Queen's 'extraordinary' way of stopping monarchy from collapsing amid crisis
EXCLUSIVE: As the country prepares to mark the centenary of the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, we look back at her 70-year reign and explore how she salvaged success from crisis
April 21 will mark a century since the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, whose remarkable 70-year reign has left an enduring impact, and whose presence is still deeply missed across the nation.
In the four years since she passed away on 8 September 2022, the royals have faced some profound challenges, navigating both King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses, but also managing Andrew’s shocking fall from grace and the Sussexes’ ongoing estrangement from the family.
Despite the tensions and turmoil, there is no question that the late Queen handed over a healthy baton to her son.
Click through to learn about her most testing times, and to see some incredible photographs from the years before and during her reign...
A large part of the Queen’s success lay in what royal author and historian Tessa Dunlop describes as her form of “quiet authority”, with an ability to calm even the choppiest of waters.
“Her superpower grew over time, especially towards the end of her reign, and part of that superpower came from her ‘never explain, never complain’ approach,” she tells OK!. “She had all the qualities of a national treasure, and was appreciated more and more in an increasingly noisy age."
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“She essentially gave everything she had to the role of Queen," Tessa continues. "There were, of course, huge perks to being the Head of State, but to dedicate one’s whole life to service requires sacrifice, and she demonstrated an outstanding and lifelong commitment to our monarchy.
“That dedication also speaks to her generation, which was almost the last generation that was born with a faith in the monarchy and a belief in the system. And she truly believed in it.”
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Princess Elizabeth was, of course, never expected to take the throne, but she became heir presumptive in 1936 after her uncle Edward VIII abdicated. When she suddenly ascended the throne in 1952, following the death of her father King George VI, she understood the importance of her role – despite only being 25 years old at the time.
“She took on the role of monarch long before anyone expected her to do so, and it was extraordinary how comfortable she was and how she never felt she had to prove anything to anybody,” says her former royal butler Grant Harrold.
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Grant continues, “She instantly knew how to become Queen, but she also knew how to be ‘normal’, and that’s what people liked and respected about her – we all felt we could relate to her in some way, even though she lived this extraordinary life with an extraordinary job.
“She was just as comfortable talking to a head of state as she was a young person on a walkabout, or a member of her staff. She treated everybody the same way, offered the same hospitality, the same mannerisms, the same sense of humour. Nobody was treated more importantly than anyone else.”
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But despite her being remembered as one of the most popular monarch’s Britain has ever had, her reign was not without its challenges.
The breakdown of her children’s marriages in the early 1990s, and the period immediately following the death of Princess Diana in 1997 were low points in terms of the public’s respect for the monarchy.
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