A Tribute to Her Majesty the Queen (BBC)

foreign [Music] she wasn't born to be Queen [Music] but she died as one of the most quietly influential monarchs this country has ever known [Music] she reigned for almost three quarters of a century as the world changed around her she was a symbol of unity and good times and bad successful because she knew her unique place and she understood it the act of being being a you know A continuing reference point of stability and his duties is something that I think is is of the greatest importance it was really about service and her definition of service and that was a lifetime literally 24 7 365 days of the year it was never something you could turn off and turn on it was there all the time it is so strange to almost everyone in this country that she is no longer Queen it will take a long while to come to terms with that a cab before you all with my whole life whether it be long or short shall be debated to your service enter the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong as Queen Elizabeth II she reigned over more than 135 million people and as head of the Commonwealth a third of the planet's population a Majesty was perhaps one of the youngest leaders in the world at a time of male domination and yet she led like Elizabeth the first and she was a fabulous Queen the one thing that people wanted uh was just set to get as close as they possibly could to the uh the luster of her presence and somehow to to share in it a bit I believe this nation would not be as United as it is had it not been for her and her example today we need a special kind of Courage Akai needed in battle but a kind which makes us stand up for everything that we know is right everything that is true and honest the kind of Courage that can withstand the subtle Corruption of the cynics so that we can show the world but we are not afraid of the future [Music] she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June the 2nd 1953 after the early death of her father when suddenly the pomp ritual and tradition of centuries reached out to claim her [Music] head of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth since the young age of 25. she was the most famous woman in the world but above mere celebrity outside politics a constant background figure in every British life when she was born in April 1926 nobody expected that she was Royal but not regarded as a future Queen here she is Princess Elizabeth muley third in line to the throne those who knew her spoke of a child whose Focus rarely wavered and by the age of five at a photographic session already the object of obsessive public gaze she never went to school or had ordinary friends relying instead on the companionship of her younger sister Princess Margaret [Music] she was brought up with the greatest care and affection but also as Queen Mary is reported to have said she was brought up sensibly she joined the Girl Guides and the Sea Rangers a serious-minded girl a king's daughter from the age of 10 striding into a strongly military and hierarchical world what is proved media for inspection this was her first public engagement ceremony at Windsor Castle princess Elizabeth celebrated her 16th birthday by inspecting the Grenadier guards in her capacity as Colonel of the regiment after the ceremony there were presentations and informal conversations and this final record of the occasion [Music] her first public speech before the cameras [Music] very close ties with it but no speech embodied her character and belief more than the ones she gave in South Africa on her 21st birthday when she pledged herself as a kind of sacrifice to the British state I declare before you all it's my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service enter the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong God help me to make good My Vow and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it she says I pledge myself to serve you and by the way the you here is not just people in London or even in England it is the whole then our Empire becoming the Commonwealth we learned from it that the Queen's sense of Duty came above everything else above marriage above Parenthood she is pledging herself to serve but where did this sense of Duty come from her early life was crucial she'd watched her grandfather the king Emperor George V at his silver jubilee in 1935 and then in dramatic even scandalous circumstances her father was called upon to step into his brother's shoes this is Windsor Castle and now that I have been succeeded by my brother my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him but you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility without the help and support of the woman I love it was as if a deep line had been scored across the history of these islands and also the history of the monarchy Edward VII's Reign lasted just 325 days he was the first British monarch to abdicate he did so in order to marry the twice divorced American Wallace Simpson with no children the crown went to his younger brother the Duke of York a quiet family man whose happy marriage to Elizabeth beau's lion had borne the two girls Elizabeth and Margaret the abdication in December 1936 caused a political crisis it divided the nation and there was talk about whether the monarchy itself would survive but I mean it's tremendous shock to a rather stayed and very settled Society and the institution that was at the apex of the political and administrative systems so it's quite hard now in a secular age more secular age and a more understanding age about divorce and personal preferences and all the rest of it to appreciate just what a lightning flash December 1936 was when King George VI came to the throne the princesses were moved to Buckingham Palace when she was told a horrified Elizabeth replied what do you mean forever this mean you'll be Queen asked her sister Princess Margaret I suppose it does she was born into this really happy family they had dogs they had a lovely family life and they were very secure little unit and a very loving little unit and then suddenly the security of her life went out the window leaving the comfortable private home in Piccadilly the task was thrust towards them and the whole family had to learn to embrace it she took it very seriously I think the example that she had from her father as well as her mother was absolutely crucial to her understanding of of what being a monarch actually meant she grew up watching her father as he overcame his shyness to become the face of the Empire at War he'd arranged for practical things foreign office papers she would be shown and so on so she picked up from him essential ingredients of kingship in the realm the whole lot but also she was aware of the Affairs of State in 1939 when war broke out it was suggested that the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated hurriedly to Canada Queen Elizabeth their mother said I should die if I had to leave the children won't go without me I won't leave the king and the King will never leave in daylight between 350 and 400 enemy aircraft were launched in two attacks against London and Southeast England while her parents spent their days working in London returning to Windsor Castle at night Elizabeth watched as