Queen Elizabeth would have turned 100 on April 21, and a new biographer about the late monarch has been released ahead of the anniversary. In Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. Her Story, royal biographer Robert Hardman explores the late Queen’s historic reign, and in a new interview with GB News he said that Queen Elizabeth faced some unique challenges.
“She was the first monarch ever who had to, as it were, manage decline,” Hardman said. “When her father [King George VI] became King, and all before him, it was all about Britain being great and holding onto lots of territory.”
He added, “It was an empire when George VI came to the throne, and for her, it was about shrinking everything, but with a smile, with a handshake.”
The shift from the British Empire to the Commonwealth of Nations was “a very tricky act” for the late Queen, Hardman said, calling it one of “her greatest achievements.”
As head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth helped to grow the voluntary collective of nations from just eight members when she took the throne in 1952 to 56 countries at the time of her death.
“Everyone wanted to join,” Hardman said. “And they wanted to join it because of her. She was liked until the end.”
He continued that despite her health issues in the last year of her life, Queen Elizabeth refused to abdicate. “What's so interesting is that, in her late 90s, when she clearly had what were known at the time as mobility issues, there was no talk of her stepping aside,” the biographer said. “She was the queen, as I say, and her authority was undimmed.”
