In early December, the 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom once again suffered the loss of a loved one. The Queen's Chief Daughter, duchess Grafton, died peacefully in the company of her family, just three months before her 102-year-old birthday.
This may be the only disadvantage of living too long, always sending others away on your own.
Duchess of Grafton, who accompanied the Queen for 70 years (the one who took the flowers in green)
The Duchess of Grafton has been serving the Queen since her second year on the throne. For the first 13 years, she held the position of "Lady of the Bedchamber", where she was responsible for advising and assisting the Queen in dressing and matching.
Later, the Queen's first waitress stepped down and the Duchess was promoted to mistress of the Robes. This position can be understood as the Queen's Chief Life Secretary + Administrative Secretary, she needs to accompany the Queen to all important state occasions, and is also responsible for the work arrangements of all female officials around the Queen.
Generally speaking, the lady-in-waiting of the queen's side must be a woman of noble birth or marriage to an aristocrat. They are privately employed by the Queen, do not receive wages, but are allocated "pocket money" by the royal treasury, which is quite a bit of the human touch of the old times.
The number of female officials is small, it is a lifelong system, and the Queen has reigned for nearly 70 years, and the total number is less than 10. They are the closest people to the Queen, familiar with all the privacy and lace gossip of the Queen and her royal family. In a sense, they are more trusted by the Queen than her husbands and children.
The Queen took a group photo with the female officials before her coronation
The Duchess of Grafton, six years older than the Queen, is a descendant of the Smith Bank family, whose father was president of the Rolls-Royce Group and is a distant relative of the Queen.
The Queen was very fond of and trusted this cousin, the godmother of the Duchess's daughter and had attended the baptism of the child.
In the 68 years at the Queen's side, the Duchess accompanied the Queen through many dark moments. It is said that the first time the queen encountered a family crisis, she was to talk or complain to the chief female officer + big cousin.
Some time ago, the BBC launched a documentary "The Princes and the Press", which exploded the relationship and transaction between Prince William, Prince Harry and the media.
Brotherhood is regarded as a family ugly in any country
What William Harry is a brother and brother on the surface, but in fact, each has a group of good media, often handing out notes to each other to expose black material;
What Megan because of the negative media report pressure is too much, there are psychological problems, but the royal family in order to save face, do not let her go to the psychiatrist;
Most of the royal melons are actually exploded at the behest of the royal family members, when to explode, how to explode, and what effect they hope to achieve, all of which are in the royal family's plan...
After the broadcast of "Royal Eat melon record", the Queen, Charles, William and father and son issued a rare joint statement, condemning the content of the program as exaggerated and unfounded, and even threatened to boycott the BBC.
And the queen ignored the fact that the Duchess of Grafton was already dying, and also found her for the first time to complain + try to stop it.
Now, the Duchess is driving the crane to the west, and the queen is afraid that there will be no good girlfriends who can chat together, gossip together, and complain about bad things together.
The Duchess came from a privileged background and had excellent taste.
According to royal staff, she liked to wear a head coat and dress, with a Hermès silk scarf, and a pair of leather shoes with kitten heels on her feet all year round. She spoke softly, preferring floral perfumes. People before and after are an elegant, dignified and generous image.
In addition to tidying herself up beautifully, the Duchess also helped the Queen design a lot of popular shapes.
When attending a wedding, the Queen always wears blue.
Attend the wedding of her sister, Princess Margaret
Attend the wedding of the century between the son and daughter-in-law
Attend the wedding of her granddaughter Princess Beatrice
When visiting other countries, the queen will choose clothing accessories according to local customs and customs.
A visit to Nigeria, the style of Out of Africa
On a trip to Malta, he wore a Mediterranean floral hat
Go to Zambia and dress up as Safari
When I went to Russia, I put on a mink
In informal occasions, the queen will also love beauty and choose some bold looks that are not usually worn.
The London premiere of Murder on the Orient Express, a blue silk dress with special butterfly sleeves
In conjunction with the Chelsea Flower Show, it is a shawl blue and white floral dress
Watch the show, it's a super disco-style sequin outfit
At the Scottish Palace, a Scottish plaid skirt was put on
As the Queen's most loyal friend and relative, the Duchess had little contact with the media during her lifetime and has always kept a low profile. However, no matter how long the companionship, there will be an end day.
In the face of time, everyone is fair.