her mother courted the Press boosting the nation's morale and joined in along with her sister in their first radio broadcast in October 1940. thousands of you in this country have had to leave your home and be separated from your fathers and mothers My Sister Margaret Rose and I feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all there was a sense that she wanted to say that she understood how difficult it had been for others her age it's almost the first time that we saw her reaching out to her future subjects four years later eighteen-year-old princess Elizabeth joined the war effort as a member of the auxiliary territorial service joining any branch of the Armed Forces in a total war would leave a very great imprint upon you the comradeship the knee for shared fortitude and also doing one's bit very very important when you have a family on the throne that the family does its bit with the rest of the country at times of duress I think that her majesty herself was affected by the experience of that second world war and I think she never forgot watching the whole Commonwealth come to the aid of the United Kingdom in its Darkest Hour [Applause] that the king had broadcast his message to the people of Britain the British Empire and the Commonwealth of nation the queen and I know and the audios which you have endured throughout the Commonwealth and Empire people came from the six corners of the then British Empire to volunteer to help the United Kingdom remain safe because they were seen as the emblem of Freedom almost right up to the end London and Southern England have been under five London certainly had as much right as anywhere to celebrate Victory and London certainly did on the 8th of May 1945 as victory in Europe was announced the crowds shouted for the king the princesses couldn't resist the lure of the swarming streets we went on the balcony in nearly every hour six times and then when the excitement of the floodlights being switched on got through to us my sister and I realized we couldn't see what the cribs were enjoying so we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves I remember lines of Unknown People linking arms and walking down Whitehall all of us just swept Along on a tide of happiness and relief [Applause] after Crossing Green Park we stood outside and shouted we want the king I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life [Applause] these new beginnings saw the princess emerged from the war as a woman in love having set her heart on the naval officer Lieutenant Philip mcbatten an impoverished Prince from an exiled Greek royal family foreign decided to make anything of it as it happened was at my wedding in October 1946. meanwhile at the entrance to the Abbey Prince Philip of Greece waits to escort the royal family from their car and as a famous photograph which is often published of him taking her fur coat at the door of Ramsey Abbey and sort of looking at each other and I think that started a real interest because but I think people thought aha at that point the royal family and Princess Elizabeth's fiancee have permitted these special film studies to be made in response to the rapidly mounting worldwide interests in the forthcoming Royal Wedding on the 20th of November in Westminster Abbey in the evening londoners who had been waiting outside the palace for hours made their feelings perfectly clear when the princess and her fiance came out onto the balcony the wedding and immense thousands had assembled overnight others had arrived at door all eagerly waiting to see and ensure the Royal processions was a if you think of a family wedding and multiply it hundreds of times it was that sort of atmosphere that really spread through the country [Music] for my wedded husband the heaven from this day forward foreign following the king and queen in the procession where Queen Mary princess Andrew of Greece the bridegroom's mother and King Hawkins of Norway the wedding was the first extravagant public display after the war drawings scattered and out-of-work Royals from across Europe and reminding the British of a grander age they'd almost forgotten how they cheered the happy pair when they came out onto the balcony what a wonderful picture the princess made looking most lovely in her magnificent gun and standing happily beside her husband foreign the two of them were walking out together into a life of Relentless observation she would lean on him heavily for humor advice and spontaneity as they began a journey in which every outside smile every turn of the head every wave was dutifully filmed it was an outstandingly successful marriage the common part is that they loved each other and went on loving each other and I had that rather um rare capacity both as individuals and as a couple always to put other people before themselves so I think they really did think of themselves as a sharing a very important job he would never interfere on constitutional issues on issues of um to do with sort of government programs Etc but he was incredibly useful to bounce ideas off to get his views on things leaving London Airport on Saturday in one of the Viking aircraft of the king's flight on which is blazing the Royal badge was his Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh lieutenant in the Royal Navy Bound for Malta and service afloat it was on the island of Malta that princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip spent their happiest days as a young couple relatively free relatively private I think for the princess it was um a marvelous experience to be able to live a fairly Anonymous life because people were very sensible and realized that you know they didn't want to be treated differently and I think it was a very special experience to be able to live as a private individual for a change in Malta the prince took up Polo and the princess found a hobby of her own and this is what she filmed capturing the greatest and enduring loves of her life horses and her husband dynasties of course need children and On Cue this is the first time for two centuries that a prince in line of succession to the throne has borne the name Charles a year into their marriage private home movies captured their newborn a baby boy it was rare to see the princess so relaxed playful unguarded a glimpse of the ordinary life she lived behind the railings and the ceremonial private feeling and public duty were always intention unlike her Prince Charles was a future king from his court and two years later came the birth of their second child a one-month-old baby Princess Anne this was the first public appearance but she appeared blissfully but the family was about to suffer a shattering blow in 1952 King George VI was Gravely ill he sent his daughter and her new husband on a tour of Australia and New Zealand with a private holiday in Kenya it would be the last time they would see one another in Kenya Prince Philip broke the news to the queen of her father's death [Music] flying back to London she was said to have been in tears staring out of the window contemplating the future official Britain was waiting to claim her [Music] the death of the king at the age of 56 meant that her life changed forever the mother of two young children came to the throne at 25. well I would it