The Queen was a great monarch. Part of that was down to longevity but also to her dedication to the role and putting duty and her people first.
Her father also mentored her and she was doing the same thing for her son and heir, now Charles III, and her grandson Prince William, now the Prince of Wales. They have both learnt a lot from her and experience tells all.
As well as her faith, let’s not forget Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years. She admitted on her golden wedding anniversary that she couldn’t have done it without him. They were a great double act.
King Charles has had a lot of years of watching the monarch without doing the job, until he took over some of the Queen’s duties recently.
Nobody could ever follow her in her footsteps, she was a one-off. So he won’t be the same but he will do a very good job. It has been said that the monarchy could be in danger following the Queen’s passing.
But if you look at the pictures emanating from Buckingham Palace on Friday, it is clear the monarchy is not going anywhere. When the King got out of the car, the people there cheered. That speaks volumes. He’d lost his mother barely 24 hours earlier and we saw him at his very best talking to mourners, laying flowers down, taking flowers from mourners and smiling and shaking hands.
He was doing what he’s always done, communicating with people. It showed the Queen has left the monarchy in good shape and in a safe pair of hands with Charles. He will be a good king and a king of the people.
I was his and the late Diana Princess of Wales’s press secretary for five years from 1988 and had a very close relationship with both of them. The marriage was unravelling and it was very difficult, especially on tour. On some occasions he would want me with him. On other occasions Diana would want me with her, so it was a tightrope.
But he was very good on tour. He’s always been a people person. He’s very good at talking to people and listening to people.
Charles III will carry that into his role as king. It’s very difficult to compare what he’s like today to what he was like then. Like any marriage breakdown, there is always animosity between the two people and that rubs off on everybody else around. We knew things were wrong and that there were times when he got frustrated when he found situations unbearable and the media microscope was on him 24/7.
Nobody can live like that but they had to, which probably made the situation a lot worse.
He’s come out of it with the help of his wife of 17 years, now Queen Consort Camilla. She’s done a great job, calming him down and nudging him every so often when she thinks he might be going off on a tangent.
They are a very good double act and enjoy each other’s company. Being in their 70s, they have obviously mellowed and they’ve mellowed for the good of themselves, the country and the Commonwealth.
She’s a tremendous influence on him. Whoever she is talking to, she gives them her time 101%. She looks them in the eyes when she’s talking to them, she’s not looking over their shoulder to see who might be more important or more interesting. She’s talking to that particular individual and that’s what endears her to people.
He will listen to her, she will listen to him. She will be a tremendous support for him and I think there will be a certain amount of dependency from him on her but they will work together well, like the Queen and Prince Philip did. Although Charles’ reign will be relatively short in contrast to his mother’s, I believe it will be memorable, because of who he is as a man.
We already know Charles the man and he remains the same. All he’s got now is a different title. Some of his past observations have been very apt, particularly on climate change and the environment. From now on we won’t hear any of these and he won’t meddle in politics. He will probably feel frustration because over the years he’s been able to express an opinion on a variety of subjects, like the environment, climate change, agriculture, architecture, education, the arts and medical matters. Constitutionally, he knows he must now remain neutral.
And as we all know his thinking, there’s no need for him to say any more anyway.
In the fullness of time, probably next spring, he will have his Coronation, which will evoke memories of his mother’s in 1953.
I’ve got a lot of happy memories of her.
I was known to wear colourful ties and the Queen never gave them a second glance.
But at the last reception she went to at Buckingham Palace before the lockdown in 2020, I went to speak to her while wearing one of my bright ties.
As I took my leave I saw a twinkle in her eye and I thought, “Ahh, what’s coming?”
Without batting an eyelid, but with a smile, almost tongue in cheek, she said, “I see you’re still wearing those dreadful ties!”
It was followed by a laugh and I like to think it showed we had a good relationship. Would she have said it to anybody else? Probably not. I will miss her and her lovely sense of humour greatly.
This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get both pullouts.
