Newly released documents from the FBI reveal that there was a potential threat to assassinate Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II during her trip to the U.S. over 40 years ago.
The late Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, was scheduled to visit the U.S. with her husband, Prince Philip, in 1983. More than 100 pages of documents released by the FBI on Tuesday outline a serious threat made ahead of that trip and safety concerns that came up in other visits the queen made to the U.S.
Advertisement
The documents, which were posted publicly on the FBI’s website after a Freedom of Information Act request by NBC News, reveal that an unidentified San Francisco police officer received a tip about the potential plot to assassinate the queen on Feb. 4, 1983 — just a few weeks before the royal couple was scheduled to arrive in the U.S.
According to the documents, a man said that he was going to “attempt to harm Queen Elizabeth II,” and that he intended to try to kill her either while she was at Yosemite Park or “by dropping some object off the Golden Gate Bridge onto the Royal Yacht Britannia when it sails underneath.”
The documents didn’t include information on whether any arrests were made following the threat.
The man claimed that his daughter had been killed in Northern Ireland by a rubber bullet, according to the documents.
The 1983 trip to the U.S. occurred during a decadeslong period of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. During this period, the unionists, most of whom were Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, while the nationalists, many of whom were Irish Catholics, and the Irish Republican Army wanted it to join the rest of Ireland.
Advertisement
The British deployed its military to Northern Ireland during the bloody conflict, which lasted for 30 years until a peace agreement was signed in 1998.
The FBI closely monitored the queen’s visits to the U.S. over the years with the help of the U.S. Secret Service, and security continued to be a concern.
“While [the FBI] is unaware of any specific threats against the Queen, the possibility of threat against the British monarchy is everpresent from the Irish Republican Army,” the FBI wrote in one document ahead of the queen’s 1989 visit to Kentucky.
During another visit in 1991, Irish groups organised protests at a baseball game and White House event where the queen was scheduled to appear, according to a document.
The FBI cited an article published in Irish Edition, a Philadelphia newspaper, that stated “anti-British feelings are running high” ahead of her trip.
Advertisement
The document added that while there were no threats against the queen or the president, who would also be attending the events, the statements “could be viewed as being inflammatory.”
It was a solemn day for the nation. But on social media, people were taking a more sideways look at the Queen’s state funeral.
Here’s just some of the quirkier, unintended highlights of the day seen through Twitter’s prism.
Archbishop of Canterbury v Boris Johnson?
During his sermon at the funeral, the Archbishop of Canterbury told the congregation the outpouring of emotion for the Queen “arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us”.
Advertisement
Justin Welby told mourners: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
“But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten.”
Many thought he was pointedly referring to the recently departed prime minister.
Advertisement
“Those who cling to privilege.” Was Archbishop Welby trolling Boris Johnson there? If so, respect.
An “impossibly tall” mourner walking in the Queen’s procession caught many people’s attention.
Towering above soldiers and sailors, Matthew Magee, who stands at 7 feet 2 inches tall, was appointed by the Queen as her assistant private secretary in 2018.
Oh, it’s not just me who’s been transfixed by the impossibly tall fella in front of the hearse. #tallguy
Several people on social media noted the appearance of a spider on the Queen’s coffin as the ceremony took place.
The creature was seen crawling across a piece of card placed on the coffin alongside the crown and a floral display.
Imagine you’re a spider in the garden and you fall asleep in a pink rose. When you wake up, you stretch all your little legs and realise that you’re suddenly naked in Westminster Abbey, on top of the Queen’s coffin in front of world leaders and billions of people🕷️#queensfuneralpic.twitter.com/ARNc9s4y8O
Reports noted one represented his award of a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2007 for his contribution to rugby, and another was the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
The silver medal, which bears the Queen’s face, was gifted to Tindall as a member of the royal family, and the last is the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
Advertisement
Where’s Prince Louis?
The future King, Prince George, and his sister, Princess Charlotte, remained impeccably behaved through a long and solemn day as they bid farewell to their beloved “Gan Gan”.
But the prince and princess’ four-year-old brother, Prince Louis, was not present, and many on Twitter began to speculate.
Advertisement
I like how Louis is considered too much of a loose cannon to have at the funeral. Not even 5 and already the Princess Margaret of his generation pic.twitter.com/jJEbtbchkE
For decades, the queen’s personal bagpiper, known as Piper to the Sovereign, acted as her personal alarm clock by playing under her window at 9 am for 15 minutes at all of her official British residences.
