Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

by Sally Bedell Smith

  14. “I learnt the way a monkey learns”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 279.

  15. “At nineteen years old suddenly being dropped”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  16. Nixon laid on an ambitious program: Department of State, Office of the Chief of Protocol, “Administrative Arrangements for the Visit to Washington, D.C.: His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, K.G. and Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne,” Nixon Library.

  17. More than three decades later: Confidential interview.

  18. “hopes and aspirations”: Henry Kissinger to Richard Nixon, July 17, 1970, Nixon Library.

  19. “pointed out one must not”: Dimbleby, p. 180.

  20. The Queen, who was on vacation: Ziegler, p. 375.

  21. “suitable for entertaining”: Michael Adeane to Charles Morris, M.P., Nov. 18, 1970, National Archives, Kew.

  22. “during his four-hour stay”: Robert T. Armstrong to Michael Adeane, Nov. 18, 1970, National Archives, Kew.

  23. “signal kindness”: Richard Nixon to Queen Elizabeth II, Oct. 7, 1970, Nixon Library.

  24. “Taking a lively interest”: Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee on the Civil List, 1971, p. 111.

  25. “expensive kept woman”: Pimlott, p. 404.

  26. “Martin was given his chance”: Gay Charteris interview. 246 “Your job is to spread a carpet of happiness”: Ibid.

  27. “ridiculous disease”: Queen Elizabeth II to Edward Heath, Nov. 28, 1971, National Archives, Kew.

  28. “to commiserate with you”: Edward Heath to Queen Elizabeth II, Nov. 23, 1971, National Archives, Kew.

  29. “from them—one can’t win from a virus!”: Queen Elizabeth II to Edward Heath, Nov. 28, 1971, National Archives, Kew.

  30. During her thirties and forties: Evening Standard, April 28, 1971.

  31. “She has a theory that you carry on”: Confidential interview.

  32. “how unnerving it was to get under the bedclothes”: Min Hogg interview.

  33. “can do no harm”: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 423.

  34. Among Blackie’s more exotic treatments: Morrow, p. 55.

  35. “for whatever was wrong with them”: Min Hogg interview.

  36. the Queen had extended an olive branch: Diaries of David Bruce, March 28, 1965.

  37. But in 1968 the Queen complied graciously: Bradford, pp. 347–48.

  38. “If the Duke of Windsor were to die”: Christopher Soames confidential telegram, May 10, 1972, National Archives, Kew.

  39. Accompanied by an entourage of thirty-six: State Visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to France, Monday 15th–Friday 19th May, 1972, List of Party, National Archives, Kew.

  40. “We may drive on different sides”: Time, May 29, 1972.

  41. driving to Rouen at the mouth of the Seine: The Times, May 23, 1972.

  42. “She went on board Britannia”: Mary Soames interview.

  43. “a conspicuous demonstration”: The Observer, May 21, 1972.

  44. “had seduced and conquered”: Ibid.

  45. “With the Queen’s visit”: Time, May 29, 1972.

  46. “prattled away”: Dimbleby, p. 217.

  47. “He gave up so much for so little”: Ibid., p. 218.

  48. “showed a motherly and nanny-like tenderness”: Beaton, The Unexpurgated Beaton, p. 256.

  49. “The new links with Europe”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 1972, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  50. “scratch our heads”: Prince Philip on Meet the Press, Nov. 9, 1969.

  51. “pyramid of snobbery”: Andrew Knight interview (May 7, 1998).

  52. “Action Man”: Dimbleby, p. 221.

  53. “slightly sexy, ginny voice”: Confidential interview.

  54. “feeling of emptiness”: Dimbleby, p. 232.

  55. “shock and amazement”: Ibid.

  56. “We had to be told”: “Princess Anne and Her Fiancé, Captain Mark Phillips, Talk About Marriage,” BBC, Nov. 10, 1973.

  57. “interest, fascination”: Dimbleby, p. 233.

  58. “few sentences”: The Times, Jan. 1, 2004.

  59. Undaunted by his censorship: Ibid.

  60. “The Queen could only await”: The Guardian, Feb. 14, 2010.

  61. “our relaxed intimacy”: Pimlott, p. 419.

  62. “the Queen … let it be known”: Beaton, The Unexpurgated Beaton, p. 370.

  63. “Not bloody likely!”: “The Princess Royal at 60,” BBC Inside Sport special, Aug. 12, 2010.

