Marking a year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II

She had solid values, and from a surprisingly early age, she was well trained

A year after her death at age 96 in her bedroom at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, her beloved Highlands retreat, Queen Elizabeth II remains the most popular member of the royal family. The most recent YouGov poll taken in the second quarter of 2023 gave the late Queen a 76 per cent popularity rating. She was followed by her grandson, Prince William, her daughter Princess Anne, William’s wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her son and heir, King Charles III.

That’s no surprise. During her record-breaking reign of 70 years, Elizabeth II carried out her role as monarch impeccably. Most memorably, two days before her death, she mustered her strength despite a painful illness (likely multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer), to bid goodbye to Boris Johnson, her outgoing Prime Minister, and greet Liz Truss, her 15^th Prime Minister. It was a heroic and defining moment.

Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle on September 6, 2022, welcoming Liz Truss as her 15th Prime Minister

Gazing again at the photograph, the Queen’s modesty and humility—signature traits along with her steadfast dedication to duty and service—emerge even more clearly. 

When she marked her fortieth year as monarch in 1992, she said, “I have a feeling that in the end probably that training is the answer to a great many things. You can do a lot if you are properly trained, and I hope I have been.” Many years later, in September 2009, over coffee in my Washington, DC apartment (more about that fascinating encounter in a future “Royals Extra”), Helen Mirren—who had won an Oscar for her portrayal of the monarch in The Queen—said Elizabeth II understood her role even as a child.

“There was one piece of film I watched over and over again,” she said, “about 20 seconds when she was 11 or 12…