must have been a terrible shock in many ways you could imagine at that age when presumably she'd hoped that she'd have a chance to to do other things and you know bring up her family and us um and have more time to adjust [Music] it took 16 months to plan but on June the 2nd 1953 Queen Elizabeth II's coronation transfixed a country which was still emerging from austerity and rationing the barriers could hardly hold back the multitudes flooding into the great squares every country of the Commonwealth was represented in that vast crop it was the first television occasion in this country and BBC television was the only television network in Western Europe and it was an extraordinary affirmative and positive moving event and at last the coach [Applause] one of the things that struck me most Fed was the very beginning of the service when the queen came in and went past the throne on which he would sit and by herself knelt in prayer at the high altar and there's a profound symbolism there of the head of state giving her allegiance to God before anyone gives their allegiance to her the queen anointed bless and consecrate you're anointed under God on the law for her that's the moment you actually become Queen okay foreign essentially unchanged for over a thousand years the queen was crowned [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] face it's the Christian phase has been astonishingly important to the queen and it's been accompanied by a real discipline observation Church going and I think it's been rooted in a life of Prayer and I think one of the interesting things about the queen is that she would always have been surprised that other people didn't take prayer so much for granted as she did if this day draws to be closed I know that my mud will be not only the solemnity and beauty of the ceremony but the inspiration of your loyalty and affection I thank you all from a full heart God bless you all it was a choice moment it was a moment to linger on it was a moment to save her there she was with her dazzling consult Prince Philip at the lot you know Stardust doesn't sum it up [Music] 27 million people had watched the ceremony on television but not these private family moments captured for the queen herself behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace they remind us that the monarchy and family are the same thing Prince Charles now four years old was the first child ever to watch his mother being crowned sovereign sitting on his grandmother's knee Princess Anne was too young to attend I should never forget her when he was small your bath and she came in practicing wearing the crown with all the coronation marvelous moments I shouldn't I should never forget now she was Sovereign of the United Kingdom Australia New Zealand and Canada and head of state of a further 14 independent territories head of the Church of England the Royal Navy the Army the Royal Air Force and of course the Commonwealth the full waste and glitter of one of the world's last 24 carat monarchies and on slim young shoulders her early Reign was a golden time she and Prince Philip set off on a tour of commonwealth countries including New Zealand and Australia she first came in 1954 when I was 14 or 15. and it was the first ever visit to Australia by a reigning monarch and it created incredible interest it was a big event I think the reason people responded to her so well is the love that she had for the Commonwealth was palpable every particle of that territorial Empire she cherished as she did every particle of her United Kingdom a monarch and a mother Queen Elizabeth II was the first reigning British sovereign to have a child since the days of Queen Victoria with the birth of prince Andrew in 1960. Prince Edward was born four years later Princess Anne is 15 Prince Charles 17. as Heir Apparent Prince Charles received the title of Prince of Wales when he was still a boy to help him understand its full significance the queen required him to be formally invested at 20. I remember very well being sadly nervous to say the least of having to walk up through the whole of the castle and have this Coronet which was other sadly revolutionary design plonked onto my head and then go and kneel in front of them to take the oath hi Charles Prince of Wales to become your liege man of life and limb he was a very proud moving and rather humbling moment I thought [Music] in keeping with modern times they have come closer to their peoples than ever before [Applause] [Music] in the weeks before his investiture a candid television portrait of the Royals was watched by two-thirds of the population it gave an insight into how the royal family lived in 1960s Britain I was wondering if find something to for the sapphires that you could wear with silver bouquets so can we remember that yes [Music] the Queen's juggling of motherhood and monarchy was much questioned over the years but not it should be said by her children the holiday times were pretty well kept actually from our perspective and our holidays were they were nearly always around partly because he included all the things that she enjoyed and that included the countryside the dogs the horses and and just being out and about and being able to get away a bit from that public gaze and I do have a very happy memories of childhood up in Scotland Balmoral in the summer and everything and uh yes it did um I was very lucky to have her as a mother she was always the queen because that was really important for all of us but she was always my mother so that is how you would remember her the happiest times have inevitably that we'd spend together was would be on holidays so by moral and and Sandringham stand out very very clearly as favorite places because of the time that we spent together as a as a family great interest in in things I was doing I remember being when I was sent off to school and everywhere else I was always accompanied by a note saying I was to be treated just like everybody else she was working and so we didn't see much of her during the day because of the duties but in the evening just the same as any other family we would get together we would always see them at weekends we would always go down to Winter's Castle my teeth is just strong enough to go we went appendages that should be seen and not heard um we were definitely um the priority yeah the relationship was patently about periods away doing things which couldn't be altered programs which were set an attempt to always have a sort of regular time slot for the children Brittany was particularly special those were the times when probably felt that um you know the queen was the most relaxed and was the furthest away from you know that the uh the pressures of of the job in the state but there was a you know there was always a sense of there were other things which were extremely important which had to be had to be dealt with and places had to be gone to I suddenly accompanied her on tours in the early days and that was probably the best way of realizing what was what was expected of you and what how to respond it wasn't necessarily very easy because of course the spotlight's on you from from the word go so you don't exactly learn in the quiet [Music] it was a very special relationship and and apart from my three