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Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother expressed her wish that Princes Harry and William would "be brought up to put their country first," during an awkward encounter with a journalist at Clarence House in the 1990s, according to a new biography.
In an advance copy of historian and author Gareth Russell's new book Do Let's Have Another Drink! The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother seen by Newsweek, Russel wrote that the widow of King George VI said "I never give advice," when pressed about her great-grandchildren.
The Queen Mother was born in 1900 and married the second son of King George V and Queen Mary in 1923. The couple had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, and became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1936 after the abdication crisis. After the death of her husband in 1952, Queen Elizabeth was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother until her death 50 years later.
Russell wrote that at an intimate gathering at Clarence House in the 1990s with author and socialite Basia Briggs in attendance, a journalist produced a microphone and asked the nonagenarian royal an unscheduled question.
The Queen Mother famously turned down invitations to take part in interviews for the majority of her time in the public eye.
"She had not given such an interview since her engagement in 1923, which had earned her a swift reprimand from her father-in-law," Russell wrote.
"The author and socialite Basia Briggs was in the room when the microphone suddenly appeared in front of the Queen Mother, who was asked what advice she would give to her great-grandchildren William and Harry."
"The smile is back almost before you notice, but her eyes could freeze mercury as the Queen Mother says, 'Oh, I never give advice,'" Russell describes from footage taken of the encounter.
However, when the journalist persisted, she offered a rare insight into her personal feelings towards the role and duty of members of the royal family.
"'Well, I hope they will all be brought up to put their country first. Whatever happens. It is one's duty to one's country, isn't it?'" she said.
"She then extended her arm to distance herself from the microphone as she turned away with a courtier, saying, 'I'm sure they will be brought up that way,'" Russell wrote. "The journalist was never invited back to Clarence House."
The release of the book follows the death of Queen Elizabeth II which saw both Harry and William appear side-by-side together at a royal event with their spouses for the first time since Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals and moved to the U.S. in 2020.
Harry has faced criticism for his decision to leave his position as a working member of the royal family with Meghan, and the couple has since faced waves of backlash for speaking publicly about their struggles within the monarchy following their marriage in 2018.
Despite claims that the couple was distancing themselves from the U.K. following the turbulent separation period dubbed by the press as "Megxit"—a term that Harry has since labeled as misogynistic—they arranged a working visit to Europe in September which strengthened their ties to a number of their charities.
It was during this visit that the queen died, with Harry and Meghan staying in Britain to participate in the official mourning events and the state funeral.
During her lifetime, the Queen Mother reportedly enjoyed spending time with her great-grandsons and, as Russell wrote, "learned catchphrases from the comedian
Sacha Baron Cohen after walking in to find princes William and Harry laughing at his show on television. She tried the catchphrases out on the queen at Christmas lunch."
The Queen Mother's relationship with the prince's mother though was not always as amiable. Russell writes that when Princess Diana died following injuries sustained in a high-speed car crash while traveling through Paris in 1997, the elderly royal was "baffled by the outpouring of grief."
"Later," he said, "both the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret thought there was no need for a permanent memorial to Diana inside the grounds of Kensington Palace; Margaret acidly suggested, 'It will be quite enough of a memorial to restore the grass in front which all these people trampled the week she died.'"
Do Let's Have Another Drink! The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell will be available in the U.S. on November 1, published by Simon & Schuster.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more