During her historic 70-year reign, the number of times Queen Elizabeth II expressed a personal view that veered into the grey area between politics and royal impartiality can be counted on one hand. However, her diplomatic skills in navigating more politically-charged situations were second to none.
While British Prime Ministers have previously expressed surprise at how keenly aware the late monarch was of affairs in the UK, it appears US Presidents have felt the same. And when it came to writing her recent book, The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand that Shaped History, US political journalist Susan Page was surprised by just how adept Queen Elizabeth II was.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express, the author revealed what traits came as the biggest shock.
She explained: “What I found in researching this book is what a deft diplomat she was, what a smart politician she could be and what a shrewd judge of character she was.” While Ms Page has reported on seven White House administrations and 11 presidential elections during her almost five-decade career, she is not the only person to have felt this way about the late monarch’s skills during private meetings.
Former British Prime Minister, Sir John Major, previously told the BBC that the Queen had “represented our better selves for over 70 years”. He said his weekly meetings with the Queen during his time as PM were not a “duty”, but “something to be looked forward to. In many ways, it was cathartic.”
Mr Major, who was in office between 1990 and 1997, added: “You could discuss things with the Queen that you couldn’t really discuss with hardly anybody else. Politics even amongst the closest of colleagues tends [to be] a little leaky.
“The one thing about the meetings with the Queen, nobody is there, just the corgis – behaving or not as the case may be, usually behaving – and you could speak in absolute privacy. There’s no private secretary there. No notes are made. You can say exactly what you wish, exactly what is on your mind. And so can the Queen. So that is very valuable.”
He went on to say that not only was she a good listener, but “more relevantly” she was a “good questioner”. He added: “Gently, she asks the right questions. I think people would be surprised at the depth of knowledge she has of how people who are not close to the monarchy actually live in their own lives.
“She knows a great deal about it and her questions are often very, very pertinent. It was always extremely useful, because it was a completely external view from someone who knew politics.”
Sir John said he often came away from his weekly meetings thinking: “What a shame she isn’t in the Cabinet”.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