brothers were the only people who have that relationship so that's that's how I remember her [Music] so family first but only after hours day after day constitutional Duty almost overwhelmed the Queen's life starting with an Endless River of official documents we used to Center up a red box see every evening full of cabinet papers intelligence reports telegrams it would always come back the next day red ticked off since the days of Winston Churchill she knew every important secret of the British State something shared by nobody else as head of state only the Monarch has the power to summon or end a session of Parliament and appoint a prime minister and she appointed plenty and knew them well seeing each in regular weekly meetings [Music] I think all prime ministers would say the same they're they're an immensely therapeutic event it's like a a priest no matter how appalling your confession may be about what's been going on and she had heard it all before and she had seen it all before and that was immensely concerning it's the one place where a prime minister can sit down with somebody who is knowledgeable as the queen always was knowledgeable and know that nothing's going to be briefed out from that meeting there won't be any leaks from that meeting you're both just talking to each other one to one when things were really tough and difficult you know decisions uh War and Peace or yeah even I found what if there was a crisis within government those audiences were a chance to talk to someone with that acquired wisdom things that I literally could not discuss with anybody else and she was brilliant without ever giving an opinion to nonetheless give advice Beyond regular meetings with her prime ministers for most of her Reign the queen was engaged in a Relentless round of ceremonial duties from the garcha parade at Windsor to Garden parties at Buckingham Palace and holyrood house with more than 30 000 guests attending each year in her lifetime the queen conferred more than 400 000 honors and awards by her recognizing the work that they were doing the sense of Pride and self-worth that she gave to people is something that is was so valuable each Dune saw the celebration of her official birthday at trooping the color [Music] until the latter years of her Reign the queen turned up for about 400 official engagements every year in the UK and across her Reign she made more than 270 foreign trips each year a thousand diplomats mingled at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the royal family with every single one of them expecting at least a few sentences whenever we did engagements which required all the family to be together we would often discuss afterwards funny things that had happened and she loved to hear all of those stories she had the most wonderful sense of humor [Music] your tight schedule I'm going to see 16 people I may not look so good tomorrow in 1991 the queen was officially welcomed by the United States President George Bush Senior unfortunately no one adjusted her Podium instead of the head of state the world's press and television saw only the Hat of state it is 15 years since our last visit to Washington Mr Speaker Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II his Royal Highness to Duke of Edinburgh two days later at a meeting of the U.S Senate the queen made it quite clear that she'd noticed I do hope you can see me today from where you are foreign [Applause] there were serious challenges to be Queen meant to weather all the storms of the changes of atmosphere that blew in around her by the 1970s a rougher and more politically extreme decade overt republicanism began to be voiced particularly in Scotland some students started banging on the window shouting Queen out groups of students many drinking beer and wine were almost everywhere Between Women obscene Sans were sung an extinct Farm was thrown our students protested that the amount of money spent on the visit the queen appeared unruffled and none of the students actually reached her Silver Jubilee celebration of 1977 was in one way a test of the institution of monarchy itself [Applause] she easily passed it with the help of the biggest street parties ever seen and an emotional statement reiterating the promise she had first made as a princess on a birthday long ago when I was 21 I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God's help to make good that vow although that vow was made in my salad days when I was Green in judgment I do not regret nor attract one word of it she wasn't going to Flinch or step away her resolution would be tested time and time again and never more brutally than when in 1979 the republicanism of the Northern Ireland troubles came horribly close to home the man she called Uncle Dickie Lord Louis mountbatten was murdered by the IRA on a family boating trip a huge amount of private grief for the queen but she would have known that for Prince Philip her husband it would have been devastating knowing that he'd lost you know probably the second most important person in his life I think it added a sense of fragility really brought home the reality of the fact that actually the Royals and their supporters could be targets and that effectively rocked the royal family to its core in her lifetime the most serious challenges to the status of monarchy came not from external factors but internal family troubles not a paradox really because the house of Windsor the self-styled family monarchy prided itself on upholding traditional Christian values after her own wedding the queen gave a speech denouncing divorce but the modern monarchy couldn't escape marital breakdown the first divorcee in the Queen's close family Circle was her only sister Princess Margaret in 1960 she married Anthony Armstrong Jones and in 1978 they divorced the Queen's first child to marry was Princess Anne who wed Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and in 1986 the nation celebrated the wedding of prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson they separated in the same year as Princess Anne's divorce 1992 [Music] I shall look back undiluted pleasure in the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondence it has turned out to be an anus horribullius foreign this year of upheaval also saw Windsor Castle catch fire on what was the Queen's 45th wedding anniversary the castle occupied by a royal family for almost a thousand years was partially gutted by the most humdrum accident a spotlight setting fire to a curtain well I don't think any of us will forget you know the sight of our diminutive Sovereign in that raincoat and cape and hood you know in the rain looking at the damage and how it was being dealt with but 1992 this year of Royal trauma was overwhelmed by the news of another more dramatic marriage breakdown it is announced from Buckingham Palace that with regret the prince and princess of Wales have decided to separate separation then led to divorce something few people thought possible back in 1981 when Prince Charles heir to the British throne married Lady Diana Spencer with no expense spared this had been one of the great public weddings of all time watched by a global audience of 750 million people and what an extraordinary moment for the new Princess of Wales to look out