Yet at the monarch’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, Pipe Major Paul Burns of the Royal Regiment of Scotland played a different tune, the Telegraph reports.
Advertisement
He closed out the queen’s funeral with a rendition of the traditional piece Sleep, Dearie, Sleep while her coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault beneath St. George’s Chapel, CNNreports.
Burns was the one who roused the queen out of her slumber on her final day at Balmoral Castle, according to the Telegraph.
Queen Elizabeth II was a longtime fan of the bagpipes, but she is certainly not the first monarch to be captivated by Scotland’s national instrument.
Advertisement
The role of Piper to the Sovereign was established in 1843 by Queen Victoria, who became enamoured with the instrument’s unique sound during a trip to the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Prince Albert. Since then, there have been 17 chief pipers.
One of them, Scott Methven — who served Queen Elizabeth between 2015 and 2019 — spoke fondly of the late monarch to the BBC last week.
“It was a pleasure as her Majesty would stand and watch you play,” he told the BBC. “She enjoyed the bagpipes, but she got to know you as a person.”
Pipe Major Paul Burns plays at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in central London on Sept. 19, 2022.
FRANK AUGSTEIN via Getty Images
Methven also remembered a moment when the queen showed him kindness. He explained to the outlet that while he was serving her, his parents and wife died within an eight-month span.
Advertisement
“I was standing with the Queen and she said, ‘If you’re not here in the morning and you don’t play the bagpipes, then I know you’re away. Don’t wait to ask anyone, just go home if your family needs you because it’s family first.’”
He added: “She grabbed me by the arm again and said, ‘You know, Pipes, if anyone has a problem with that, you tell them that I said it was OK to go.’”
King Charles III, accompanied by his three siblings – Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward – took part in the vigil of the princes this evening at Westminster Hall.
The 15-minute long ceremony involved Queen Elizabeth II’s four children standing guard around her coffin at Westminster Hall where the Queen has been lying-in-state since Wednesday evening.
Notably, all four were in military uniform, including Prince Andrew who reportedly received a special exception to allow him to wear his for the vigil. Earlier in the week, he wore a morning suit while marching behind his mother’s coffin, reflecting the fact that he was stripped of all his military titles and royal patronages back in 2019.
Prince Harry, who will participate in a vigil with the Queen’s other grandchildren on Saturday evening, will also appear in military uniform after receiving an exception from Buckingham Palace. He too wore a suit earlier in the week while his brother, Prince William, was in military uniform as they accompanied the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Prince Harry lost his military titles in 2020 after giving up his senior royal status and moving to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
The Queen will remain lying-in-state until her funeral on September 19th, which has been declared a bank holiday. Hundreds of thousands of mourners have been queueing to visit Westminster Hall and see the monarch lying-in-state since Wednesday. The queue itself has spawned rolling coverage and memes, becoming an historic event in its own right.
Shortly after the Queen’s coffin arrived on Wednesday at Westminster Hall, where as many as 400,000 people are expected to witness the lying in state, politicians joined the royals in a service remembering the late monarch.
But an image of prime minister Liz Truss and Labour leader Keir Starmer was quickly seized upon on social media. It’s not the first time the new Conservative leader has been mocked since the Queen’s death, with many commenting on her unusual curtsey when meeting King Charles.
A constant procession of mourners is continuing to make its way through Westminster Hall to pay their respects, with members of the public having queued for hours along the Thames.
The Queen’s state funeral on Monday will see 2,000 people including world leaders and foreign royals gather inside Westminster Abbey in London on for the final farewell to the nation’s longest reigning monarch.
Some 800 people, including members of the Queen’s Household and Windsor estate staff, will attend the committal service afterwards at 4pm in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Britain is doing little to defy the stereotype that people enjoy nothing more than joining a queue as the wait to pay final respects to the Queen grows.
Officials have laid on around 10 miles of “queuing infrastructure” to allow as much of the public as possible to visit the Her Majesty’s lying in state.
Advertisement
Doors at Westminster Hall – where the Queen’s coffin is on public displayed – opened at 5pm on Wednesday. The historic building on the parliamentary estate will remain open for 24-hours a day until 6.30am on September 19, the morning of the late monarch’s funeral.
