How
the Queen's horses reveal more about her than her family: CHRISTOPHER
STEVENS on last night's TV
By CHRISTOPHER
STEVENS FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 23:58
GMT, 27 March 2016
Her Majesty the
Queen will never give an interview. She has come close, notably
providing commentary to a TV documentary in 1992 about her reign,
otherwise we are left with her annual Christmas broadcasts, the
speeches and the rare glimpses of her in conversation with family and
friends on film.
She has the most
familiar voice in the world. Yet Elizabeth II has never sat in front
of a camera, or even a radio mike, and answered questions.
The heir to the
throne, Prince Charles, has done so on many occasions. He was still a
novice at it in 1981, when he tied himself in knots sitting beside
his shy fiancee as they talked to interviewer Anthony Carthew, when
the Prince revealed he wasn’t sure what ‘love’ meant.
It’s horses that
hold Her Majesty's dearest affection, and the scene in Our Queen at
90 that summed up her unaffected kindness and, at the same time, her
regal charm was filmed at the Sandringham stables
It’s horses that
hold Her Majesty's dearest affection, and the scene in Our Queen at
90 that summed up her unaffected kindness and, at the same time, her
regal charm was filmed at the Sandringham stables
He’s more relaxed
now. Our Queen At 90 (ITV) saw him joshing and raising an arch
eyebrow as he chatted about his mother. Asked to define the
highlights of her reign, he quipped: ‘She put up with all of us and
that’s quite an achievement.’
Charles seemed so at
ease as a talking-head that it’s possible to imagine him doing
so-called ‘filler TV’, waffling about Britain’s favourite 50
sitcoms or wacky fashions of the Seventies.
The rest of the
Royals were equally comfortable, though they were careful not to say
anything that might be construed as a headline.
The Duchess of
Cambridge confided that she’d been racked with nerves during her
first Christmas at Sandringham. That’s not a surprise: any girl
visiting her boyfriend’s folks will be apprehensive, and it really
can’t help if his grandma is Queen of England.
She gave Her Majesty
a jar of home-made chutney. Next morning, it was on the Queen’s
breakfast table. That broke the ice.
The Duchess of
Cambridge confided that she’d been racked with nerves during her
first Christmas at Sandringham. That’s not a surprise: any girl
visiting her boyfriend’s folks will be apprehensive, and it really
can’t help if his grandma is Queen of England
Her husband’s
insights were less telling: his granny was ‘someone who’s been
there, done it, got the T-shirt’. If that’s how he usually talks,
nobody will be rushing to finish the Christmas washing-up and get the
telly on at 3pm when he’s King William V.
Sophie, the Countess
of Wessex and wife of the Queen’s youngest son, seemed the least
accustomed to the camera. Her tone of voice betrayed her when she
described Balmoral as lovely, ‘apart from the midges’, the way
you might say Hell was super, ‘apart from the flames’.
To have so many
senior royals sounding forth was a great coup, but the real triumph
of this film, celebrating the Queen not only as a monarch but also as
a private person, was its glimpses of her off-duty. Few women of 89
could trot on a horse with such enthusiasm, though we overheard her
protesting: ‘I’m rather a fairweather rider — I don’t like
getting cold and wet!’
Her husband’s
insights were less telling: his granny was ‘someone who’s been
there, done it, got the T-shirt
The documentary was
packed with expertly chosen clips from the archive, including one
marvellous moment of the Queen as a girl, with her father and an
alsatian pup that was frolicking with a giant panda cub. As pets go,
that beats a hamster.
But it’s horses
that hold her dearest affection, and the scene that summed up her
unaffected kindness and, at the same time, her regal charm was filmed
at the Sandringham stables. Her Majesty spoke of every animal as a
friend, and knew its quirks. ‘This one’s a prima donna,’ she
joked, pointing to a mare with a My Little Pony mane.
The Queen appears to
be, quite simply, happy and glorious
At her elbow, a
member of the Royal Household attended with a crisp paper bag of
carrots. The Queen plucked one and offered it to La Prima Donna...
who spat it out. Her Majesty laughed and looked down at the ground
meaningfully: after a moment, the flunkey leapt to retrieve the
carrot.
The treat was
proffered again, and the horse spat it out once more. The Queen
shrugged, as if to say ‘suit yourself’ and walked on. She doesn’t
take nonsense from anyone, even cheeky mares. No wonder every one of
her Prime Ministers, even Margaret Thatcher, has been rather in awe
of her.
Her whole life has
proved her dedication to duty. What this remarkable programme showed
was the converse, her knack for taking nothing too seriously. The
Queen appears to be, quite simply, happy and glorious.
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