this sea of human beings who now will feel repealed that they're in some way owner at the time the future of the monarchy had never seemed more secure than with the birth of Prince William of Wales in 1982. two years later a second son was born Harry appeared for the cameras wearing the christening robe of haunted lace worn by generations of Royal babies for his father Prince Charles it was an excuse to give an instant history lesson to Young Prince William granny was christened in this and I was but by the mid-1990s the final scenes and confrontations between them were being played out in public foreign I was very much at that stage the intermediary with the princess the queen was looking at pragmatic ways in which she could help the princess in establishing a new life I think the queen accepted that this was the um the sad outcome of of that she kept in close touch with the princess then in August 1997 came news which shook not only the monarchy but the world just after midnight the black Mercedes hit the curb cannoned into a concrete pillar of an underpass then bounced into the side wall concussion of broken arm lacerations of the thigh shouldn't give enormous cause for concern Stephen I have to interrupt there because within the last few moments the Press Association in Britain citing unnamed British sources has reported that Diana Princess of Wales has died foreign [Music] came to a sudden head much of Britain was convulsed with grief publicly displayed grief and almost Mediterranean outpouring of grief [Music] as the nation mourned it was the queen herself who was criticized for staying silent that was a very difficult time for the monarchy because frankly there was a there was a distance that arose very sharply between the public reaction Princess Diana's death and the traditional distance of the the monarchy and reserve of the monarchy in in situations like that and over the the days of that that week she was I think genuinely wrestling with what she felt was appropriate and what she felt was necessary and was it possible to find the right compromise between those two things for four days after Diana's death the queen stayed with her grandsons at Balmoral as public anger grew there were two young princes who had lost their mother and how the family coped with that was very much in her mind I think it was one of the occasions when she put family Center Stage for a few days at the same time as trying to work out how the nation honored if you like the princess the queen came back to London I remember that the atmosphere was really threatening large crowds of people but silent as the Queen's car came to the end of constitution Hill to approach Buckingham Palace you you began to hear a slight Applause amongst the crowd this is a tragically the queen is about she is she's getting out of the car with and is going to talk to people it's extremely unusual this is this is almost unprecedented I I think perhaps the last time that the queen was among her people outside the palace was was the day the war in Europe ended and from that moment it sort of felt that the queen had come back that the criticism that had been made had in a way been answered and the atmosphere did change after that on the fifth day after the princess's death the queen finally talked to the people in her calmly familiar voice she said something difficult and unfamiliar it was a generous admission of Diana's power what I say to you now is your queen and a day from my heart first I want to pay tribute to Diana myself she was an exceptional and gifted human being in good times and bad she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness it was interesting in the conversations I had with her that week I mean I could tell the hesitation and the reserve but what came through ultimately and predominated was what she thought was necessary and right not just for the monarchy but for the country she does duty and her Duty was to lead the country through a difficult time even if actually some of the difficulty and some of the antagonism and anger was directed at her six days after her death Diana's funeral took place at Westminster Abbey and as the coffin passed the queen paid her respects in a way she had never been seen to do before I was standing right behind the queen and completely to my surprise the queen gave a bow it wasn't a nod it was quite a bow it hadn't been discussed beforehand at all and I think it was something that came completely from her and it was a wonderful gesture [Music] she was the queen of the stiff upper lip she didn't like displays of emotion particularly over what she saw as personal private issues monarchy meant to her stability dignity and continuity even in the face of direct threats against her [Music] at the age of 55 during the Queen's annual birthday parade tripping the color despite the heavy presence of troops and police a man fired directly at the queen six times guards she barely flinched concentrating on controlling her frightened horse the policeman immediately dived at him about half a dozen of them I think one soldier got involved at least because he lost his bare skin and had to achieve it afterwards it turned out to be a replica gun fighting blanks the queen who carried on with the parade had no idea whether she had just narrowly escaped assassination [Music] but nothing highlighted her vulnerability and calmness more than the day in 1982 when she woke up to find a disturbed Barefoot Intruder in her bedroom the man Michael Fagan had somehow stumbled across the queen alone during his second foray into the palace he came into a place where the alarm kept going off so they the policeman and the police Lord says oh it's not alarm again switch it off the policeman who was on guard at the Queen's door and should have been there had some urgent appointment or so he thought and he knew he was colleague was coming on in a few minutes time so he nipped off startled the queen was woken up by fagin and after an exchange of words she managed to leave the room the queen was unharmed and Fagan was apprehended [Music] this Steely character was called upon at moments of national commemoration and crisis she never said very much but she was always there to give witness to what had gone before and to hear the pain what was perhaps underestimated was the personal toll it took upon her when a cold tip collapsed in the Welsh mining Village of abervan in 1966 it engulfed a row of houses and an infant School of 144 people who died 116 were children [Music] the queen waited eight days before visiting something she reportedly deeply regretted perhaps that was why she would return to abervan several times during her reign and 30 years later when a gunman ran a mock in the Scottish town of dunblane killing a teacher and 16 school children the queen knew what was called for there we were in dumbling Cathedral and the queen had met the emergency services and the councilors and various representatives of the community to commiserate on behalf of the country and there had been a moment set aside in the Vestry a totally private room with nobody else present just the queen and any parents who were there to my astonishment there were some 20 parents including one mother who was so prostrate with grief she could not