Marking 70 years on the throne, we look back at her visits to Aotearoa. Video / Getty
OPINION:
There are many remarkable things about the Queen but one that would drive most people bananas is how predictable she is. She has lived in the same house since she was 11 years old, has done the same job, 363-days-a-year since 1952, owns 100 of the same umbrellas, has not changed her hairstyle since the 1940s and that all of her beloved dogs, up until her current pups, were all descendants of her first corgi Susan which she received in 1937.
Which is to say, Her Majesty's life has seen very, very little change over the decades aside from the occasional encroachment of modernity, like someone having to work out where to wedge a fax machine inside Buckingham Palace and later, a Wi-Fi router. (Antique Limoges jardinieres are so handy aren't they?)
However this week, one teeny tiny titbit which raises a really startling prospect: What if the Queen has left London for good?
Queen Elizabeth and her late husband, Prince Philip. Photo by Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
Every summer, without fail, the 96-year-old heads north to her vast Balmoral estate for a nice long getaway; all deerstalking in the drizzle and barbecues next to a frigid loch. (Clearly someone has never heard of Club Med.) For two months, roughly, the monarch recharges and spends time with her family before plunging once more back into the working fray of the British capital.
Currently, the last time the Queen was seen in public was July 21 when she was photographed disembarking from a plane at Aberdeen airport to begin her holiday. Since then, there have only been the usual snippets which have come out: Prince Andrew dashed up there to do some begging for his old job back (no dice mate); various other children and grandchildren have migrated up there to bond with Granny.
Given current PM Boris Johnson resigned in July, the appointment of a new Tory leader was always going to intrude on Her Majesty's getaway. At first, it looked like she would dash back to London, appoint her 15th Prime Minister and then get back to her holiday.
The plan had been, according to esteemed royal biographer Robert Hardman, that Her Majesty would chug south, farewell Boris, welcome whoever gets the Tory crown and also swear in the new Cabinet.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles at the Balmoral Estate in 2021. Photo / Getty Images
According to Hardman, writing in the Mail, "she was adamant that this should be done in London so that 'the business of government' should continue as swiftly and smoothly as possible. Even Windsor was not an option."
As one Government source told Hardman: "She did not want the TV news helicopters showing ministers sitting in traffic on the M4 on her account."
That's the Queen we know and love! Tireless, thoughtful and no-nonsense.
However, unfortunately, the reality of being 96-years-old has intervened and consequently either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss about to learn first-hand just how nippy summer Scotland can be. (According to the forecast, Saturday's top temperature will be 18 degrees. Maybe leave the shorts at home?)
On Wednesday this week, the palace announced that for the very first time in her 70-year reign the nonagenarian would not be appointing the new PM at Majesty HQ (AKA Buckingham Palace) and that she "has conceded to stay at Balmoral for her comfort," the Telegraph reports. Instead, Johnson and the freshly picked leader will make the 1600km round trip to Balmoral to see the Queen where proceedings will take place in the drawing room.
The Queen, pictured with Boris Johnson last year, will not appoint the new PM at Buckingham Palace. Photo / Getty Images
This is not a decision the unflagging monarch would have made unless completely necessary, a sad reflection of just how much has changed in only the last 12 months for the sovereign. (Last year she was photographed via the long lens of a paparazzo enjoying a walk across the hills with a lady-in-waiting.)
While the palace will certainly put out photos of the new PM meet'n'greet next week, for a family business that traffics largely in symbolism, the underlying end-of-an-era timbre of this week's Balmoral decision is unmistakable.
Taking to Twitter this week, the Daily Mail's Dan Wootton (who broke the news of Megxit way back when in 2020) wrote that "there are now real fears she may never return to Windsor or London."
Worried for The Queen. Of course, she's right to stay at Balmoral to receive new PM. But there are now real fears she may never return to Windsor or London. But this is Her Majesty. She has defied the health odds before and we must pray she does so again. God bless you, Ma'am.
While such a grim possibility would have been unthinkable not so long ago, the Queen's ongoing mobility issues, and whatever else might be ailing her, (don't forget she was mysteriously hospitalised last year) now mean that this suggestion cannot be dismissed.
Last month Her Majesty skipped her usual public official welcome, involving pipes, drums and a Shetland pony, with the event instead being held in private.
In late August, the Mail reported that the Queen has been "resting" more after there has been "a change in the past few weeks" in her mobility.
Given this situation, practically speaking, staying put at one property rather than making her usual rounds from Buckingham Palace to Norfolk's hulkingly ugly Sandringham to Windsor Castle to Balmoral would make sense. (It is also reported to be her favourite home.)
(When Prince Philip retired in 2017, he chose to squirrel himself away inside WOOD FARM on the Sandringham Estate. Peace, quiet and the chance to drink as much stout as he fancied was probably deeply appealing after a lifetime of living in a fishbowl of bowing and scraping servants.)
As the pandemic proved, the business of ruling can, if necessary, be done remotely. She already now accepts the credentials of the new ambassadors exclusively via video calls and only a handful of dignitaries now meet her face-to-face).
However, if the Queen did decide to stay put, her relocation to Scotland would send a pretty stark message about how limited her future reign would be.
It would also represent something of an admission of defeat for a woman who has unswervingly put her duty first for seven long decades.
The Queen has been 'resting' more after a change in her mobility. Photo / AP
Somehow tucking herself away amongst the heather and the gorse of her Deeside estate seems anathema to her view of the job. As Hardman wrote: "She loves being Queen and has a very clear idea of what people expect in their Queen. 'She just wants to look the part,' says a friend."
Meanwhile, as this all plays out, and though the new PM will be the big news, also registering on the headline-making Richter scale in the coming days will be the return of Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex to UK soil.
While Harry has been back for family moments (Prince Philip's funeral, the Diana statue unveiling) and the duo have been back together (for a quickie visit in April and then for the Platinum Jubilee in June), this trip will be their first proper visit wholly of their own volition.
Over the course of three days they will log a trio of high-profile charity outings, in what will likely be a whirlwind of big smiles, multiple designer outfit changes per day and a dogged Netflix crew dutifully catching every moment of the couple photogenically emoting.
(Meghan recently told The Cut that the series they are working on for the streaming giant is not a reality series but will show the world "The piece of my life I haven't been able to share, that people haven't been able to see, is our love story." Watching them make googly lovesick eyes at one another sounds like something one should not watch on a full stomach.)
Just in case the Queen does not have enough on her plate, the Sussexes' re-entry into the UK could be a bumpy ride given their nearly subterranean popularity levels. (The most recent data from YouGov has Harry at 34 per cent popularity and Meghan at 25 per cent.)
In short, it's going to be a busy, big week coming up for Team Windsor and that all without getting into the fact that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will all be starting at their new school, Lambrook, on Thursday, UK time. (There will likely be a sweet photo of all of them in slightly too big uniforms released by Kensington Palace.)
Scotland's most famous literary son Robert Burns wrote a poem (and song) called My Heart's in the Highlands. We know that, like Burns, the Queen's heart is indeed in the highlands but what about her advisers, aides, official red boxes of paperwork and umbrella collection? In the coming weeks, decisions will have to be made about what comes next and just how much insect spray and tartan courtiers should be stocking up on.
- Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles
