Elizabeth David: she was about to make a unique mark on British culture with a one-woman mission to introduce us to continental food … She pioneered the food revolution we see around us all today not to mention the army of globetrotting TV chefs. ibid.
Anthony Wedgwood Benn ditched his seat in the House of Lords and became a prophet of British socialism. For him Brussels was dominated by capitalism and bankers. ibid.
Jayaben Desia: One of the most notorious industrial disputes had begun: Grunwick … She hadn’t planned to start the strike but she was a natural … Reporter: Why are you on strike?
Desai: We have to ask permission to go to the toilet. ibid.
December 1982: 30,000 women linked arms around the entire site [Greenham Common]: Embrace the Base. ibid.
On 30th June 1953, less than a month after her coronation, Queen Elizabeth walked across the tarmac at London airport. The Queen was there to wave her mother and sister off but also to catch a glimpse of a very exciting new British aeroplane. The De Havilland Comet represented the future, the world’s very first commercial jet airliner … But within a year of the royal flight a series of terrible crashes would ground the Comet fleet and devastate Britain’s lead in the jet age. New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr III
We’ve managed a shift from heavy industries to exporting services, ideas and creativity … There was also an entire array of new Elizabethans who found new innovations, adaptations, fresh ways to build and new things to sell. ibid.
Norah Docker embodied [going down coal mine to ‘do her bit’] the changes that would buffer and transform British industry over the next half century. ibid.
Dusty Springfield started her musical career with her brother as the singer in a three-piece folk band: they called them The Springfields … The first British group to enter the US Billboard charts. ibid.
London February 2012: Sixty years since this city and the world woke up to the news the country had a new monarch. Trevor McDonald’s Queen & Country I: London: Royal City, ITV 2012
The new Queen was twenty-five. ibid.
She’s what’s known as a constitutional monarch. ibid.
There have always been royal visits. Elizabeth I used them as a way to avoid paying bills ... The Royal visit as we know it is a modern invention. Trevor McDonald’s Queen & Country II: Royal Visit
The Queen has a particular affection for Scotland. ibid.
There have been 102 state visits during her reign. ibid.
Americans are among the most dedicated followers of the British Royal Family. ibid.
Most of the swans on the Thames belong to the Queen. They are some of her more unusual possessions which range from the royal collection to a clutch of historic royal palaces. Trevor McDonald’s Queen & Country III: The Queen’s Possessions
The Tower of London is in a league of its own. ibid.
The Channel Islands ... are Peculiars of the Crown. ibid.
Queen Elizabeth II has made 325 oversees visits to 150 countries. Trevor McDonald’s Queen & Country IV: Royal Traveller
The traveller queen has assumed the status of a rock star. ibid.
In November 1953 the Royal couple set off on a five-month tour. ibid.
The British royal family is a source of fascination around the world. Two days have shaped our perception of the modern monarchy: the Coronation of Elizabeth II and the death of Princess Diana. Days that Shook the World s1e2: Coronation of Elizabeth II & Death of Diana, BBC 2003
June 2nd 1953: The press begin to pay less heed to royal protocol. ibid.
August 30th 1997: and in France the arrival of one woman is about to trigger a fatal trail of events. ibid.
Henri Paul is neither a bodyguard nor a chauffeur. ibid.
‘There was the smell of blood, fuel and burning.’ ibid. Dr first on scene
The Ritz security manager Henri Paul was three times over the legal alcohol limit. ibid.
This image of a happy family was captured by a select group of photographers who were invited inside the palace. The Changing Face of the Queen, BBC 2012
The Navy posted the newly married Philip to Malta, so the young princess went with him. ibid.
The closeness of the Queen’s relationship with her parents that was to be the basis of her own long and loving marriage. (Elizabeth II & Royal Family) Elizabeth: Queen, Wife, Mother, ITV 2012
On 27th July 1932 a female inmate slipped through an open window and made a getaway ... This woman was no ordinary inmate: this woman was Prince Philip’s mother. The Queen’s Mother in Law, Channel 4 2012
Prince Philip’s mother was born a princess but turned her back on royal life. ibid.
An unlikely hero of World War II ... Princess Alice – one of the Royal Family’s best kept secrets. ibid.
In marrying Prince Andrew, Alice had hitched herself to the most unstable royal family in Europe. ibid.
Princess Alice had been hard at work founding her very own religious order. ibid.
This young woman faced her first test as Queen: winning the confidence of her prime minister Winston Churchill. Elizabeth II: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Channel 5 2012
The tour would cover over 40,000 miles and several continents. ibid.
Her youngest sister Margaret had been involved in a relationship for some years with Captain Peter Townsend. ibid.
Less than a year after the [Suez] crisis she visited America. ibid.
She broke with tradition to begin the Walkabout. ibid.
In 1977 it was the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. ibid.
Around the world she remained hugely popular. ibid.
It’s Ma’m as in ham, not Ma’am as in farm. The Queen 2006 starring Helen Mirren & Michael Sheen & James Cromwell & Helen McCrory & Alex Jennings & Roger Allam & Sylvia Syms & Tim McCullan & Douglas Reith & et al, director Stephen Frears, official to Blair
Our constitutional responsibility: to advise, guide and warn the government of the day. ibid. Queen to Blair
I think I’ll write my diary a little longer. ibid. Queen to Philip
This is a family funeral, Mr Blair, not a fairground attraction. ibid. Queen of Diana’s funeral
There is now general agreement, Ma’m, that a public funeral would be more appropriate. ibid. Robin to Queen
Why do they hate us so much? ibid. Charles to Queen
Will someone please save these people from themselves? ibid. Blair
A bunch of freeloading, emotionally retarded nutters. ibid. Cherie to Blair
It’s unimaginable this country being a republic. ibid. Blair to Cherie
I think there’s something ugly about the way everyone’s started to bully her. ibid. Blair to Cherie
Something’s happened. There’s been a change. A shift in values. ibid. Queen to Queen Mum
Heart. What heart? ibid. Cherie to Blair
All Labour prime ministers go ga-ga for the Queen. ibid.
I’ve never been hated like that before. ibid. Queen to Blair
Buckingham Palace has said that the Queen is aware of reports that two of her cousins have been kept secretly in a mental hospital but added it was a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family. Today the family said that entries in Burke’s Peerage showing the two women had died many years ago were the result of vagueness and not the result of cover-up. BBC News
I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong. Elizabeth II, speech 21st April 1947
I think everybody really will concede that on this, of all days, I should begin my speech with the words, ‘My husband and I’. Elizabeth II, speech Guildhall on 25th anniversary
It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult. Elizabeth II, 1957 Christmas Broadcast
Today we need a special kind of courage. Not the kind needed in battle, but a kind which makes us stand up for everything that we know is right, everything that is true and honest. We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics, so that we can show the world that we are not afraid of the future. ibid.