Word: queen
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Those qualities blossomed during World War II, when the Queen revealed a doughty spirit. Eager to set an example for her subjects, she visited hospitals and slums and delivered broadcasts in fluent French to the women of occupied France. The Queen recognized that war would prove to be a great democratic leveler. "I'm glad we have been bombed," she said in 1940, after Buckingham Palace weathered the first in a series of air attacks. "It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face." Hitler was to have said, "She is the most dangerous woman...
...cancer at 56. As the King's young widow, she found solace in her beloved Scotland, where she purchased the Castle of Mey, which became a favorite retreat. The new role she chose for herself was to help her daughter, then just 25, shoulder the burdens attendant upon a queen...
...Elizabeths were said to be very fond of, and extremely deferential to, each other. "When I went to preach at Sandringham," recalled a bishop, "I was standing beside the Queen Mother before she went up to bed on the Sunday night, and she said: "It's been so lovely having you, do come again.' Then she turned to the Queen and immediately apologized: "Oh how rude of me, darling! It isn't for me to invite anyone to Sandringham.'" The Queen was said to be equally solicitous of her mother, though she rarely seemed to need the attention. The "smiling...
...Queen Mother, Elizabeth was an implacable defender of the Royal Family against modernity and change. For instance, she objected to the notion that the royals should pay taxes. And still smarting from the scandal of Edward and Mrs. Simpson, she in turn demanded of family members the highest standards of morality and behavior. So the sexual, social and financial shenanigans of the past two decades, floodlit by a prurient and deference-be-damned press, strained her relationship with the younger royals. When the extramarital affairs of the Prince and Princess of Wales became common gossip, both got a dressing-down...
Royal watchers will speculate whether the Queen Mother's passing will further encourage Charles in his increasingly public relationship with his long-time companion, Camilla Parker-Bowles. The Queen Mother's problem was never with Camilla, whom she considered to be a "charming, sensible woman," according to one friend. Rather, she appreciated the problems such a union would pose for the institution of the monarchy and refused to consider the possibility of marriage on that basis. Just last week, Charles and Camilla were together for the first time at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the Queen, at a concert...