Reports suggest that people have already been queuing for 15 hours, with some expectations that waits could reach 30 hours. It prompts questions about what happens if nature calls – but planners have mercifully thought ahead.
Those on the route – 6.9 miles from Victoria Tower Gardens to Southwark Park, with a further three miles within the park itself – will have access to more than 500 portable toilets.
For those worried there’ll be nowhere to go while queueing, the govt has secured 500 portable toilets for use along the route 🚽🚽🚽
Those joining the line will be given numbered wristbands so they take toilet breaks without losing their place.
With up to 400,000 people expected to queue, more than 1,000 volunteers, stewards, marshals and police officers will be on hand at any one time as people brave the wait on the banks of the Thames.
This includes 779 professional stewards per shift, assisted by 100 civil service volunteer marshals, 40 adult scouts, and 30 members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry charity, as well as Metropolitan Police officers.
So how long is the queue right now?
Well, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is running a live “queue tracker” to pinpoint the end of the line.
At 4pm, the tracker showed the queue was around 2.2 miles long, stretching past Blackfriars Bridge in Southwark near Tate Modern.
","type":"video","meta":{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NpZuGxSgZY","type":"video","version":"1.0","title":"Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State | Queue Tracker","author":"Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHpxkxx2UruLjLl0ecV0pdQ","provider_name":"YouTube","description":"Watch this page for live updates showing the end point of the queue to attend Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State\r\n\r\nFollow @DCMS on Twitter and Facebook (/dcmsgovuk) for further updates.\r\n\r\nPlan ahead for when, where and how to view the Lying-in-State:\r\nhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/attending-ceremonial-events-for-the-lying-in-state-and-the-state-funeral-of-her-majesty-the-queen/her-majesty-the-queens-lying-in-state-at-the-palace-of-westminster-houses-of-parliament","thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9NpZuGxSgZY/maxresdefault_live.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"thumbnail_height":720,"cache_age":86400,"options":{"_start":{"label":"Start from","value":"","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s"},"_end":{"label":"End on","value":"","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s"},"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}}},"fullBleed":false,"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"slideshowAd":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"slideshowEndCard":{"scriptTags":[{"attribs":{},"scriptBody":"\r\n (function(){\r\n var c = document.getElementById(‘taboola-endslate-thumbnails’);\r\n c.id += ‘-‘ + Math.round(Math.random()*1e16);\r\n \r\n var taboolaParams = {\r\n loader: \"//cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/aol-huffingtonpost/loader.js\",\r\n mode: \"thumbnails-b\",\r\n container: c.id,\r\n placement: \"Endslate Thumbnails\",\r\n target_type: \"mix\"\r\n };\r\n \r\n if (typeof window.modulousQueue === \"function\") {\r\n \twindow.modulousQueue.add(function(){ doTaboola(taboolaParams); });\r\n } else {\r\n \tdoTaboola(taboolaParams);\r\n }\r\n }());\r\n"}],"otherHtml":"
To help avoid disappointment, it is understood that entry to the back of the queue may be closed early, although it is too early to estimate when that moment might come.
Numbers will be monitored towards the end of the lying in state period, to ensure as near as possible that those already waiting are able complete their visit.
There will be a separate accessible route running from the Tate Britain for people less able to wait for a long period of time, with timed entry slots issued for a line along Millbank to the Palace of Westminster.
<img class="img-sized__img landscape" loading="lazy" alt="Queen’s lying in state: route of queue.” width=”719″ height=”467″ src=”https://www.wellnessmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/fear-not-500-portable-toilets-are-along-the-route-to-the-queens-lying-in-state-3.jpg”>
Queen’s lying in state: route of queue.
PA Graphics via PA Graphics/Press Association Images
Advertisement
No proof of disability will be required to use this route, with marshals on hand to make sure people are in the correct line and two British Sign Language interpreters to help.
It is understood there will be an element of self-policing when it comes to people keeping their places in line.
Those waiting in the queue are being given a coloured and numbered wristband, specific to each person, allowing them to leave for a brief time.
It is thought people will know those around them and be supportive when others need to step out.
Queen Elizabeth II has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
In a statement, the Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”
Prince Charles, who is the heir apparent, was with her.
It comes shortly after the UK’s longest-reigning monarch celebrated her 70th year on the throne, her platinum jubilee.
