Being queen "was not the life that Elizabeth II had dreamed of"

Ugo Pascolo 9:23 p.m., September 08, 2022

INTERVIEW

Break a record of longevity on the throne of England, without ever having wanted to be queen.

After 70 years of reign, Elizabeth II died this Thursday, September 8 at the age of 96 in Balmoral, Scotland, surrounded by her family.

The end of a real part of the history of the United Kingdom, and of a job occupied by the queen since she was 26 years old.

A heavy crown to wear for Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, since she simply never wanted it, reminds journalist Esther Leneman at the microphone of Europe 1.

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To be queen, "it was not at all her choice"

“I think she did her job remarkably well and it was not an easy job and she did it despite the fact that it was not her choice at all”, recalls the one who has was a correspondent in London for Europe 1 for twenty years.

"It was not the life she had dreamed of, but she said to herself: 'This is my destiny, I was born to be queen, I grit my teeth and I do my duty'".

A strong sense of sacrifice for her country, especially since "her happiest years passed before she became queen, when she followed her husband, an officer in the navy to Malta", says the journalist again. 

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In 1949, three years before the start of the reign of Elizabeth II, Prince Philip was indeed appointed first lieutenant of the destroyer HMS Checkers, the flagship of the first flotilla of destroyers of the Mediterranean fleet.

A much softer time for the future queen according to Esther Leneman.

"They spent their evenings with their buddies, no one took offense at what they did or didn't do, no one watched how many glasses of wine they drank."

A relative anonymity that the queen had to abandon once she ascended the throne.