‘It is the best job’: Inside the Queen’s relationship with her children

OhThe mother-child relationship is at least a little complicated. Add a ruler. King In the UK mix, and this Clearly becomes more So

Although The Queen Char loved him Children And they loved her—there’s no question about it—the Queen’s number one responsibility in her life was to be independent. That, combined with his patent stoicism, made motherhood Complicated

The Queen became a mother for the first time in 1948 at the age of 22, giving birth to the heir to the throne Prince Charles Philip Arthur George on November 14, 1948 – just six days before her and husband Prince Philip’s first wedding anniversary. The couple’s only daughter, Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, died less than two years later on August 15, 1950. Both were quite young – Charles three and Anne not yet two – when their mother became Queen on February 6, 1952, changing their entire lives in the process.

However, although she had produced both an heir – Charles – and a “spear” – at that time, Anne – Her Majesty was still childless. He gave birth. Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward on 19 February 1960, and finally, Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis on March 10, 1964 – just a few weeks before Her Majesty turned 38. The 16 years separating her eldest, Charles, from her youngest, Edward, are significant.

For Charles and Anne, their mother the Queen was often away for long periods of work, including a Commonwealth tour in 1953, where she visited 13 countries in six months, from Britain Traveled to distant places like Australia. , New Zealand, Jamaica, Uganda, and Bermuda. Young Charles and Anne were left at home, as they had been when the Queen visited Philip in Malta earlier in their marriage.

Although the Queen loved being a mother, in Jonathan Dimbleby’s 1994 biography of Prince Charles, the author quoted Charles as saying that it was “inevitably the nursery staff” who taught him to play and take his first steps. Saw the When not traveling, the Queen and Prince Philip will usually see their children after breakfast and dinner.

Her relationships with each of her children are similar but very different – ​​with Charles, the heir to the throne, now heir apparent, their relationship sometimes developed a businesslike quality, like that of mother and son. It was like an apprenticeship rather than a dynamic. Anne had a special position as the Queen’s only daughter, and Edward had the honor of being the youngest. But it has long been reported that middle child Andrew was the Queen’s favourite.

After Andrew was born, nearly a decade after Princess Anne, he stepped in to make his sister second in line to the throne. He was the first child born to a monarch since 1857 and came at a time when there was speculation about relationship troubles between the Queen and Prince Philip – rumors Buckingham Palace denied. The Queen stood by Andrew even after he was embroiled in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in 2019 and “stepped back from royal duties for the future”.

Despite the competing forces, Her Majesty loved her children, and she loved him. “I just don’t believe there’s any evidence that she didn’t care. It just beggars belief.” Ann said The BBC In 2002

“Perhaps we as children are not too demanding in the sense that we understand what the time limits were and the responsibilities that were placed on him as a king in the things he had to do and what he had to do.” The trip was hers to make. But I don’t believe either of us for a second that she didn’t care for us just like any other mother would.

Ann added: “According to some families, I think we’re all pretty good talkers after that and for a lot of families that’s no mean feat. I think we all know each other. Enjoys the company of

In later years, after her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died aged 99 on 9 April 2021, her children quickly rallied around her.

“It shows how much they appreciate him and support him and [were willing to] Help her pick up the pieces,” says royal commentator Victoria Arbiter. free.

“They don’t see each other as often as they’d like, but there’s a warm relationship.”

Nowhere is this more evident than at family Christmas celebrations in Sandringham, Arbiter says.

“They want to spend Christmas together in Sandringham,” she adds. “It’s the one time of the year when they can all get together and get away from duty. Their time together is so sacred. The Queen spends the summer at Balmoral with the royal family and her children, as well as Christmas at Sandringham. It’s an incredibly special time for them.”

Perhaps the most poignant in describing her relationship as a mother of four came in a clash with actress Kate Winslet, who was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace in 2012. Who, at the time, was a mother of two – said yes, “but I love being a mother even more.”

the queen replied Winslet.simply saying: “Yes, this is the best job.”