stand I remember the queen putting her handbag deliberately down and she physically braced herself before going into the room because she knew who was in there she knew that somehow she was going to have to convey the sympathy of the nation and to react as a mother and grandmother when terrorist bombs hit London in July 2005 the queen expressed what was close to being her personal philosophy keep calm and carry on I want to express my admiration for the people of our capital city who in the aftermath of yesterday's bombings are calmly determined to resume their normal lives that is the answer to this outrage making her presence felt in an uneasy City still alive to the threat on the Saturday of that week we had a huge parade on horse guards as part of that parade the Queen's program which was all set all agreed was that she would go down the mall in an open top Land Rover and I remember vividly um this this immediate reaction as London was locked down um this question of well what on Earth do we do about the parade and her instinctive view was the prey goes ahead life was going to go on and she was not going to be cowed by terrorism being seen is essential to the monarchy survival I have to be seen to be believed she once said and it's been calculated that the queen personally met more than 3 million people in the 1970s she invented the Royal Walkabout a way of meeting as many people as possible and it became a signature feature of her reign [Music] she opened up the doors of the occupied palaces to paying visitors and she introduced theme days to promote British culture to be in Buckingham Palace never in my wildest dreams that I ever feel I would be here with my wife but behind her public face was a side of her character known only to the few underneath everything she was quite a shy person without any sense of sort of ego which is extraordinary if you think of her life if you think of her upbringing if you think of her role I would often see her entering a room which would fall silent people would as a reaction for fall back as it were creating a space around her I think she found that actually very difficult difficult or not she did it all her life her reward was that the landmark occasions proved her popularity for the golden jubilee in 2002 a poor turnout was predicted by the press and yet people crowded into Central London in fact it was the largest gathering there since the end of the second World War the year saw her visit Jamaica New Zealand Australia Canada and 70 British towns and cities culminating in the party at the palace to Mark the Queen's 50th year on the throne foreign [Music] was overwhelmed by the enormous outpouring of public Goodwill and she watched the crowds in the mouth utterly astonished by how many people had turned up bus 2002 was a year of mixed blessings one that dealt her a double personal blow in February Princess Margaret died at the age of 71. the Queen's younger sister could hardly have been more different known for her glamorous and extrovert nature but throughout life the two had been constant companions I have been so touched by the kindness shown by so many of you over these recent months at Easter the queen mother died at the age of 101 almost as much of a national character as the queen herself and certainly much more of a personality with her cheerful reputation for extravagance and her Rye sometimes shocking sense of humor she had long been a foil to her more serious-minded daughter [Music] after the deaths of the two women closest to her the queen almost inevitably carried on working though with a renewed awareness of her place in life my grandmother and she was quite different on my mind whenever she fell to ever ill have a difficulty exhausted she always went out and did what was required and that does rub off you know I think and so of course she was going to go on because there's something you know wider and greater that has to be has to be taken care of [Music] her reach was far and wide she was the first British monarch to set foot in Russia since the days of Zion Nicholas II [Music] the first ever to visit China and to officially receive a pope on a state visit and in 2011 the queen became the first British monarch to set foot in the Republic of Ireland one hundred years earlier her grandfather King George V visited when this soil was unified with Britain but this was the queen in green the irish-speaking Mistress of tact [Music] foreign [Music] when the queen stood up and made that speech the first words of which were in Gaelic it it just melted the entire country with huge affection for it the fact that she was in the island in the Republic and given such a great reception and there she was the the embodiment of everything that going back half a century going back to the time when she first began to Reign would have been thought of as impossible to all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy that whole visit and the dignity with which she uh did everything and the visit to croak Park and the war memorials was immensely powerful League coming in at the end of so many years and after so much hurt and pain was a a wonderfully healing reconciling moment which I think out of a fan effect and uh has made a fantastic difference looking further afield her most important International role was clearly head of the Commonwealth embracing a third of the world's population being head of the Commonwealth as she is head of a worldwide multi-racial organization that brings people of different races religions backgrounds cultural dispositions together we have 2.4 billion people 60 of whom are under the age of 30. all of whom come from different economic backgrounds and because she's known so many of the leaders throughout that period she's brought wisdom and judgment and a historical perspective that I think no one else has been able to give I think uh as the head of the Commonwealth she has given an inspiration she has given encouragement she came to my country for Spain when we hosted sugar in 2009 she was in our part of Spain there and she's gone to any part of the Commonwealth thank you very much the queen will always be remembered as the person who gave the continuity to the Commonwealth through all of the Decades when she was the leader of it it's something which can never be replicated I think in history in any other organization where else have you got a person who who's been meeting a 36 year old prime minister from Dominica and the same person was sitting alongside nehru and Menzies and Churchill so the combination of that longevity and wisdom has meant that people have been able to ask her about tricky situations because she has been through so many of them the last Decades of the Queen's Reign saw her as a revered mother grandmother and great-grandmother this was a period of gradual careful modernization one potential future problem for the monarchy melted away in 2005 when she gave her blessing for the wedding of Prince Charles to the divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles the Prince of Wales and her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall the years that followed saw the newly titled Duke and Duchess of Cornwall take on more of the engagements traditionally associated with the now more elderly