Queen Elizabeth as Monarch, Mother and Grandmother


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duchessrachel said:
You are very knowledgeable. I would love to be more knowledgeable on the British royal family. Do you have any suggestions on how I could approach this? Books, websites? Thanks.
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I would advise you to read books, as many as possible, from different points of view
 
There is a book I am reading now, "Elizabeth the Queen, The Life of a Modern Monarch". It is by a former secretary that started at the palace under George V. It was a free ebook download. 300+ pages, and very interesting.
 
Was Queen Elizabeth's lengthy separations from Prince Charles and Princess Anne as children in sharp contrast to the close-knit family atmosphere of her own childhood?
 
It's different horses for different courses in many ways. When Queen Elizabeth was under ten her parents lived a fairly quiet life away from the spotlight. There was more time for family life, though Elizabeth also did have a much loved nanny and then a governess.

The Queen's parents did perform Royal tours and other engagements away during her childhood, as her grandfather the King had long periods of illness and convalescence during the 1920s/30s, so I wouldn't say she was constantly by her parents' side. However, she (and Margaret) was blessed with a very maternal mother and loving father, so in comparison to many aristocrats and royals of her generation Elizabeth had a golden childhood really.

When her father became King George VI of course the Yorks' rather leisurely way of life changed for good. They were still a close little unit of four, but there was less family time.

Being a monarch is certainly not an easy thing and it was very unfortunate for Elizabeth that she came to the throne when Charles and Anne were so small. Very sad for her and for them. She felt it was her duty to go on these long Commonwealth tours with her husband which separated her from her offspring, but, like her own experience as a toddler, when her parents came back from a long Australasian tour, there was probably quite an adjustment to be made afterwards in her relationship with her children.

I just don't think the Queen has ever been as overtly demonstrative, as maternal as her own mother was. Yes, of course she loves her family, but it's difficult to visualise the Yorks going to the races and to Sandringham after returning to England from time in Malta, before reuniting with their child, as the Queen did when Charles was very young. And Philip was of course, away on naval duties a lot when his older children were very small.
 
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Some very interesting video and script articles here - thanks to all! :)
 
How is the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and her children

I read somewhere that The Queen doesn't share a very warm relationship with her firstborn, Charles. Who said in an interview that he was closer to his nanny than his mother.
Princess Ann never blamed her mother but it's obvious that she's more close to her father
Some palace staff said that apparently, Queen Elizabeth consider Prince Andrew her favourite son.
It’s also mentioned that Queen Elizabeth is very fond of her youngest son Prince Edward and Sophie was her favourite daughter in-law

The things I mention are stuff that I red. What do you guys think?
 
Mbruno said:
Queen Elizabeth II does appear to be closer to Andrew and Edward than she is to Charles, but isn't Charles also to blame for that ?
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Why do you think Charles is to blame for that?
 
Mbruno said:
Because he has chosen to distance himself from his mother too. I am not making a statement, just a conjecture.
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I wasn't making a judgment, it was a genuine question. :flowers:
 
I would think that a lot has to do with extenuating circumstances. When Charles and Anne were small, its when the young mother of two was suddenly thrust into her role as monarch and that took quite a bit of adapting to balance home and family on top of being the monarch and the head of state and all that entailed.

By the time Andrew and Edward came along a decade later, the Queen's role as monarch had achieved a good sense of balance and it was easier to balance both home and family life along with her duties as a monarch.

Charles may have felt alienated from his mother in his younger years but as he aged and his roles grew and he prepares to be monarch one day, I would imagine that he understands quite well what his mother had to deal with when he was young. From what I've seen of Charles, his perspective as a child and young adult very much differs from his perspective today.
 
Has Queen Elizabeth II ever written her own speech?
 
Osipi said:
I would think that a lot has to do with extenuating circumstances. When Charles and Anne were small, its when the young mother of two was suddenly thrust into her role as monarch and that took quite a bit of adapting to balance home and family on top of being the monarch and the head of state and all that entailed.

By the time Andrew and Edward came along a decade later, the Queen's role as monarch had achieved a good sense of balance and it was easier to balance both home and family life along with her duties as a monarch.

Charles may have felt alienated from his mother in his younger years but as he aged and his roles grew and he prepares to be monarch one day, I would imagine that he understands quite well what his mother had to deal with when he was young. From what I've seen of Charles, his perspective as a child and young adult very much differs from his perspective today.
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We also have to remember it’s a very different time and the expectation of upper class parent was very different. And Charles isn’t just her son, but her heir as well. That does change the mother and son dynamic somewhat.
 
Yes, things had changed when the younger children arrived. Having said that though, I remember reading in a biography that when Andrew was growing up and wanted to see his mother for something a courtier remembered him asking 'Would the Queen be available at such and such a time today?' And the courtier noted that he always referred to 'the Queen', not 'my mother'.
 
