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| Queen Elizabeth II during The Queen's Birthday Party in 2018. Image from Wikimedia Commons |
Since ascending the throne in 1952,Queen Elizabeth II has
successfully presented herself as an inscrutable, unquestionable image, who
seemingly remained calm and steady despite political instabilities and scandals
that rocked her family.
Despite being one of the world’s most famous personalities,
the queen remains private and self-contained. Biographer Sarah Bradford calls
this her “strength,” which allows her to ease in and out of the stress and pressure
of her job.
Like her father, King George VI, the queen enjoys attending
public functions, a keen liking she had nurtured ever since she was a young
girl. She once shocked her grandmother, Queen Mary, when she sheepishly told
her, “Grandma, we can’t disappoint these people who’ve been waiting to see us.
Despite the cordiality and the friendliness she shows to
anyone she meets, it is apparent that Queen Elizabeth II could “rarely let
herself go with people,” Bradford writes. Had she been another person, she
could have made friends with many. But
that would never be the case. A contemporary quipped, “She’d be a most
wonderful friend if only she weren’t the Queen.” In private, she is gifted in
mimicry, possessing a good sense of humor and enjoys a good laugh. In public,
she has to inhibit and repress her emotions.
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