Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

by Sally Bedell Smith

  17. Sarah Farish greeted her with a kiss: Daily Express, May 24, 1991.

  18. “humiliated that her husband”: The Sun, May 20, 1991.

  19. Andrew and Fergie were misbehaving: People, March 11, 1991.

  20. a sharply critical editorial: Sunday Times, Feb. 10, 1991.

  21. “This is the first time”: Gay Charteris interview.

  22. he rode a bicycle: Smith, p. 276.

  23. “a frightful pinko”: Daily Telegraph, Nov. 14, 2008.

  24. “exposing too much of the inner workings”: Confidential interview.

  25. she readily agreed to set up a working group: David Airlie interview.

  26. “She was not worried about how much she would pay”: Confidential interview.

  27. An infuriated Andrew called in: Wyatt, Vol. 2, p. 651.

  28. an unusual personal statement: Confidential interview.

  29. “Most people have a job”: E II R documentary.

  30. “the dynamic sexiness”: Today, May 18, 1991.

  31. “the marriage was indeed on the rocks”: Dimbleby, p. 592.

  32. On the 7th: Sunday Times, June 7, 1992.

  33. Despite persistent rumors: Smith, p. 276.

  34. Known for his integrity: Ibid., p. 277.

  35. “Not once was there the slightest hint”: Charles Anson interview.

  36. In consultations with Fellowes: Smith, p. 278.

  37. It was an emotional encounter: Burrell, p. 159.

  38. “learn to compromise”: Ibid.

  39. “Mama despaired”: Ibid., p. 158.

  40. “in a friendly attempt to resolve”: Transcript of hearing into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Dec. 13, 2007, quoting statement from Prince Philip on Nov. 23, 2002.

  41. “involved much more than simply”: Burrell, p. 161.

  42. “stinging … wounding … irate”: Smith, p. 280.

  43. “not a single derogatory term”: Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis testimony, transcript of hearing, Dec. 13, 2007.

  44. “dearest Pa” and subsequent quotes from letters: Ibid.

  45. “he never touched Diana’s heart”: Smith, p. 280.

  46. Before the Morton book: Dimbleby, p. 588.

  47. “I think it took a long time”: Patricia Brabourne interview.

  48. “saint-like fortitude”: Bradford, p. 475.

  49. “to keep a calm view”: Confidential interview.

  50. “Can you imagine having two”: Patricia Brabourne interview.

  51. “If I wanted help in understanding”: George Carey interview.

  52. “The personalities were so different”: Ibid.

  53. “became almost mutual support sessions”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 201.

  54. “People don’t realize quite how strong”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  55. “some preparatory work”: Carey, p. 402.

  56. “It was my pastoral duty”: Ibid., p. 405.

  57. On Thursday, August 20: Daily Mirror, Aug. 20, 1992.

  58. “It would be accurate to report”: Sarah, the Duchess of York, p. 21.

  59. “I had been exposed for what I truly was”: Ibid., p. 19.

  60. “furious”: Ibid., p. 23.

  61. “I don’t see her because”: Brandreth, p. 329.

  62. “The Queen had an affection”: Confidential interview.

  63. Four days after the Mirror scoop: The Sun, Aug. 24, 1992.

  64. “personally found great comfort”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 892.

  65. “alternately despairing, defiant”: P. D. Jephson, Shadows of a Princess: An Intimate Account by Her Private Secretary, p. 307.

  66. Once again, the Queen intervened: Burrell, p. 165.

  67. Early in September: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 94.

  68. “take time and talk round it”: Confidential interview.

  69. She was going into an audience: The Queen at 80, Sky News.

  70. “It was the most shaken I ever saw her”: Confidential interview.

  71. “It made all the difference to my sanity”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 892.

  72. “lifting too much veil”: Confidential interview.

  73. “She could see that it was a good thing”: Confidential interview.

  74. as she had been in 1977: James Lees-Milne, Diaries, 1971–1983, p. 234.

  75. “let Major persuade her”: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 133.

  76. “very miserable and mealy-mouthed”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  77. “one of the central features”: Confidential interview.

  78. She was suffering: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 893.

  79. “Nineteen ninety-two is not a year”: Annus Horribilis speech, Nov. 24, 1992, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  80. “intense and complex”: Daily Mail, Nov. 25, 1992.

  81. “a year capable of scaring you”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  82. “in a state of desperation”: Dimbleby, p. 593.

