As a child, Princess Elizabeth (first from right) and her sister Princess Margaret had parents who were still Dukes of York and Duchesses of York. The Duke of York later ascended the throne as King George VI.
It is often said that Queen Elizabeth II was carefree before the age of 10, had no hopes for her future royal fate, and was obviously a carefree child, who usually played with her horses and dogs, and did not have the slightest haze in her life.
Sunday, February 6, 2022, marks the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth II's succession to the throne. The young Princess Elizabeth, who is likened to the modern Princess Beatrice– the daughter of the duke of York, the second in the succession to the throne (Bertie in 1926 and Prince Andrew in this position in the current year) is a far cry from serious prospects such as succession to the throne, let alone the monarch of the 500 million people then known as the Commonwealth and the British Empire.
Thus, December 1936 became a dramatic turning point in her life's path, when her uncle David, King Edward VIII, decided to abdicate the throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorced woman, shocking the world and the entire royal family, and Elizabeth, who was only 10 years old, was dragged into the direct succession to the throne. Her father, Prince Albert, succeeded her as King George VI, and his eldest daughter immediately became his direct heir, ranking first.
In 1926, Princess Elizabeth and grandmother Queen Mary, who were still infants
One day in December of that year, people gathered in front of their family's townhouse in Piccadilly, London, and Elizabeth explained the noise outside to her six-year-old sister, Margaret Rose: "Daddy is going to be king." ”
"That means you're going to be queen?" Margaret asked.
"Yes," replied Elizabeth calmly, "I suppose so. ”
"You're so pathetic!" Her sister, speaking to Elizabeth Longford about it in the early 1980s, mentioned that she responded humorously to her sister.
But 20 years later, when Princess Margaret told historian Ben Pimlott about the incident, she chose to omit the conversation and focus on how the new heir to the throne was calm and unapologetic about her dramatic ascension to her position.
"She didn't mention it again," Princess Margaret told Pimlott.
So, what did Princess Elizabeth know when she was 10 years old? When did she know this?
Elizabeth II's first example was her dear grandfather, the often bluffy, bearded King George V (1865-1936). She called him "Grandpa of England", which shows that the little girl has mastered the essence of royal affairs.
George V was described by his official biographer, John Gore, as "socially gifted, charismatic, and intelligent". "He's neither quick-witted nor talkative."
In other words, the old king was exactly like most of his subjects. But he had a keen sense of survival—and a keen eye for symbolism.
It was George V who shrewdly discarded the English royal family's Germanic surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in 1917. It is therefore not surprising that more than a century later, the skills used by Elizabeth II during her uniquely long and extraordinary reign have impressed the world. She studied directly with the founders of the Windsor dynasty.
George V loved the sea, and the origin of his granddaughter's nickname "Lilybert" in the family was related to him. In April 1929, elizabeth appeared on the cover of Time magazine as "P'incess Lilybet" on her third birthday.
Her grandfather, however, favored spelling without the letter "y": Lilibet, as he often mentions in his meticulously maintained diary, one of the treasures of the Royal Archives of Windsor.
In 1929, Princess Lilybert was three years old.
In the spring of 1929, the old king insisted that his beloved granddaughter be taken to Bognor Regis by the sea in Sussex to visit him, when she was three years old, claiming that it was one of the two key factors in his successful recovery after nearly fatal lung surgery (the other element was that "he might be allowed to smoke").
It was in the early months of 1929 that George V first publicly expressed his desire for his granddaughter to one day ascend to the British throne.
During George V's post-operative recovery, he once said to Lilybert's father, who had visited him, "You will see that your brother will never be king." ”
In her later years, Empress Wang recalled the conversation: "I remember that we all thought it was 'ridiculous'... We looked at each other and thought this was 'nonsense'. ”
But the old king insisted on his opinion. He once asserted to a courtier with extraordinary foresight: "He will abdicate." This happened seven years later.
George V was not only worried that his eldest son David would undermine his rule when he succeeded to the throne, but also that the next person in the succession, Bertie, who was weak and suffering from lung congestion, would not last long.
The old monarch was apparently worried that the stuttering Duke of York might collapse under the pressure of the royal family' responsibilities, so it was possible that little Lilibert would be put on the throne at an early age. In that case, the logical regent was probably Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900-1974), the third son of George V; the duke was somewhat retarded.