Advertisement
The whole country came together to honour the occasion across the extended bank holiday, paying tribute to her unprecedented reign through Trooping the Colour, a service of Thanksgiving and Big Jubilee Lunches up and down the UK.
The Queen was also a reassuring presence for many as the country tried to cope with successive lockdowns, despite catching Covid herself in February 2022.
In her 2020 Christmas message she praised the efforts of individuals and called on the nation to “remain united and resolute” in the face of the outbreak. And in a poignant video to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day in 2020, she delivered a message of hope, promising in the words of Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime anthem: “We will meet again.”
The royal family also grieved in April 2021, when the Queen’s husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died. The entire ‘Firm’ followed Covid restrictions and sat apart in their bubbles at the televised funeral – meaning the Queen had to sit on her own.
Advertisement
The Queen was widely praised for returning to her royal duties after just a two-week mourning period for the Duke of Edinburgh, who she referred to as her “strength and stay”.
The news of her death marks the end of a new Elizabethan era that began when the 25-year-old princess became Queen Elizabeth II on the death of her father King George VI, in the early hours of February 6, 1952.
She became the longest-ever reigning monarch in British history on September 9, 2015, bypassing the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. This took into account 63 years plus 16 leap days, additional months and days, and the timing of George VI’s death.
Princess Elizabeth waves from her carriage in London in 1928
The Queen Mother (then the Duchess of York) with her husband, King George VI (then the Duke of York), and their daughter Elizabeth II at her christening in May 1926
Advertisement
With the death of 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in 2016, the Queen then took the record for the world’s longest reigning living monarch.
She is the world’s second-longest reigning monarch ever, after French King Louis XIV, who served on the throne for more than 72 years.
Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born by Caesarian section on April 21, 1926, in her maternal grandparents’ London home: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, while the home secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks waited in the next room.
The presence of the government minister was an age-old custom designed to ensure that no substitute had been smuggled in hidden in a warming pan or similar receptacle. Apparently one of Princess Elizabeth’s first acts was to yawn at Sir William.
Elizabeth’s father, George VI, only became king after the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936 – when she was born, the princess was not expected to take the throne.
Advertisement
She married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten of Greece at the age of 21 at Westminster Abbey in 1947 in front of 2,000 guests. Princess Elizabeth was dressed in an ivory silk Norman Hartnell gown, decorated with 10,000 seed pearls, glittering crystals and an intricate 13ft (4m) star-patterned train. The dress was bought with food rationing coupons as the UK was still struggling in the aftermath of World War 2. Philip, 26, was fresh from serving in the Royal Navy for the war effort.
Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day in 1947
Evening News/Shutterstock
Prince Philip and the Queen for their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in 2007
Tim Graham via Tim Graham/Getty Images
Another 200 million people listened to the radio broadcast of the nuptials and thousands lined the streets to watch the spectacle.
The pair had begun exchanging letters in 1939 when Elizabeth was 13 and Philip was 18, and their friendship blossomed over the years.
Advertisement
After their wedding, the couple lived together on the island of Malta for periods between 1949 and 1951 while the duke served on HMS Chequers with the Mediterranean Fleet.
Villa Guardamangia, a palazzo-style mansion on the outskirts of the capital Valletta, served as a much-loved base for the couple in the early years of their marriage. Their stay in Malta offered them their only real taste of life as a relatively ordinary couple.
They enjoyed parties, picnics and boat expeditions, and the princess was even able to take a trip to the hairdresser for the first time. In 2015 during an official trip, the Queen recalled: “Visiting Malta is always very special for me. I remember happy days here with Prince Philip when we were first married.”
Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, celebrating the her 24th birthday at Villa Guardamangia, Malta
PA Wire/PA Images
Princess Elizabeth was staying in an exclusive tree house hotel in Kenya in 1952 when she was informed of her father’s death.
Advertisement
Former lady-in-waiting Pamela Hicks recalled: “She goes up as a princess. The king died that night. She comes down the ladder as a queen.”
Prince Philip was told the news first, and covered his face with his newspaper, murmuring “this will be such a shock”, before taking her for a walk in the gardens, where he told his young wife of her father’s death and that she was now to be Queen.