  64. “as if it were a perfectly normal”: Dimbleby, p. 254.

  65. “It wouldn’t have been much good”: “Heavy Security as Princess Anne Visits Her Husband’s Home Village: Princess Describes Her Reaction to Attempt to Kidnap Her,” ITV Reuters, March 22, 1974.

  66. whose grave she marked with a copper beech: FitzGerald, p. 146.

  67. “Henry was the Queen’s closest personal friend”: Ian Balding interview.

  68. They would cover not only her own: FitzGerald, pp. 135–36.

  69. “to bring in new blood”: Michael Oswald interview.

  70. Porchester advised the Queen: FitzGerald, p. 136.

  71. “long-striding filly”: Dewar, ed., p. 30.

  72. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, sent a big bowl: FitzGerald, p. 137.

  73. “fiery mood”: Ibid., p. 138.

  74. “I’m very excitable on the race course”: New York Times, Oct. 5, 1984.

  75. “Vive la Reine”: FitzGerald, p. 138.

  76. “I was assigned a valet”: Confidential interview.

  77. “I have to put on my white tie and medals”: Shaun Plunket interview.

  78. “Patrick, I’m deeply grateful”: Ibid.

  79. “caught a look of deep sadness”: Annabel Goldsmith, Annabel: An Unconventional Life: The Memoirs of Lady Annabel Goldsmith, p. 125.

  80. “She certainly helped”: Shaun Plunket interview.

  81. After his brothers presented it: Ibid.

  82. “I’m sure I told the gardener”: Ibid.

  83. Some even believe: Annabel Goldsmith interview.

  84. “Have you given some thought”: Shaun Plunket interview.

  TWELVE: Feeling the Love

  1. “profound religious existence”: Confidential interview. 263 “sacramental manner in which she views”: George Carey interview.

  2. “not in the sense of a burden”: George Carey, Know the Truth: A Memoir, p. 401.

  3. “She has a comfortable relationship with God”: George Carey interview.

  4. “she doesn’t parade her faith”: John Andrew interview.

  5. “an old-fashioned way of being”: Ibid.

  6. “middle of the road”: George Carey interview.

  7. “a masterpiece of English prose”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 2010, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  8. “The royal family treat”: Confidential interview.

  9. “Oh you silly woman”: George Carey interview.

  10. “For the delicious meal”: Daily Mail, Nov. 11, 1997.

  11. She admired Graham, although when he asked: Diaries of David Bruce, June 17, 1966.

  12. “takes the place of a family confessor”: Margaret Rhodes interview.

  13. The pageantry is intricately orchestrated: Author’s observations, Maundy Service and Office for the Royal Maundy, Westminster Abbey, April 21, 2011.

  14. “It’s a very clever subtle way”: Kenneth Rose interview.

  15. “He found his ecclesiastical duties”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 347.

  16. “They used to fetch us by car”: Mary Wilson interview.

  17. During their September 1975 visit: Ibid.

  18. “when he first got to Number 10”: Marcia Falkender interview.

  19. Wilson so treasured the image: Mary Wilson interview.

  20. “too-tall … ungainly”: Susan Mitchell, Margaret Whitlam: A Biography, p. 213.

  21. “Big Marge”: Turner, p. 13.


  22. installing them in a suite: Margaret Whitlam, My Day, p. 41.

  23. “deep-piled cream sheepskin rug”: Mitchell, p. 213.

  24. “That evening she was quite determined”: Turner, p. 13.

  25. “almost too much and too moving”: Whitlam, p. 130.

  26. Tony was achieving even greater success: de Courcy, pp. 102, 112.

  27. “I received a letter from Peter”: “Margaret: Unlucky in Love,” BBC News, Feb. 9, 2002.

  28. Tony wanted the freedom: de Courcy, p. 130.

  29. “things I hate about you”: Ibid., p. 177.

  30. Among his dalliances: Ibid., p. 194.

  31. Margaret’s lovers included: Ibid., p. 142.

  32. “little lady”: James Ketchum interview.

  33. “First, let her think”: “Princess Goes to Washington: Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon Visit Washington,” Nov. 21, 1965, British Pathé, WPA Film Library.

  34. “I didn’t bring up my daughter”: Confidential interview. 270 “He pulled the wool”: Anne Glenconner interview.

  35. when she flouted protocol: Confidential interview.