The possibility of a young Elizabeth ascending the throne with the assistance of Uncle Henry may have been a reflection of the troubles in the heart of a sick king, but winston Churchill, the chancellor of the exchequer at the time, seemed to approve of the idea that the child might become the future queen, who had lingered in Balmoral, the royal palace the previous fall.
Churchill later became Queen Elizabeth II's first Prime Minister after her ascension to the throne. In a letter to his wife Clementine, he wrote that the young princess "had a personality." She has a self-explanatory, calm and reflective temperament that appears surprisingly in a small doll."
Painted by ce turner in 1929, the little princess Elizabeth visits her grandfather in the seaside town where King George V is recuperating
The child built a sand castle with her gradually recovering grandfather, and apparently in the process she absorbed some of the royal majesty from the emperor.
In 1936, before the end of George V's reign, there was a steady stream of formal gifts to his granddaughter—even invitations to public events—so numerous that a maid had to be put in charge of Elizabeth's affairs in York.
In Windsor Castle in the late 1920s, royal librarian Owen Morshead saw Princess Elizabeth (born April 21, 1926) being pushed in a stroller to watch the Changing of the Guard, and the captain of the Guard strode forward, paying a meticulous salute, asking the Princess to allow the Guard to continue in line.
According to Morsehead, a princess in a stroller would tilt her head in a soft hat and wave her hand in agreement. Such a young girl has grasped the weight of the national role of her grandfather "British grandfather", and has obviously begun to have some ideas of her own...
Imagine how a child's thinking would be affected when a three-year-old finds that all he needs to do is wave and nod his head, and the band will start playing, and the guards will follow your instructions— especially if your more majestic signals are multiplied?
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth on a 6-cent stamp in Newfoundland in 1932
In the summer of 1930, shortly after her fourth birthday, a wax figure of Princess Elizabeth riding on a pony made its debut at Madame Tussauds.
Two years later, the princess portrait appeared on a 6-cent stamp in Newfoundland; in the Southern Hemisphere, the British flag was raised at Princess Elizabeth's Land, a 350,000-square-mile Antarctic territory claimed by Australia, a full 100,000 square miles larger than Britain. A report in the Belfast Newsletter in the summer of 1932 said: "Every time this six-year-old child goes for a ride in the park, people will recognize her... Tourists from all directions greeted her with their hats off or waving handkerchiefs. “
In April 1933, on Princess Elizabeth's seventh birthday, she sent out tea invitations in her own envelope on her own special letterhead — blue letterhead with a crown pattern and a capital letter "E" engraved underneath the crown. That's the crown!
Princess Elizabeth (right) and her sister Princess Margaret in Windsor Gardens in the western suburbs of London in 1933
Her parents asked Philip de László, a painter active in high society, to paint a beautiful portrait of her daughter. The painter described her as "an extremely intelligent, extremely beautiful little girl... She was very popular, and... Currently regarded as the future Queen of England. ”
In May 1934, this startling claim was echoed by a reliable report from an American source:
The future Edward VIII was known to be "less enthusiastic about his destined duties." The prince's close friends commented privately that he did not expect himself to be king with the slightest pleasure."
As a result, the little princess is now undergoing "a rigorous education to be a direct heir to the British throne".
The possible source of information in North America – which was deliberately ignored by the deferential British media at the time – was the Princess's newly hired young tutor, Marion Crawford, who was described as "very pretty", "very harsh" and "very Scottish".
Her students soon gave her the nickname "Crawfi.""
The governess later became known for her best-selling revelations about the growth of the "Little Princess" in the best-selling book "Little Princess". For example, she revealed how the princesses' mothers wanted their daughters to spend less time in the classroom and how they conspired with Queen Mary to resist it.
Together with my grandmother, the governess made the sisters' education more rigorous. The stern Queen Mary believed that Princess Elizabeth should read only the "best children's books", often personally selecting books for the princesses, and designing "educational entertainment" for future monarchs, such as visiting the Tower of London.
Queen Mary's friend, countess of Airlie, recalled: "Someone as loyal to the monarchy as Queen Mary could never have lost sight of the temperament of a future queen in her favorite granddaughter. ”
At the same time, "Grandpa Britain" aims simpler. "For God's sake," he shouted at the governess, "teach Margaret and Lilybert to practice a beautiful word—that's all I ask!" My kids don't write well and write exactly the same. I like words with character. ”
Princess Elizabeth was 10 years old in 1936. From the expression on her face in the photo, it seems that she already knows what fate awaits her in the future
Foreign newspapers commented that the young princess had a much greater chance of becoming queen than the eight-year-old Victoria, who was the daughter of the old king's fourth prince, with two uncles in front of her.
