Andrew Morton Reveals 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Queen Elizabeth
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When I first met the Queen onboard the royal yacht Britannia, I have to confess, it was the royal floating palace that initially captured my imagination. I was enthralled by the sight of the 412-foot yacht complete with a Royal Marine band sailing into San Diego harbour, surrounded by an armada of small craft. On that chilly February day in 1983, I wanted to know more about the yacht’s history. As there was no book about her, I decided to write my own. So, 25 books later, I have the Queen to thank for setting me on my literary career.
Looking back, that storied tour of California by the Queen and Prince Philip revealed numerous clues about the enigmatic personality of Her Majesty. If the visit had been a Broadway show, it would have been known as “the play that went wrong.” Torrential rains and high winds conspired to turn the royal schedule upside down—and the Queen loved it. As I later learned, the Queen lived such a constrained life that she enjoyed it when the timetable was rearranged. During the visit, I had an insight into her Christian faith when preacher Billy Graham was invited aboard the royal yacht for a special dinner. As I discovered during my later research, over the years, Graham and the Queen were correspondents who would occasionally meet. Another facet of her personality was exposed when she spent the weekend at Yosemite National Park. When she and Prince Philip went for a walk, they were surrounded by American Secret Service officers. That was not the royal way, as the Queen’s bodyguard later told me. Since they preferred a low-key approach, after a bit of banter, the Secret Service left them alone. This helps to explain why she was able to go unrecognised over the hills at Balmoral or along the beaches near Sandringham.
I gathered numerous stories, all true, of hikers and others coming across her in some remote spot with just a bodyguard for company, and these casual acquaintances passing the time of day but not having a clue to whom they were talking.
She relished anonymity, as I discovered on a trip I took to Malta to talk to those who knew her when she was a Navy officer’s wife during the late 1940s, when she was first married to Prince Philip. Elizabeth was like a bird who escaped a cage, driving around the Mediterranean island on her own, enjoying picnics with friends. She loved her time there, the correspondence and witness of those who knew her at the time giving further insight into her character.
As I learned while researching my previous book, Wallis in Love, about Edward Vlll’s American wife, Wallis Simpson, American libraries have lots of nuggets about the royal family stored in various papers and letters. One batch of correspondence was particularly touching, telling, as it did, letter by letter, the slow breakdown of the relationship between Princess Elizabeth and onetime governess Marion Crawford. She broke the royal rule and wrote a book about her experiences with Elizabeth, her sister Margaret, and the rest of the royal family. Crawfie never recovered from the rift; the former governess proceeded to make several attempts on her own life.
This is but a snapshot of the conversations and stories I have accumulated after 40 years shadowing the life and work of the Queen. Enjoy!
Elizabeth was a reluctant queen. Every night when she was young, she prayed that her mother would give birth to a baby boy so that he would jump over her in the line of succession.
One of the happiest times in her life was when she lived on the island of Malta and for the first time was able to go to the hairdresser and pay using her own money.
She never wanted TV cameras at her coronation, as she felt that any embarrassing mistake would be repeated endlessly.
She asked a bishop not to start wiggling his eyebrows during her coronation, as she feared she would start giggling.
She had a habit of singing hymns after dinner, a practice which Princess Diana found disconcerting.
She loved jigsaws. At Sandringham, the last piece was always left out so that Her Majesty could finish the puzzle.
She had a rubber duck decorated with a crown in her bath. Rumor has it that it was a Christmas gift from Prince Harry.
Besides the skirl of bagpipes which played while she had breakfast, the Queen loved the music of marching bands, which, given her job, was just as well.
The Queen’s humor was as dry as her evening martini. When an author was telling Princess Margaret that he couldn’t think of a title for his latest book, the Queen, who overheard the remark, said gaily that she couldn’t think of a good reason to give him one, either—a title, that is.
Prince Philip’s nickname for the Head of State and the Commonwealth was "Cabbage."
Andrew Morton is one of the world's best-known biographers and a leading authority on modern celebrity and royalty. Among many other biographies, he is author of the bestselling Diana: Her True Story as well as the just-published The Queen: Her Story. He studied history at the University of Sussex and now divides his time between London and Los Angeles.
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