Suppose the Queen had expressed a dislike for socialism, or Scotland, or organised religion, or immigrants, or soldiers, or any of her 16 realms or some of her prime ministers. (Although she did have a forgivable soft-spot for the father-figures who awaited her when she came to the throne – Robert Menzies of Australia and Winston Churchill.) Suppose she had got drunk or shown her boredom or leaked secrets or fallen in love with the wrong man.
Suppose, in short, that she had been anything other than what she has been, and you will see how unhappily things would have turned out.
I do not believe that the Queen has avoided all this by cow-like placidity. She has done it because she has acted in character; and it is part of her own character to put her role before her self.
Her more wayward sister, Princess Margaret, used to say, with admiration and perhaps a twinge of envy: “Lilibet has always known the right thing to do.” In such a role, the “right thing” mixes morality with a touch of cunning. The Queen showed it last year, emerging from Crathie church. A fellow-parishioner asked her about the forthcoming referendum on Scottish independence. She said she was sure the Scottish people would think very hard before making their decision.
It was not banal to say something like that: it was clever, because it went exactly as close to conveying a view as she could. It was also morally correct for someone in her position: it attributed good motives to the voters, rather than telling them what to do.
This reconciliation of monarchy and democracy is not a freakish coincidence, but a real political discovery of the 20th century. Any list of the top 20 democracies in the world today would include Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Norway and New Zealand. Elizabeth II is Queen of half of these nations. The combination of monarchy and democracy helps a country be free and secure at the same time.
In a less direct way, as head of the Commonwealth, the Queen exercises this peaceful influence over more than a quarter of the population of the world. Rather surprisingly, Queen Victoria – for all her high and mighty ways – was furiously opposed to race prejudice, and saw her imperial role as upholding what we nowadays call “universal values”. The present Queen has worked out a modern version which the post-colonial world can respect. Look at the extraordinarily powerful effect of her visit to Ireland in 2011. No politician can do that sort of thing.
None of this has been easy, and if people think it has been – well, that only goes to show how adroitly the Queen has played the part.
How has she done it? By statecraft, which is subtle, but also by her faith, which is simple. She is what the Bible calls “pure in heart”. Those who have worked with her observe how she is content, each day, if she has done her best and said her prayers. It is almost unique in the whole history of the world to have lived under such a sovereign for as long as most people can remember.