In this way, it is not surprising that the astute and intellectual Elizabeth was infected by such lofty expectations.
"If I become queen," she told Crawfi, "I'm going to have to make a law that states no horseback riding on Sundays." Horses should also rest. ”
Queen Mary sensed danger. Once, when she went to a concert, she noticed her granddaughter writhing impatiently in her seat and asked her if she wanted to go home.
Answered, "Oh no, Grandmother, we can't leave before it's over." There were so many people out there waiting to see us. Grandma immediately instructed the maid to take the child away from the back door and take a taxi home.
Queen Mary did not want her eldest granddaughter to be obsessed with the flattery of others.
The queen and her husband understood that modesty, humility and a sense of service were the price royals paid for royal prestige in the age of democracy. Their motto was duty and passed on this key creed to their granddaughter– who was less important than the system.
They worked hard to make sure Lilybet was a team player.
Prince William allegedly hoped that his son George would enjoy a few years of relatively normal and joyful childhood before being informed of his imperial fate
There are indications that the future Queen Elizabeth II is likely to have a realistic concept of her future at the age of seven – at least three years before her uncle's abdication.
Interestingly, Prince William is also said to have revealed this equally challenging reality to his son George when he was seven years old – just before his child was about to face the truth about the playground at his school in London.
Like his father, Charles, William expressed his mixed feelings when he first realized the imperial fate he was carrying.
He hoped that George would enjoy at least a few years of a relatively normal life—an instinct for normalcy that might have come from the years when Elizabeth had not yet been bound by the succession to the throne.
Even though she has been promoted to captain, she has never forgotten that she was originally a player.
After ascending the throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II's reign could be divided into two parts: first nearly 30 years of relative monotony and even boring, and then suddenly plunged into a dangerous and eventful period – the marriage crisis between Prince Charles and Princess Diana in the 1980s provided a steady stream of gifts to the greedy media of the second half of the century.
It was during that time that the teachings of the young Elizabeth's childhood came into play.
The Queen needs to rely on all her weight and humility to withstand the tremors of a king's abdication: Charles, Diana, Camilla, the Fire of Windsor Castle, Andrew with Fergie by her side, Andrew without Fergie, and an unpleasant unexpected episode - in 2020, the Queen's grandson Harry runs away from home. Crises followed, but the monarchy survived through them under her control.
Cold humor is also helpful. In 1992, windsor Castle caught fire and the marriage of three children broke up, which was not a disaster, and the Queen subdued the disaster with a light breeze and a smile in Latin: Annus Horribilis, which means "terrible year", is often used as a witty term for ridicule.
Labour Cabinet Minister Clare Short once had a meeting in the Privy Council, and when her cell phone rang, Short was embarrassed that the Queen in the room quipped, "Oh, don't be someone important, right?" ”
Sharp-eyed and sharp-minded, Elizabeth II seemed to be well versed in the comedic elements of royal dramas from an early age, and she herself was destined to become the protagonist of the play in the future.
"Let's not look too high on ourselves," the Queen said in her 1991 televised Christmas address, "and no one can monopolize wisdom."
Elizabeth and Margaret were in Windsor Castle with their parents in 1936
A royal rumor seems to prove that Elizabeth II understood the succession to the throne very early. In 1933, seven-year-old Lilyberte told her three-year-old sister Margaret with great certainty: "I am three, you are four." ”
Margaret didn't understand, but she could already count, and she felt that it was not right, and replied, "No." I'm three years old, you're seven! ”
It took a long time for Margaret to understand that the sister was not talking about age, but the position of the two sisters in the succession sequence: from the grandfather to the "Uncle David" (Edward VIII) first, the father second, and LilyBert third. In this case, the seven-year-old's mind was in sync with the world.
When the princess was 10 years old, her uncle abdicated and her succession ranked two levels before, facing the challenge of becoming the first heir in the future, her grandmother Lady Strathmore found that the little girl "earnestly prayed to God to give her a younger brother".
However, there was no little brother to rescue her. This little girl, who grew up with a horse and a dog, must take up the challenge of becoming "Grandma of England" (corresponding to her grandfather "Grandpa George V") and "Grandma" of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.