Treetops Hotel, in Kenya – it was here that Princess Elizabeth learned of the death of her father, King George VI
PA Archive/PA Images
Elizabeth II sets foot on British soil for the first time since her accession as she lands in Britain, following the death of her father. Waiting for her at the bottom of the plane steps are Clement Attlee and then prime minister Winston Churchill
The couple’s children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, were born between 1948 and 1964, all at Buckingham Palace.
Advertisement
Charles’ birth on November 14, 1948, was the first in centuries without a government minister present to witness the arrival of a future heir to the throne. The occasion was marked publicly with the fountains of Trafalgar Square lit up in blue. The Duke of Edinburgh, said to be “not indifferent but restless”, played squash while his wife was in labour.
As Victoria had done the previous century, Elizabeth acted as a figure of continuity as the country modernised. Serving through the 20th century, the Millennium and well into the 21st century, she was also head of state, the armed forces and the commonwealth.
She witnessed many new technological advances and a succession of British governments of different political persuasions.
Elizabeth II met every US president of her reign – except one.
Queen Elizabeth II and baby Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 1948
President John Kennedy with his wife Jackie, meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace in London, 1961
Advertisement
US President Ronald Reagan goes riding in Windsor Home Park with the Queen
Lyndon B Johnson, who took over in 1963 following John F Kennedy’s assassination, never crossed paths with the Queen. By contrast, president Donald Trump, who visited Britain three times during her reign, boasted about having “automatic chemistry” with her and praised her as a “spectacular woman”.
Current President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, and made his first official visit overseas to visit the UK – and its monarch – in June.
The Queen had become accustomed to milestones during her decades on the throne. In December 2007, she became the longest living British monarch, overtaking Victoria who died when she was 81, and in May 2011, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in British history, when she overtook George III.
According to Guinness World Records, the Queen also held the world record for most currencies featuring the same person.
Advertisement
Her Diamond Jubilee river pageant in 2012 set a new world record for the number of boats in a parade with more than 1,000 vessels taking part and 670 making the complete trip down the Thames to Tower Bridge.
Princess Diana with Queen Elizabeth II on the Queen Mother’s 87th Birthday, at Clarence House, in 1987
The Queen and Prince Philip during the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in 2012
The monarch’s “second birthday” – that is, the official celebration – was marked on the second Saturday in June each year, commemorated with the Trooping the Colour parade. The double birthday tradition was introduced in 1748 by King George II, who was born in November – a time where the UK weather was typically dreary. Wanting a big public celebration, the king decided to hold a birthday parade in the sunnier months and to combine it with an annual military parade.
The Queen was also the first British monarch to send an email, to have a message put on the moon, to conduct a royal “walkabout” and to hold a public concert in her back garden.
Advertisement
Each year, without fail, the Queen would retreat to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire during the summer months, where she is said to have been happiest. It was her private home and was handed down to her through generations of royals after being bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
Baby Prince Andrew perches on Prince Philip’s lap during a picnic on the grounds of Balmoral Castle. Also pictured are Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Princess Anne
The Queen at Balmoral Castle with some of her beloved dogs in 1952
Victoria described Balmoral as her “heaven on Earth” and it was where she sought solace after Albert’s death. Queen Elizabeth’s usual two-month stay in August and September traditionally included a visit to the nearby Braemar Gathering, where she was chieftain of the Highland games.
Princess Eugenie, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s granddaughter, once described Balmoral as the most beautiful place on the planet.
Advertisement
“Walks, picnics, dogs – a lot of dogs, there’s always dogs – and people coming in and out all the time,” she said.
“It’s a lovely base for granny and grandpa, for us to come and see them up there; where you just have room to breathe and run.”
Years of happy royal memories were forged at Balmoral, including family barbecues – where Philip did the cooking and the Queen the washing-up – and each morning a lone piper would play below the Queen’s bedroom window.
In recent times, the Queen had endured the biggest crisis the royal family had faced in years after her supposed “favourite son” Prince Andrew gave a television interview about his friendship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It triggered a public outcry, and it was decided in an unprecedented move for Andrew to step back from public duties for the “foreseeable future”. Andrew kept a low profile but fell back into the spotlight when one of Epstein’s alleged victims started a civil case against him.
Advertisement
And in early 2020, her grandson Harry and his new wife, the actress Meghan Markle, sparked a major royal crisis when they made a decision to step down as senior royals for personal and financial freedom, in a move that was dubbed by the media as Megxit.