  83. “The Glums”: Smith, p. 284.

  84. “he had no choice”: Dimbleby, p. 595.

  85. “no plans to divorce”: Ibid.

  86. “With hindsight it was a mistake”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 204.

  87. The arrangements were so hastily made: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 894.

  88. “prayers, understanding and sympathy”: Christmas Broadcast, Dec. 25, 1992, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  89. “with fresh hope”: Ibid.

  SEVENTEEN: Tragedy and Tradition

  1. “You’re a clever old thing”: Sunday Mirror, Jan. 17, 1993.

  2. In a poll published: Smith, p. 284.

  3. “to explain to the media”: BBC interview with David Airlie: transcript, Feb. 21, 1994.

  4. “courtiers should be neither seen”: Ibid.

  5. “She isn’t like you!”: David Airlie interview.

  6. died in her suite: Los Angeles Times, Sept. 25, 1993.

  7. who had hired two nurses: The Scotsman, Nov. 12, 2002.

  8. The Queen came down: Margaret Rhodes interview.

  9. “She simply stopped”: Daily Express, Sept. 3, 1998.

  10. It was a tempestuous relationship: Smith, p. 317.

  11. “time and space”: Today, Dec. 4, 1993.

  12. Both the Queen and Prince Philip had urged: Smith, p. 310.

  13. In an atmosphere thick with tension: Bradford, p. 487.

  14. “I wasn’t paying enough attention!”: Elizabeth II to Ronald Reagan, Feb. 13, 1994, Reagan Library.

  15. “She has no regard for color”: Wesley Kerr interview.

  16. “Did you see your father”: Ibid.

  17. “the clever manner in which she discussed”: Bill Clinton, My Life, p. 599.

  18. “nodded and laughed”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History, p. 238.

  19. “was clearly happy”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 229.

  20. but all were eclipsed by: Jonathan Dimbleby, Prince Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, ITV, June 29, 1994.

  21. “the myth that he had never intended”: Sunday Telegraph, July 3, 1994.

  22. John Major was concerned: Wyatt, Vol, 3, p. 403.

  23. “That Jonathan Dimbleby!”: Ibid., p. 453.

  24. Paradoxically, the Soviet Communist Party: The Independent, Oct. 16, 1994.

  25. “The monarchy is unshakeable”: Ibid.

  26. When he tried to draw out: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 177.

  27. “I thought the jewels were too much”: David Thomas interview. 383 “the Queen evoked a sort of nostalgia”: Shawcross, Q and C, p. 207.

  28. “attractive … very conceited”: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 466. 383 “vulgar, vulgar, vulgar”: Daily Mail, Jan. 6, 1995. 383 “He’s got such a lot of wisdom”: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 504.

  29. “one of the outstanding experiences”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  30. He and Kenneth Kaunda: Robin Renwick, Baron Renwick of Clifton, interview.

  31. “Let’s have him”: Turner, p. 193.

 
; 32. “huge emotional charge”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  33. “re-launched”: Smith, p. 339.

  34. “She was nervous about the fact”: Robert Salisbury interview.

  35. “The Queen’s eyes were brimming”: Pimlott, p. 575.

  36. “superb performance”: Barbara Walters interview.

  37. The princess spoke unflinchingly: Bashir interview, Panorama.

  38. “Diana at her worst”: Sunday Telegraph, Sept. 7, 1997.

  39. “advanced stages of paranoia”: The Guardian, Nov. 21, 1995.

  40. a Gallup survey registered: Daily Telegraph, Nov. 27, 1995.

  41. “very dangerous”: Wyatt, Vol. 3, p. 577.

  42. “took the BBC aback”: Confidential interview.

  43. “early divorce … in the best interests”: Daily Telegraph, Dec. 21, 1995.

  44. “with love from Mama”: Burrell, p. 222.

  45. Elizabeth II remained predictably noncommittal: Jane Atkinson interview (Dec. 3, 1998).

  46. “sensitivity and kindness”: Burrell, p. 229.

  47. But Diana again overreached: Jane Atkinson interview.

  48. “The decision to drop the title”: Daily Mail, March 1, 1996.

  49. “co-parents”: Meredith Vieira interview with Prince Andrew, Today, Jan. 29, 2008.

  50. “happiest unmarried couple”: Sarah Ferguson interview with Sky News, Feb. 24, 2010.

  51. “regarded as a member of the royal family”: “Status and Role of the Princess of Wales,” statement from Buckingham Palace, July 12, 1996.

