A Brief History of the Private Life of Elizabeth II (31 page)

Soap operas are hugely popular. Their fans number in the millions. People empathise with, sympathise with and emulate the characters. The public does not like the fictitious
families to be too perfect, or always happy and successful. There must be tension, conflict and weakness in order to add excitement and keep blandness and boredom at bay. The plots must contain
familiar elements without becoming tediously predictable. Where there are crises to overcome and problems to solve, viewers are assured that the lives they see on the screen are much like their own
– or perhaps worse, which encourages a feeling of relieved complacency. Like any soap opera, old characters depart and new ones are introduced. In Windsor, as in Walford, children grow up,
problems are resolved, disasters are averted or survived, and the story continues. There are financial crises, generational differences and tragic deaths. It is not, in fact, that the Royal Family
is like a soap opera but that a soap opera is like
them
. Theirs is the story of all of us, writ large. They are what we would like to be, or perhaps don’t want to be, but they are a
mirror-image of us. The ups and downs of the Royal Family ensure interest. If there were no interest, they would be in danger of extinction.

Despite her age the Queen continues to be busier than anyone her years should expect to be, and is actually becoming more so. In 2010 she carried out 444 official engagements, of which 57 were
overseas. In 2011, because of her grandson’s wedding and her husband’s 90th birthday, her diary was even fuller. Her historic visit to the Irish Republic in May served to underline both
her personal magnetism and her continuing value as a symbol of goodwill. When she laid a wreath at a memorial to Irish patriots, her hosts were deeply touched. ‘All Ireland missed a
heartbeat,’ reported the
Irish Independent
, ‘when they saw her take a step back and bow her head.’ She won more respect for beginning a speech with some words in gaelic.
Those who met her described Her Majesty as ‘full of life, full of fun’, and a young woman gushed, with regard to
the Queen and the Duke, that ‘for their age,
they’re really bubbly and chatty’. Her gestures will have been premeditated and her speeches written for her, but the making of them was what counted, and by showing a warm, spontaneous
nature during less formal moments, she added a further dimension to Anglo-Irish relations. ‘Britain’s ultimate diplomatic weapon’ indeed.

In July 2009, Her Majesty – like her father King George and her great-grandmother Victoria – instituted a medal bearing her name. The Elizabeth Cross is not, like the others, an
award for gallantry. It is not given to those who perform heroic deeds but to those – and there are sadly a great many of them – whose next of kin have been killed on operations or by
acts of terrorism. Perhaps the biggest class of recipients will be the wives of servicemen, and the design is therefore distinctly feminine. A brooch rather than a medal, it has no ribbon and is
modest in size. It will prove a highly suitable monument to a reign that has witnessed such tragedy in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The Queen’s own death is something she has always contemplated with equanimity. Devout in her Christian beliefs, she has no qualms about passing on to what Victoria called ‘a more
equal world’, though as Alan Bennett has her remark in his play
An Englishman Abroad
: ‘I suppose, for someone like me, heaven will be a bit of a come-down.’ Plans for her
eventual funeral have been in readiness ever since she came to the throne, though this is standard for all senior royals. They are updated annually by a committee, and known by the code-name
‘London Bridge’. (The Queen Mother’s funeral arrangements were ‘Tay Bridge’, and Prince Philip’s are ‘Forth Bridge’.) Once approved by this, the
details are sent to the groups that would be affected: the City of Westminster, the Ministry of Defence and, naturally, the police. This is necessary because of what would be involved: the inviting
of Heads of State from all over the world, the need to accommodate the international media, the deployment of troops and the closing off of parts
of central London. The
Queen’s executors need not worry over where she will be buried or what the inscription on her tomb will say. All of that has long-since been settled. She has chosen her coffin, and apparently
took great pleasure in fine-tuning the arrangements. It is a curious fact that Royals often do enjoy planning their own funerals. Lord Mountbatten had worked out in exhaustive detail how his was to
be conducted.

When the Queen’s funeral actually takes place – when ‘London Bridge’ is put into effect – the outpouring of affection will be massive. It will be on a scale not
witnessed in Britain since the death of Victoria, and – since we are a more emotional people than the late-Victorians – probably greater. It will be a bigger event than anything in more
recent times except, perhaps, the funeral of Gandhi.

When King George VI died the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, laid a wreath on which were the simple words: ‘For Valour’. This is the motto engraved on the Victoria Cross. For the
King’s daughter, whose overwhelming personal attribute has been undaunted, persistent personal courage, no lesser tribute would do.

Is Elizabeth II the best monarch Britain has ever had? It is difficult to say, for such a judgement must be conditional. There have been others who fitted the spirit of their age and who
displayed the qualities necessary to lead the country through difficult or even catastrophic times. There is, in any case, no British Mount Rushmore on which the best few are represented. It is
something of a cheap journalistic trick to say that the Queen’s reign has been one of ‘unprecedented change’, for there is no era in modern history that has seen anything
other
than furious, ceaseless change, and contemporaries no doubt always thought of this as ‘unprecedented’. What cannot be denied is that since the Second World War,
Britain’s position as a great power has collapsed with the loss of Empire and the shrinking of its ability to influence world affairs. This has meant that, to an extent no one could have
foreseen, the
burden of maintaining national prestige has fallen upon her shoulders. She has succeeded in carrying that burden for 60 years without making a single error, and
that is a monumental attainment. Her calming influence, her tact and wisdom, her ability to make friends for Britain and to preside over the Commonwealth (an organisation that would almost
certainly not still exist were it not for her devotion) have gained for her, and by extension her country, a continuing status. For the country this will rise and fall according to circumstance.
For Queen Elizabeth it is something that time is very unlikely to erode. She has been blessed by Fortune with a temperament suited to her unique role, a series of good advisors, a supportive
husband who has made his own contribution to history, and a reign that has lasted long enough for her to build great achievements. By any yardstick, and in any aspect of her life and work, she is a
truly great figure, and those of us who are her subjects will always have good reason to be thankful that we have been New Elizabethans. The moment it has ended, her reign will be seen as a golden
age – a time of stability and prosperity and creativity. Rather from awaiting that signal for an outburst of nostalgia, we would be wise to appreciate now the time in which we live.