A Brief History of the Private Life of Elizabeth II Read Free Page A

mourning on Remembrance Sunday, and every Christmas she has to appear on television to wish her subjects well for the coming year.
    She carries out these tasks because she inherited them. She does so without fuss or complaint, and with considerable expertise. Yet whatever the position into which the Queen was born, she could
not have fulfilled her destiny so well had she not had a personality suited to the task. Although chosen by accident of fate, she happens to have a passion for it, a genuine sense of vocation. She
has her father’s modest and conscientious nature, which helps her survive the numbing boredom of official events. She is also a woman of fixed tastes and habits, and these have not altered in
any significant way since she succeeded to the throne. She does not like to see change in her routine or her surroundings. Becoming queen at the age of 25,she very quickly
grew into the job – assisted by her husband, her mother and her father’s advisors – establishing an infrastructure of work and travel and leisure that she has not substantially
altered since. She likes being queen, and she knows she is successful at it, so she has no wish to do things differently. She prefers a life that is planned and predictable and this is as well, for
without it she could not cope with the heavy workload she continues to carry. She sees it as a job for life rather than, like her counterparts in the Netherlands, a position from which she can
retire. Aware of the extent to which she represents national continuity, she wishes to carry on.
    This continuity is reflected even in her appearance. She has not, as most women of her age have done, altered her hairstyle for almost half a century. Nor will she, for it has to look just as it
does on coins and banknotes. Although the clothes she wore in the 1950s seem dated when seen in pictures, her personal taste coalesced in the following decade and has not changed significantly
since. Naturally her wardrobe is stylish and expensive, but it has never followed fashion to any significant degree – there was never any question of adopting the foibles of the 1960s or
1970s – and dresses seen in photographs from 40 years ago look much the same as those she wears today. Never in fashion, she is never out of fashion. She has not developed fads for pastimes,
or cuisine, or travel to particular places. Although she could belong at once to the ‘jet-set’ if she wished to, she does not care for the lifestyle or most of the hobbies. She has no
interest in skiing, sailing, playing golf or tennis, though members of her family do all of these. She has no desire to sit at gaming-tables. She is as passionately interested in horses as when she
was a small girl, and as addicted to the decidedly unglamorous pleasures of dog-walking and country life that she has enjoyed since childhood. Her personality and tastes, in other words, formed
early and have remained consistent ever since, adding to the sense of timelessness about her that many find reassuring. As with her tastes, so with herattitudes. Princess
Elizabeth’s views and habits merged seamlessly with those of her parents and grandmother.
    To many, what adds to the impression that she lives in some parallel universe is that she does not express views on the important issues of the moment. She is clearly comfortable with the
constitutional position that she remain aloof from the political process. The whole point of a constitutional Head of State is that he or she has no ties to any party, is not to blame for
government policy and thus stands apart from the crises that embroil politicians and public, representing the long-term view and keeping matters in perspective. In fact, she is intensely aware of
political developments and, after a 60-year reign, is a very experienced observer of the national mood. She meets the Prime Minister every week. She invites senior politicians to banquets at
Buckingham Palace or to ‘dine and