Queen including visits to many of the more distant countries and shouldering more responsibility at Commonwealth summits I've watched as my mama has carried out all these communal duties for a long time it must be quite difficult for a knot going I learned a lot from it and tried I hoped you know to fulfill it in a way that she might have been quite proud of I don't know and the Next Generation continued to move Center State [Music] when the Queen's grandson Prince William married Catherine Middleton it was a spectacular example of modernity mixed with tradition flags and foliage inside Westminster Abbey more than half a century on from the Queen's own wedding there by welcoming such an authentically modern middle-class recruitian Catherine the queen continued the long-term strategy of constantly re-stitching the monarchy into the changing social fabric of the country [Music] [Applause] in 2012 the queen reached an historic milestone the only other British monarch to have reached 60 years on the throne had been Queen Victoria [Music] this is our opportunity to thank you and my father for always being there for us for inspiring us with your selfless Duty and service and for making us proud to be British [Music] [Applause] Diamond Jubilee year also brought evidence of a sense of fun and buttoned lip with the opening of the 2012 London Olympics during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London there was Daniel Craig is James Bond arriving at Buckingham Palace foreign [Music] and everybody wherever you were in the world was thinking exactly the same thought [Music] who would be playing the queen good evening good evening your majesty and [Music] it had the same effect on everybody who's watching they just couldn't believe it [Music] fact that my mother cut back completely to herself and the team that were there and didn't tell anybody was just brilliant Majesty the queen in this Diamond Jubilee year proving that she certainly has a sense of humor and preparing to open these games as her father King George VI did back in 1948 and her great-grandfather Edward the Sam in 1908. while upholding tradition she clearly wasn't constrained by it and was always willing to welcome change in 2018 there were Smiles all round as the Queen's grandson Prince Harry married Meghan Markle American divorced and of mixed race Harry and Megan's wedding I think can be summed up as the ultimate fairy tale there was Jubilation that a very popular Prince had finally found the one the Sun was shining there was the Glorious nature of the carriage ride down the Long Walk which was hugely iconic but also this idea of a new beginning this was the first mixed race woman to marry into the British royal family you know they had hopes and Ambitions and dreams and you know people talked about how this brought the royal family more in into the 21st century it was definitely groundbreaking and it was just a really really joyous day her own marriage gave the queen great joy for 73 years married to Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh with most of her life defined by that Union Queen has said very often throughout her Reign Prince Philip was an enormous part of her life and an unbelievable part of the success of her Reign he was her strengthened stay I don't think that she could have possibly done the job that she did for all those years without him by her side Elizabeth II became Queen in her twenties and lived to become the longest reigning British monarch she understood very well her unique situation she taught herself ways of handling herself in public and she stuck to them but who knew her thoughts a rare occasion when her private voice was heard was in Elizabeth r a BBC film marking her 40 years on the throne most people have a job and then they go home in this existence the job and the life go on together because you can't really divide it up I mean luckily I'm a quick reader so I can get through a lot of reading in quite a short time so I do rather begrudge some of the hours that I have to to do instead of being outdoors and in 2018 she shared her memories of wearing the crown at the coronation heavy well I think it's three pounds or something [Music] quite heavy comfortable man no nothing like that is comfortable a little after that she allowed herself to be filmed strolling Through The Gardens of Buckingham Palace with her fellow non-egenarian sir David Attenborough and all the countries in the Commonwealth have agreed to allocate parts of their native Forest yeah for conservation and it's called the Queen's canopy well that'll be marvelous a wonderful Legacy [Music] she did it so marvelously that it was a conversational exchange I was going to say Sundial neatly planted in the shade isn't it good yes I'm amazed to say myself saying I thought the Sundial was perhaps not well placed bearing in mind it was under the shade of a tree oh that's pretty cheeky really um but she laughed so I thought of that that it was planted in the shed it wasn't in the shade originally I'm sure but um maybe we could move it the final years were a master class in dedication to duty no matter what occurred the queen maintained her diplomatic composure throughout public crisis and difficulties closer to home good evening prince Andrew who's been engulfed in controversy has announced that he will not undertake any Royal duties for the foreseeable future in 2019 the Queen's Second Son the Duke of York stepped back from public duties over serious allegations about his private life which caused what he described as a major disruption to my family's work in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Megan announced their sudden departure from life as senior Royals to forge a new future in North America they are going with the best wishes of the queen in a statement from Buckingham Palace she said Harry Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved members of my family she went on I recognized the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life [Music] but the greatest challenge of 2020 to the whole world came with the deadly coronavirus pandemic which forced populations into lockdown the queen herself was placed into quarantine at Windsor Castle from where she addressed a fearful Nation I'm speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time a time of disruption in the life of our country A disruption that has brought grief to some financial difficulties to many and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all when there were difficult times as she was incredibly important and perhaps never more soon in recent times than than during covet she was able to reach people in a way that no politician could have hoped to do a lot of the bringing of the nation together was through her we should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure better days will return we will be with our friends again we will be with our families again we will meet again we begin it was a rallying call invoking the wartime spirit [Music] and just weeks later with all public events canceled the queen marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe with another address drawing parallels between the two events foreign did exactly 75 years ago his message then was a salute to the men and women