The Queen did not comment on either matter publicly.
She had previously dubbed 1992 her “annus horribilis”, following a series of scandals involving her children.
Prince Charles separated from Diana, his first wife; the Princess Royal divorced; and Andrew’s newly estranged wife Sarah Ferguson appeared in the tabloids topless and having her toes sucked.
That year also saw public opinion turn against the royals amid fears that taxpayers would have to foot the bill for repairs to Windsor Castle after a fire. In the end, the Queen agreed to pay 70% of the £36.5 million costs by opening Buckingham Palace to the public for the first time to generate extra income.
It was also announced that she would pay income tax for the first time and cut down the size of the Civil List.
Advertisement
The Queen surveying the scene at Windsor Castle following the fire in 1992
The Queen at 10 Downing Street at a farewell dinner for retiring prime minister Harold Wilson
With a reign spanning many British governments under 15 prime ministers and dozens more in the Commonwealth, the Queen did not escape constitutional difficulties over the years.
She officially accepted Johnson’s resignation just two days before her death and invited his successor, newly-elected Tory leader Liz Truss, to form a government.
Advertisement
However, the Queen’s dedicated attention to her constitutional functions has been commented upon by many of her prime ministers.
Politicians knew they ought not go to Buckingham Palace unless fully prepared.
Harold Wilson once confessed that he felt like a schoolboy who had not done his homework when the Queen cited a document which he had not read.
In the documentary Elizabeth R, filmed in 1992 to mark her 40th year on the throne, the Queen gave her view on the importance of her meetings with her prime ministers.
“They unburden themselves or tell me what is going on or if they have any problems, and sometimes I can help in some way as well,” she said.
“They know I can be impartial and it is rather nice to feel one is a sponge.
“Occasionally one can put one’s point of view and perhaps they have not seen it from that angle.”
As head of state, the Queen was politically neutral and acted on the advice of her government in political matters, but her political knowledge was known to be immense.
Advertisement
She rarely voiced her thoughts on current affairs but was occasionally caught on camera revealing her real opinions, such as when she expressed her frustration with world leaders who “talk but don’t do” when it comes to the climate crisis.
She received weekly briefings from the prime minister of the day and dozens of government documents passed across her desk every week for formal approval.
The Queen is survived by her four children – Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward – and her 20 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Queen and Prince Philip seated on thrones in the House of Lords at the state opening of parliament in 2013
The Queen at the wedding of her grandson Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle in May 2018
The royal family said their final goodbyes to Prince Philip on Saturday at an intimate funeral service attended by only 30 people at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Philip died on April 9 at age 99.
The slimmed-down royal funeral, which was not a state funeral per the prince’s wishes, started with a unique, personal touch.
The late Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin was driven to St. George’s Chapel in a modified Land Rover that he helped design for that very purpose. The royal drove Land Rovers for much of his life, and the palace said he suggested changes for the vehicle up until 2019.
Family members walked behind the car, while Queen Elizabeth was taken to the church in a state Bentley.
YouTube
Queen Elizabeth, who arrived to the chapel alongside her lady in waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, was pictured sitting alone with a mask on:
WPA Pool via Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II takes her seat during the funeral of Prince Philip.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who helped conduct the service on Saturday, spoke about the queen ahead of the funeral.
“She’s the queen, she will behave with the extraordinary dignity and extraordinary courage that she always does. And at the same time, she is saying farewell to someone to who she was married for 73 years,” said Friday while asking for prayers for the monarch.
“I think that must be a very, very profound thing in anybody’s life, and I hope that the whole nation, if they believe in that, then they pray for her,” he added. “If they don’t then they sympathise and, in their hearts, offer their condolences to her, and the hope for her to find strength in what must be an anguished moment.”
HuffPost is part of Oath. Oath and our partners need your consent to access your device and use your data (including location) to understand your interests, and provide and measure personalised ads. Oath will also provide you with personalised ads on partner products. Learn more.
How Oath and our partners bring you better ad experiences
To give you a better overall experience, we want to provide relevant ads that are more useful to you. For example, when you search for a film, we use your search information and location to show the most relevant cinemas near you. We also use this information to show you ads for similar films you may like in the future. Like Oath, our partners may also show you ads that they think match your interests.