  36. “I understand”: Pamela Hicks interview.

  37. “How’s Margaret’s mood?”: Confidential interview. 271 “the atmosphere is appalling”: de Courcy, pp. 234–35. 271 “had been devastating”: Ibid.

  38. “live apart”: Ibid., p. 243.

  39. “The Queen and the Queen Mother never took sides”: Confidential interview.

  40. “She doesn’t sit in the sun”: Confidential interview.

  41. was tended by her longtime hairdresser: Morrow, pp. 60–61.

  42. For her skin she used an assortment: Ibid.

  43. shrewdly orchestrated a public show: Nicholas Henderson, Mandarin: The Diaries of an Ambassador, 1969–1982, pp. 120–21.

  44. “a tribute to the Queen’s understanding”: Ibid.

  45. “careful consideration”: Robert T. Armstrong to Martin Charteris, Feb. 6, 1973, National Archives, Kew.

  46. “One would wish to consider”: Ibid.

  47. “July 4th was really pushing it”: New York Times, June 13, 1976. 274 “a paragon of gaiety & dignity”: Beaton, The Unexpurgated Beaton, p. 334.

  48. “should get someone more steeped”: Confidential interview.

  49. couldn’t resist calling her “the American”: Confidential interview.

  50. they were hit with a force nine gale: Crosland, p. 344.

  51. “philosophical, almost merry”: Ibid., p. 345.

  52. “Wheeeeee!”: Ibid., pp. 345–46.

  53. “her apparent eagerness to work a crowd”: New York Times, July 8, 1976.

  54. “I speak to you as the direct descendant”: Ibid., July 7, 1976. 275 “I’m going to make Attila the Hun”: Time, Oct. 24, 1977. 275 “press the flesh”: Crosland, p. 347. 275 “What a fascinating man”: Bradford, p. 374.

  55. “never faltered in the day’s walk-about”: Crosland, p. 348.

  56. Henry Kissinger’s wife, Nancy: Ibid.

  57. “Prince Philip is renouncing”: Ibid.

  58. “to make her grand entrance”: Edinburgh Evening News, June 19, 2003.

  59. “were overwhelmed”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 173.

  60. “Luckily, I don’t mind the heat”: New York Times, July 10, 1976.

  61. “There’s John Andrew!”: John Andrew interview.

  62. “Gracious, do you really wear skirts”: New York Times, July 10, 1976.

  63. “homey patched-elbow chic”: Ibid., July 9, 1976.

  64. In fact, the evenings were often exuberant: Gay Charteris interview.

  65. “You looked so funny standing all alone”: John Andrew interview.

  66. “moving from one reminder”: New York Times, July 12, 1976.

  67. “I was reminded of the good that can flow”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, December 25, 1976, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  68. Very much her mother’s daughter: “The Princess Royal at 60,” BBC Inside Sport special, Aug. 12, 2010.

  69. “I noticed, we’ve been going all day”: Confidential interview.

  70. “keeping the rhythm and shaking her head”: Morrow, p. 41.

  71. “I heard her sigh again”: John Julius Norwich interview.

  72. “Next year is a rather special one for me”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, December 25, 1976, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  73. “express wish”: Daily Telegraph, Dec. 29, 2007.

  74. “apathy hits plans”: The Guardian, Feb. 6, 1977.

  75. “Harbour entrances would be just packed”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 114.

  76. “seized the moment to whip out a lipstick”: Morrow, p. 59.

  77. “one of the most significant decisions”: The Queen’s Reply, Westminster Hall, May 4, 1977.

  78. “That was significant”: Simon Walker interview.

  79. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid”: The Times, Sept. 13, 2008. Major Sir Michael Parker was an Englishman who worked on numerous royal events, not to be confused with Lieutenant Michael Parker, the Australian naval officer who had worked for Prince Philip.

  80. “I had forgotten how uncomfortable”: Burrell, p. 30.

  81. “an example of service untiringly done”: BBC, “On This Day,” June 7, 1977, news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday.

  82. “in my salad days when I was green”: Ibid.

  83. the roar of the vast crowd was so loud: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 115.

  84. “They really love you”: Strong, p. 194.

  85. “basically middle class British”: Ibid, p. 193.

  86. “more or less had to push”: Ibid., p. 194.

  87. “The Queen received me”: Shawcross, Q and C, pp. 108–9.

  88. “our own particular sorrows”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 1972, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  89. “Martin, we said we’re going”: Bradford, p. 377.

  90. “the safest way for the Queen”: BBC, “On This Day,” Aug. 10, 1977, news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday.

  91. “nowhere is reconciliation more desperately”: Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 1977, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  92. He was the first baby in the royal family: The Guardian, Nov. 16, 1977.

  93. “The Queen knew Martin would cry”: Gay Charteris interview.

  94. “he was still around”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 895.

  95. “Martin, thank you for a lifetime”: Gay Charteris interview.

  THIRTEEN: Iron Lady and English Rose

  1. “conversation flowed easily”: Sunday Times, Feb. 7, 1982.

  2. their talk over the next hour might touch: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 350.

  3. “weighs up”: Ibid., p. 349.

  4. One week she memorably took him for a stroll: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 112.

  5. “What one gets … is friendliness”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 349.

  6. “poor old Jim Callaghan”: Wyatt, Vol. 2, p. 36.

  7. “the last shreds of prejudice”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 121.

  8. “What do you think about Margaret Thatcher”: Ian Balding interview.

  9. “the eternal scholarship girl”: Johnson, p. 263.

  10. “The Queen found that irritating”: Confidential source.

  11. “The agenda included major topical”: Charles Powell interview.

  12. “She chatted with us”: Confidential interview.

  13. “She seemed to come back in a cheerful”: Charles Powell interview. 290 One exception was the time: Morrow, p. 167.

  14. “Mrs. Thatcher would have thought it impudent”: Pimlott, pp. 460–61.

  15. Whenever the Thatchers came: Monica Tandy tour of Windsor Castle; Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 376.

  16. “was reserved but she could give you”: Turner, pp. 48–49.

  17. “Would you like to order, sir?”: Spitting Image, YouTube.

  18. “The Queen is the mother of the country”: James Lee
s-Milne, Diaries: 1984–1997, abridged and introduced by Michael Bloch, p. 141.

  19. “No one could curtsy lower”: Charles Powell interview.

  20. “I would set up … a hereditary monarchy”: Longford, Elizabeth R, p. 358.

  21. “out of loyalty”: Charles Powell interview.

  22. “The hills? … The hills? She walks on the road!”: Confidential interview.

  23. “The Queen finessed it”: Ibid.

  24. she let her manners slip and kept her elbows: Morrow, pp. 147–48.

  25. “quartering the room”: Paxman, p. 315.

  26. “an enormous role in calming everything”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 123.

  27. “talked to Mrs. Thatcher and to Kaunda”: Pimlott, p. 468.

  28. Whenever she and Philip are having lunch: Confidential interview.

  29. “his closest confidant”: Dimbleby, p. 213.

  30. “someone who showed enormous affection”: Ibid., p. 324.

  31. The Queen called the hospital: Timothy Knatchbull, From a Clear Blue Sky: Surviving the Mountbatten Bomb, p. 115.

  32. “That kind of private person”: Pamela Hicks interview.

  33. “A dog isn’t important”: Ibid.

  34. “Please sit with me”: Ibid.

  35. “Ma’am, would you like to go upstairs?”: Timothy Knatchbull interview.

  36. “striding down the corridor”: Knatchbull, p. 176.

  37. “She was in almost unstoppable mothering mode”: Ibid.

  38. “She was caring and sensitive and intuitive”: Timothy Knatchbull interview.

  39. “I fear it will take me”: Dimbleby, p. 324. 296 she said the Irish were pigs: Wilson, p. 259.

  40. “She had all the feelings”: Timothy Knatchbull interview.

  41. One unlikely source of consolation: Smith, p. 87.

  42. “German family”: Sunday Times, Jan. 31, 2010.

  43. “By the time we reached Australia”: Pamela Hicks interview.

  44. “a good age for a man”: Woman’s Own, Feb. 1975.

  45. “easy and open manner”: Dimbleby, p. 338.

  46. “LADY DI IS THE NEW GIRL”: The Sun, Sept. 8, 1980.

  47. “fallen in love with an idea”: Dimbleby, p. 341.

  48. “Prince Philip and the Queen felt responsible”: Pamela Hicks interview.

  49. “There is a difference”: Confidential interview.

  50. “If I’d said to him”: Dimbleby, p. 340.

  51. “intent to alarm”: Morrow, p. 131.