  52. “has a special place in my heart”: ITN Reuters Television, July 10, 1996.

  53. “let bygones be bygones”: New York Times, July 13, 1996.

  54. “Should I dance?” Robin Renwick interview.

  55. “To everyone’s surprise”: Ibid.

  56. “has seldom been known”: New York Times, July 13, 1996.

  57. Early in the new year they met: Tony Blair, A Journey: My Political Life, p. 135.

  58. “fairly calculating terms”: Alastair Campbell, The Blair Years: Extracts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries, p. 152.

  59. “radical combination”: Tony Blair, p. 135.

  60. “an unpredictable meteor”: Ibid., p. 136.

  61. “perfect fit”: Ibid., p. 134.

  62. “We were both in our ways”: Ibid., p. 140.

  63. “all teeth and no bite”: Burgess, p. 76.

  64. “He had the nicest manners”: Johnson, p. 37.

  65. “betrayal … understanding”: The Mirror, Sept. 4, 2010.

  66. he tripped on the edge: Cherie Blair, Speaking for Myself: My Life from Liverpool to Downing Street, p. 186.

  67. “The first was Winston”: Tony Blair, p. 16.

  68. “I got a sense of my relative seniority”: The Times, May 22, 2002.

  69. “general guff”: Tony Blair, p. 16.

  70. “I can’t remember not curtsying”: Cherie Blair, p. 180.

  71. “generally clucking sympathetically”: Tony Blair, p. 16.

  72. “hot spring sunshine”: Queen Elizabeth II to Nancy Reagan, April 24, 1997, Ronald Reagan Library.

  73. “opens the door”: Royalty Digest, No. 70, April 1997, p. 316.

  74. “there’s a bit of her that is very”: Marr, The Queen at 80, BBC.

  75. “A lot of people thought Britannia”: Confidential interview.

  76. “Sea Days” for businessmen: The Royal Yacht Britannia Official Guidebook, p. 56.

  77. “What an asset”: Alastair Campbell, p. 218.

  78. “Lilibet” and “Philip”: Castle of Mey Visitors Book, Aug. 16, 1997.

  79. “somewhat melancholy”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 909.

  80. steamed past the coast twice: June Webster interview.

  81. “With all our memories of you”: Castle of Mey Visitors Book, Aug. 16, 1997, Copyright HM the Queen.

  82. “Oh what a heavenly day”: Ibid.

  83. “an understanding of people’s emotions”: Bashir interview, Panorama.

  84. Yet she also began to burden: Roberto Devorick interview (March 10, 1998); Elsa Bowker interview (Dec. 12, 1997).

  85. “by cultivating the idea”: Andrew Neil interview (May 6, 1998).

  86. they were embarrassed: Lacey, Monarch, p. 358.

  87. the Queen wrote a note: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 910.

  88. “global event like no other”: Tony Blair, p. 138.

  89. “The Queen and Prince of Wales are deeply shocked”: Daily Mail, Sept. 4, 1997.

  90. “philosophical, anxious for the boys”: Tony Blair, p. 140.

  91. “the People’s Princess”: Ibid., p. 141.

  92. “how difficult things were”: Lacey, Monarch, p. 360.

  93. But the royal family thought: Alastair Campbell, p. 246.

  94. “encourage the temptation”: Carey, p. 407.

  95. “don’t pray for the souls”: Confidential interview.

  96. “They handled it like ostriches”: Diana: The Week She Died, ITV documentary, 2006.

  97. the princes wanted the comfort: Daily Telegraph, Sept. 27, 2009. 396 “talk to Mummy”: Lacey, Monarch, p. 358.

  98. “To take them away to have nothing to do”: Margaret Rhodes interview.

  99. “We can’t look at the files”: David Airlie interview.

  100. “We wanted the people who had benefited”: Ibid.

  101. “She was very happy with the charity workers”: Malcolm Ross interview.

  102. “unique funeral for a unique person”: New York Times, Sept. 2, 1997.

  103. “people’s funeral”: Alastair Campbell, p. 236.

  104. “She is much better with paper”: Malcolm Ross interview.

  105. “shrewd and savvy”: Tony Blair, p. 144.

  106. “completely au fait”: Ibid.

  107. “encouraged creative thinking”: Lacey, Monarch, p. 367.

  108. “at a rate of 6,000 per hour”: Wilson, p. 326.

