Queen has succeeded and survived simply by being herself

The one time I ever met her at Hillsborough Castle, she seemed refreshingly human, a very dignified — if surprisingly petite — lady with a wide open smile. I noted wryly the number of devout nationalists who at least nodded, if not quite bowed, when introduced to her.

THE queen (yes, that queen) turned 85 last week. But as she prepares for the wedding of her eldest grandson and perhaps the most constitutionally loaded “foreign” visit (under the terms of the 1949 Ireland Act, the Republic is not a foreign country), it is an appropriate time to reflect on the changes which have taken place over the course of her nearly 60-year reign.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in central London in the difficult aftermath of World War I. Back in 1926, it seemed unlikely she would ever ascend the British throne. No one at the time could have predicted that her uncle, Edward, would abdicate to marry the twice-divorced Mrs Simpson leaving Elizabeth — to her horror, by all accounts — in line to succeed.