Editorial: Queen Mum earned place in our hearts

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was true to the insight in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that some people have greatness thrust upon them. As the young wife of a shy Duke with no aspiration to be King she could look forward to a life of quiet privilege. The intervention of fate created a Queen Consort who will be seen by history as the strength behind a wartime throne and a symbol of stability when modernity raised questions over the institution of the monarchy.

The abdication of Edward VIII abruptly bestowed the British crown on an introspective and diffident man with a stammer who was far from ideal for the role. At his side was the daughter of a Scottish earl who had no training to be Queen but who was his "rock". George VI was only too aware of her importance when he said at his Accession Council, "With my wife and helpmeet by my side, I take up the heavy task that lies before me ... "

Queen Elizabeth was, in every sense, a suitable helper.

In little more than two years, Britain was at war and the King and Queen became symbols of the nation's determination to withstand Hitler's onslaught. While the King became the standard bearer for the armed forces, the Queen stood for the no-less-important struggle on the home front. Her refusal to send her daughters out of London despite the Blitz, her determination that the royal household should subsist on the same rations as the rest of the nation and her ceaseless work to maintain morale won an enduring place for her in the hearts of all Britons. That place was firmly cemented when she told a London policeman after Buckingham Palace was bombed in 1940: "I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."

She likewise was a symbol of wartime courage for the Commonwealth but the affection felt for her pre-dated her wartime fortitude. As Duchess of York she had been enthusiastically received in New Zealand in 1927 and, as reported at the time, "smiled her way straight into the heart of the people". It was a place she was to occupy for the following 75 years.

The special affection in which she was held may have begun with the support she so demonstrably gave the King and her tireless discharge of public duties but there was something more quintessential in her relationship with the common people. It was, perhaps, her ability to impart the impression that she met those people on common ground.

It was that sense of empathy that led, on the death of King George in 1952, to her becoming Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. While reportedly not a title much favoured by the royal household, it was precisely the title the public would demand. To consider her simply as Queen Dowager would have been unthinkable. As the Queen Mother she continued to enjoy immense popularity, though never at the expense of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Her closeness to the Queen has never been in doubt.

The Queen Mother, like her daughter, represented the finer qualities of royalty at a time when the actions of younger members of the family threatened to make Windsor the last royal house. In terms of her devotion to royal duties, the Queen is her mother's daughter.

Elizabeth II has not, however, inherited charm in quite the abundance for which the Queen Mother was famous. Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon's extremely happy and largely carefree childhood at Glamis Castle in Scotland laid foundations that would be denied a daughter who was raised a royal. It meant the Queen Mother was, in some respects, as useful a helper to her daughter as she had been to her husband, applying more of the common touch than tradition would allow a ruling monarch.

In one respect, however, the Queen Mother remained aloof. She was never publicly drawn into the trauma that has beset the royal family in recent years. Her determination to be seen to be above such goings-on probably ensured her continuing popularity.

With her passing, a long chapter in the history of British royalty is closed. From its many pages emerged a character embraced by the public like no other. She was the Queen Mum.