibid., p. 1331.

  40. “fainthearts in Parliament and the press”: Horne, p. 399.

  41. “How silly I should look”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 320.

  42. “the greatest Socialist monarch”: Horne, p. 399.

  43. “fell for her”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 321.

  44. “how muddled his views on the world”: Pimlott, p. 308, summarizing letter from Queen Elizabeth II to Henry Porchester, Nov. 24, 1961.

  45. “I have risked my Queen”: Horne, p. 399.

  46. “brave contribution”: Ibid.

  47. This time Elizabeth II gave the American sisters: Diaries of David Bruce, March 28, 1962.

  48. “It was a great pleasure”: Queen Elizabeth II to John F. Kennedy, May 20, 1962, Kennedy Library.

  49. “the stuff he is made of”: Prince Philip, Selected Speeches, 1956–1959, pp. 134–35.

  50. “prison sentence”: Dimbleby, p. 69.

  51. “hell … especially at night”: Ibid., p. 78.

  52. “an awful cloud came down”: David Ogilvy, the 13th Earl of Airlie, interview.

  53. “She loves her duty”: Macmillan, Pointing the Way, p. 472.

  54. “fashionable London call girl”: John F. Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger, telephone recording transcript, March 22, 1963, Presidential Papers, Office Files, Presidential Recordings, Kennedy Library.

  55. “political squalor”: Schlesinger to John F. Kennedy, “The British Political Situation,” March 25, 1963, W. Averell Harriman Papers, Library of Congress.

  56. “grossly deceived”: Diaries of David Bruce, June 17, 1963.

  57. “pitiable and extremely damaging”: Horne, p. 483, quoting Bruce cable to Dean Rusk, June 18, 1963.

  58. “greatly undermined”: Diaries of David Bruce, June 15, 1963.

  59. “deep regret at the development”: Harold Macmillan, At the End of the Day, 1961–1963, p. 445; Horne, p. 485.

  60. “charmingly consoling letter”: Horne, p. 486.

  61. The Palace approved: Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, interview.

  62. “in animated conversation”: Ibid.

  63. “firm step, and those brightly shining eyes”: Macmillan, At the End of the Day, p. 515.

  64. “there were in fact tears”: Horne, p. 565.

  65. “seemed moved”: Macmillan, At the End of the Day, p. 515.

  66. “the Queen asked for my advice”: Ibid.

  67. “take his soundings”: Ibid., p. 516.

  68. “magic circle”: Pimlott, p. 334.

  69. “too remote”: Ibid., p. 332.

  70. “excruciatingly amusing”: Diaries of David Bruce, July 20, 1961.

  71. “taking women into a parliamentary embrace”: “The Life Peerages Act 1958: The passage of the Act,” lifepeeragesact.parliament.uk.

  72. “friendly headmaster”: Lacey, Majesty, p. 260.

  73. “guide and supporter”: Macmillan, At the End of the Day, p. 519. 165 “continue to take part in public life”: Ibid.

  74. “It is almost incredible”: Diaries of David Bruce, Nov. 12, 1963.

  75. “The unprecedented intensity”: Queen Elizabeth II speech at Runnymede, May 14, 1965, itnsource.com (Reuters TV).

  76. She insisted on having: Diaries of David Bruce, Nov. 26, 1963, Nov. 28, 1963.

  77. “generosity, sympathy and understanding”: Ibid., May 14, 1965.

  78. “doom laden period”: Queen Elizabeth II speech at Runnymede, May 14, 1965, Itnsource.com (Reuters TV).

  79. “wit and style”: Diaries of David Bruce, May 14, 1965.

  80. “you share with me thoughts that lie too deep”: Ibid.

  81. “immensely valuable”: Woodrow Wyatt, The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt, Vol. 1, edited by Sarah Curtis, p. 249.

  82. “The Queen knew for years”: Ibid.

  83. “I find that I can often put things out”: Turner, p. 57.

  84. “She has a compartmentalized brain”: Margaret Rhodes interview.

  85. “She talked of all sorts of things”: Diaries of David Bruce, April 28, 1964.

  86. “She regards Windsor as her home”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 303.

  87. “better than any dry cleaner in London”: Confidential interview.

  88. “unnerving to be descended upon”: Strong, p. 220.

  89. “It is always amusing to see”: Confidential interview.

  90. the “Windsor Uniform”: John Martin Robinson, Windsor Castle: The Official Illustrated History, p. 81.

  91. “I need to explain about the napkins”: Paxman, p. 121.

  92. “The Queen told me it was all right”: Isabel Ernst interview.

  93. “She never batted an eye”: Jean, Countess of Carnarvon, interview.

  94. “The selections are to entertain”: Oliver Everett interview.

  95. “It gives people something to talk about”: Jean Seaton interview.

  96. “I suppose landscape is quite nice”: The Queen, by Rolf documentary.

  97. “he experimented terribly”: Ibid.

  98. “she was steered away from the unmade bed”: The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, p. 798.

  99. “Her assessment of a pic
ture”: Bradford, p. 500.

  100. “She is neither an art historian”: Oliver Everett interview.

  101. “beauty in nature”: Pimlott, p. 544.

  102. “refrain from offering presents”: Diaries of David Bruce, April 29, 1964.

  103. “What surprised me”: Strong, p. 219.

  104. “the Lord Chamberlain is commanded”: Author’s invitation for July 7, 2009.

  105. When the Palace doors open: Author’s observations.

  106. “drank her tea”: Confidential interview.

  107. “standing talking quietly”: Beaton, The Unexpurgated Beaton, p. 259.

  108. “I suppose”: Harold Wilson, Wikipedia.

  109. “I got a bleak look”: Sir Michael Oswald interview.

  110. “read all his telegrams”: Lacey, Majesty, p. 260.

  111. “We have to work very hard”: Confidential interview.

  112. “a bit touchy … uncomfortable”: Woodrow Wyatt, The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt, Vol. 3, edited by Sarah Curtis, p. 505.

  113. “tamed him”: Vickers, Elizabeth the Queen Mother, p. 409.

  114. “Harold was never a republican”: Marcia Williams, Baroness Falkender, interview.

  115. “real ceremonies of the monarchy”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 99.

  116. “She started with Winston Churchill”: Mary Wilson, Lady Wilson of Rievaulx, interview.

  117. “He was surprised that she used to sit”: Marcia Falkender interview.

  EIGHT: Refuge in Routines

  1. “Operation Hope Not”: John Pearson, The Private Lives of Winston Churchill, p. 400.

  2. “It was entirely owing”: Mary Soames interview.

  3. President Lyndon Johnson was supposed: Diaries of David Bruce, Jan. 25, 1965.

  4. “living entity to be fostered”: Independent Television from London, “The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill,” narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier, Paul Scofield, and Joseph C. Harsch.

  5. Johnson desperately pressed: Diaries of David Bruce, Jan. 27, 1965.

  6. The president’s designated replacement: Ibid.

  7. “a great maker of history”: Dwight D. Eisenhower remarks, Jan. 30, 1965, Winstonchurchill.org.

  8. “acknowledge our debt of gratitude”: Gilbert, p. 1361.

  9. who equipped it with rugs: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 282.

  10. “Waiving all custom and precedence”: Gilbert, p. 1362.

  11. “we were not to curtsy”: Mary Soames interview.

  12. “most enthusiastically rendered”: Diaries of David Bruce, Jan. 30, 1965.