  109. They heaped flowers: Author’s observations.

  110. By Wednesday night: Daily Mail, Sept. 4, 1997.

  111. “from the heart not the head”: Bashir interview, Panorama.

  112. “I always believed the press would kill”: New York Times, Sept. 1, 1997.

  113. “Happy now?”: Ibid.

  114. “If only the royals dared weep”: New York Times, Sept. 4, 1997.

  115. “The media were circling”: Confidential interview.

  116. “They needed to direct it”: Tony Blair, p. 144.

  117. “I think the thing that impressed”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  118. “Robin had to describe”: Malcolm Ross interview.

  119. “all the royal family”: New York Times, Sept. 4, 1997.

  120. “the fact that I was speaking”: Tony Blair, p. 148.

  121. “as blunt as I needed to be”: Ibid., p. 149.

  122. “very direct advice”: Ibid., p. 148.

  123. “hide away”: Ibid., p. 149.

  124. “If she had come down”: Diana: The Week She Died documentary.

  125. The tabloids on Thursday morning: Washington Post, Sept. 5, 1997.

  126. A survey by MORI: Robert Worcester interview.

  127. “dangerous and unpleasant”: Alastair Campbell, p. 240.

  128. “Robin Janvrin told me”: George Carey interview.

  129. more important was the persuasiveness: Malcolm Ross interview.

  130. “It was an extraordinary experience”: The Guardian, Feb. 13, 2010.

  131. “It was the first time I’d heard”: The Guardian, Jan. 16, 2011, excerpt from Alastair Campbell Diaries, Vol. 2, Power and the People.

  132. “was now very focused”: Tony Blair, p. 149.

  133. “The royal family have been hurt”: Washington Post, Sept. 7, 1997.

  134. “how you kindly arranged”: Shawcross, QEQM, p. 911.

  135. Philip suggested that on the eve: Alastair Campbell, p. 241.

  136. “There was a very ugl
y atmosphere”: Marr, The Queen at 80 documentary.

  137. “It wasn’t completely over with”: Ibid.

  138. “Would you like me to place them”: Lacey, Monarch, pp. 378–79.

  139. “Have you been queuing”: Marr, The Queen at 80 documentary.

  140. “I just said how sorry I was”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  141. “spent a long time talking”: Marr, The Queen at 80 documentary.

  142. “She knew it was something she should do”: Confidential interview.

  143. “as a grandmother”: Alastair Campbell, p. 243.

  144. “There were some last-minute discussions”: Tony Blair, p. 149.

  145. “One run-through”: Wesley Kerr interview.

  146. “an overwhelming expression of sadness”: Queen Elizabeth II speech following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Sept. 5, 1997, Official Website of the British Monarchy.

  147. “one of the very best speeches”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  148. “showed her compassion”: Carey, p. 409. 405 “near perfect”: Tony Blair, p. 149.

  149. “unconvincing”: Alan Bennett, Untold Stories, pp. 214–15, Sept. 5, 1997, diary entry.

  150. “There’s no putting on of a face”: Simon Walker interview.

  151. “consumed by a total hatred”: The Guardian, Jan. 16, 2011, excerpt from Campbell Diaries, Vol. 2.

  152. “If you don’t walk”: Daily Mail, Oct. 17, 2009, quoting Gyles Brandreth diary, Sept. 6, 1997.

  153. The atmosphere on the sunny morning: Author’s observations.

  154. “It was completely unexpected”: Marr, The Queen at 80 documentary.

  155. “that there was already a readiness”: Shawcross, Queen and Country documentary.

  156. “unashamedly populist and raw”: Carey, p. 410.

  157. “your blood family”: “Diana, Princess of Wales,” BBC recording of the funeral service, BBC Worldwide Music, Sept. 6, 1997.

  158. “those unnecessary words”: Carey, p. 411.

  159. “It sounded like a rustle of leaves”: Charles Moore interview.

  160. “were very kind”: Cherie Blair, p. 207.

  161. “This is really weird”: Ibid.

  162. “strangled cry”: Tony Blair, p. 151.

  163. “assumed a certain hauteur”: Ibid., p. 152.

  164. “mass movement for change”: Ibid., p. 143.

  165. “protect the monarchy”: Ibid., p. 145.

  EIGHTEEN: Love and Grief

  1. Philip chaired the overall: Adam Nicolson, Restoration: The Rebuilding of Windsor Castle, pp. 74–75.