at home and abroad who had sacrificed so much in pursuit of what he rightly called a great Deliverance the war had been a total war it had affected everyone and no one was immune from its impact never give up never despair that was the message of e day never give up never despair could be described as a theme of the Queen's reign in June 2020 her official birthday ceremony trooping the color saw a paired down socially distance Affair in Windsor not in London coping with Relentless imposed changes whilst keeping the spirited tradition visible that was the Queen's task through 70 years of shifts in society and Technology something she reflected upon annually at Christmas today is another landmark because television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day these techniques of radio and television are modern but the Christmas message is timeless we need reminding of it this was the queen on matters closest to her heart the Commonwealth the military religion and family of course for many this time of year will be tinged with sadness some mourning the loss of those dear to them and others missing friends and family members distance for safety when all they really want for Christmas is a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand and shortly afterwards the queen would experience her own loss in February the Duke of Edinburgh was hospitalized not because of covert but for longer term issues foreign home for what became his final weeks he died peacefully at Windsor on April 9 2021 aged 99. the ceremonial Royal Funeral at Windsor Castle was modified due to government restrictions [Music] it had military at its heart as the Duke had wanted it was as unique A Farewell as the man himself [Music] despite the Pomp and ceremony only 30 people were allowed to attend the service itself all of them socially distanced leaving the enduring image of the masked Monarch alone grieving the deaths of her husband for the first time since coming to the throne the queen would Reign without her consort [Music] and after a period of official Mourning she was straight back to work my Lord's Prayer besided the queen continued to lead the nation I think we would all now say with an affection and respect for her that grew and developed she didn't get left behind as the world endured a second year of pandemic the queen carried on fulfilling engagements although not always in person good morning your majesty your majesty there you are it's a great honor for the armed forces that you've taken the time to meet some of our people serving around the world she was able to still do and still have conversations that she would have had if she had been physically visiting places I'm currently in Curacao at the moment ma'am I've gone past months right the British Virgin Islands and it's been absolutely incredible seeing all these different places where I'm very glad to have been able to meet all of you and the best of luck and I think that was really important to people that she was still there for them the Queen's enthusiastic connection with the people was clearer than ever at her Platinum Jubilee as she appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony it was the climax of a spectacular four-day summer celebration this was Quite a feat unmatched by any other British monarch 70 uninterrupted years her decline in health meant the queen was largely absent from Jubilee events so it was her family who took Center Stage never the slightest doubt however who remained the central Focus and the 96 year old had lost none of her sense of humor or capacity to surprise [Music] emergencies so do I I keep mine in here oh later summing up the remarkable mood her son Charles made a warm personal tribute I know the queen is watching celebrations with having I hope finished her marmalade sandwich including immense regret that she cannot be here in person with us this evening but Windsor Castle is barely 20 miles away so if we cheer loudly enough she might might just hear us so let's all join together [Applause] [Music] as an individual she wrote her own job description as Queen Elizabeth II she held the survival of the monarchy in her hands in a world which has changed beyond recognition [Music] she was always there The Queen Is Dead but in the most direct way she lives on she leaves her children [Music] grandchildren great-grandchildren and this is a less remote royal family who now face the journey without her into unknown Waters and the future of the House of Windsor lies in their hands and their judgments and of course in ours too foreign strength has a constitutional Monarch was fundamentally strength of character [Music] in an age of self-gratification she never forgot her Duty [Music] she didn't take herself too seriously but she took her role very seriously indeed [Music] she wasn't like anyone else and she knew it we knew it and there will never be anyone else like her again if we said the queen everyone knew we were talking about Queen Elizabeth II and I think she'll always be the queen the best I think that this world has to offer she had this kind of talismanic a magnetic ability to make people feel better about themselves and people came away from being with her chuffed bits I think she genuinely was also a an immensely happy and positive person and that communicated itself to to everyone in her time as Queen we moved from Imperial Decline and leaving Empire to kind of country we are now and the queen has led through that that is an often unmentioned but extraordinary remarkable achievement I think it was a sense of Duty it's something that money couldn't Buy it's either within you or it's not and it's something that she had in spades I think it was instilled in her by her parents and it's something that she continued [Music] I don't think that she ever [Music] stopped learning huge experience after that length of time [Music] um she had this this uh innate ability to be able to come up with the rightful words and and to be able to be in the right place at the right time the expression mother takes in so many aspects of your life and your experience [Music] which part of that is is most important I'm not quite sure but the very factor that she was your mother and she was there all the time um you missed that she was always there and representing this this country and indeed many other countries in the Congress or the realms if I can torture about to settle the other and um and that that's always been something I think that's well very difficult not to have it I mean [Music] all that she could do she has now done a constant presence in all of our Lives has gone and Britain becomes a different place without her [Music] I would like to read you a few lines from Pilgrim's Progress because I'm sure we can say with Mr Valiant for truth these words though with great difficulty I am God hither yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am My Sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage and my courage and skill to him that can get it my marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles who now will be my rewarder [Music] foreign

Channel: Mrs. Philibet

Views: 221,098

Keywords:

Id: UWagsdYHx8c

Length: 91min 7sec (5467 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 06 2022