Curryong said:
Yes, things had changed when the younger children arrived. Having said that though, I remember reading in a biography that when Andrew was growing up and wanted to see his mother for something a courtier remembered him asking 'Would the Queen be available at such and such a time today?' And the courtier noted that he always referred to 'the Queen', not 'my mother'.
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Do you think this says more about Andrew's relationship with the courtier, rather than his relationship with his mother? Perhaps, when speaking to the courtier ('the staff') he felt he should refer to the Monarch as 'the Queen' rather than 'my mother'.
 
I definitely think it reflects more on Andrew than the Queen as a mother. In a way, I think Andrew is somewhat like his Aunt Margaret and is more of a stickler for royal protocol than a laid back kind of guy.
 
He probably picked that up from Philip who always refers to The Queen as The Queen whenever none family are around - so in front of staff it is what they would have heard growing up from their father as well as everyone else.
 
Did Prince Edward refer to The Queen as The Queen when he spoke to the staff as a little boy?
 
CyrilVladisla said:
Did Prince Edward refer to The Queen as The Queen when he spoke to the staff as a little boy?
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I have noticed that with a couple of notable exceptions (the Golden and Diamond Jubilees and Charles's documentary about his mother when he used "Mummy" and "My Mama") The Queen's children ALL refer to her as "The Queen" in public - never "my mother." William and Harry generally do as well. It is Beatrice and Eugenie (more so Eugenie) who have referred to her as "Granny" in public. I'm sure though, that the York girls would never do that if they hadn't gotten at least tacit permission to do so.
 
That's a weird story. The Queen has numerous aides who oversee her diaries & I can't believe a family member's birthday wasn't recorded & planned for.
 
Curryong said:
It's been revealed on the Jeremy Paxman documentary 'The Queen's Children' that the Queen once forgot Prince Edward's birthday. Of course the Fail in reporting this said it was the Queen's 'youngest child Andrew' but that's par for the course isn't it!
Anyway, Twitter users went online to express their sympathy with Edward.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...irthday-revealed-Paxmans-Queens-Children.html
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Lilyflo said:
That's a weird story. The Queen has numerous aides who oversee her diaries & I can't believe a family member's birthday wasn't recorded & planned for.
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I have to agree that the story lacks credibility. Also, you don't often hear a mother forgetting birthdays of her own young children.
 
Edward was apparently in his twenties at the time. According to the documentary he breakfasted with the Queen that morning but there was no card or present and nothing was said. An aide must have told the Queen as Edward got a telephone call later on and then a present.
 
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Sometimes too, if things are going a bit haywire at the time, its possible that a kid's birthday slips the mind. It happened to me. The morning started off nice with a breakfast at a restaurant in town while getting a car repair. Then hell broke loose and everyone then thought of nothing else. We were at the Tower restaurant watching planes crash into the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001.

It was my daughter's birthday that day and I did call her and talk with her. Hours and hours later. I think she also forgot it was her birthday that day too.
 
I recall reading in the Hugo Vickers biography of Princess Alice (mother of Prince Philip) that somewhere in the Sixties, Alice turned up at Buckingham Palace for Prince Andrew's birthday. She was apparently stunned to find that Elizabeth and Philip were off at Balmoral or Sandringham and Andrew was alone with a nanny on his birthday. My copy is in my storage unit where I can't get to it at the moment.
 
Yes there are several instances recorded where the Queen & Prince Philip were absent for their children's birthdays & not always for official events. I think that's worse than forgetting (I'm still dubious about that story).
 
Im a bit dubious too. but I think it is possible hat they weren't around for birthdays at times, because they were of that generation that just didn't feel the need to be there with their children all the time. Its possible that they celebrated Andrew's birthday at a later date....
 
General News for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Part 2: March 2017

I think we are putting today’s lens on expectations of 50-60 years ago. We would understandably be aghast if both Kate and William were missing on one of their children’s birthdays as nowadays parenting in royal families is seen as more hands on and less reliant on nannies etc.

When Anne and Andrew were young it was the 1960s and the queen was still expected to put her duty to the country and commonwealth first. It was also still (although near the end) of the time where royal and upper class children were brought up by nannies with less of the day-to-day care provided by parents. At that time there was a certain expectation by the public of the queens role (particularly as her family life was not in the press as it is nowadays)and the public (particularly British upper classes) would have been shocked if she had not completed engagements because of her children’s birthdays.

In many ways over the last 50 years there has been a complete flip in how we want to see the Royals etc. Where once it was duty it is now much more as a family so what was perceived as ‘normal’ then is perceived as poor parenting today.
 
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