The Queen Struggled with Confidence Until Mother Gave Her This Advice
It may seem like a glamorous life, and some parts of it certainly are. Recent news of the impending wedding of American actress Meghan Markle to Prince Harry has shone a spotlight on royalty and the many perks and duties that come with it.
And speaking of duties, Shakespeare wrote in Henry IV that “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” King Henry was speaking of his own guilt, fatigue, and the many other challenges he faced.
Feb. 6, 2018 marks the 66th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne following the death of her father, King George VI.
Her father’s coronation was in 1937 following the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.
Now 91 years old, the Queen, who was crowned at age 25, has been through many challenges in her own life. One of the early challenges she faced was revealed by the Queen’s friend and her mother’s former lady-in-waiting, Lady Penn, wrote Hello! magazine.
Appearing in the “Elizabeth: Our Queen” documentary, Penn shared that when she was a young princess, Elizabeth struggled with confidence.
The Queen Mother told her young daughter how to overcome the problem by developing some attitude.
According to Penn, “The Queen Mother told the Queen when she was very young to be brave. I think the Queen probably when she was young felt walking into a room full of people was rather daunting. So she said to her, ‘What you want to do, when you walk into a room, is walk through the middle of the door.'”
Penn added, “And I think by that she meant, don’t sort of go in apologetically. You walk through as if ‘I’m in charge.’ I think that was very good advice.”
Though some have mocked the Queen for various reasons, including some of her wardrobe choices, as one person on Facebook pointed out, she wears her outfits “like a boss,” full of confidence.
That “walking through the middle of the door[way]” advice, and thereby owning the room regardless of what goes on around you, is certainly something everyone could learn from.
According to Now to Love, Queen Elizabeth II shared her thoughts about her coronation: “I’ve seen one coronation, and been the recipient in the other, which is pretty remarkable. It’s sort of, I suppose, the beginning of one’s life really, as a sovereign.”
As for the crown, she had this to say, “There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they are quite important things.”
But while many will be celebrating the big anniversary, for the Queen it is also a somber time. It is a reminder of how she got the throne — through the death of her father.
Hello! magazine wrote that she will do this year as she has in years past, “…reflect[ing] on the anniversary of her father’s death in private at Sandringham, where she has stayed since Christmas.”
It added that she “does not carry out any official engagements and instead spends the date quietly,” but will return later in the week to resume life as usual.
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