Episode 2 The Diamond Queen

For the first time in modern history,

a queen has reached her 60th year on the throne.

A sea of faces, a forest of hands.

60 years on duty.

60 years of being the uncomplaining

servant of her subjects.

What's familiar is the protective blanket of reassurance

the reign of Queen Elizabeth II has spread in a world

which has changed at bewildering speed.

Continuity.

But it hasn't always been easy -

and you can't get continuity by standing still.

The monarchy always seems the same,

but its inside story is rather different.

She's managed to modernise and evolve the monarchy like no other.

These are rather fun, aren't they? The roses.

She's seen 12 Prime Ministers and she's still going strong.

In the second of this three-part series,

filmed over a year-and-a-half, we explore how the Queen has kept some grand traditions,

while others couldn't survive. How she's tweaked, listened and changed,

opening up palaces, and supporting a more relaxed Royal Wedding.

I rang my grandmother up for some clarification on the issue,

and duly got told

-that it was ridiculous.

-She was right, as she always is.

This is the tale of the Queen as quiet reformer, taxpayer

and anxious social observer.

We can never forget those who died or have been injured

and their families.

She did close a circle of history.

June 2011, and let's start at the more eccentric end of the scale -

the Garter Knights of the realm troop down the hill at Windsor Castle.

The Queen has modernised a lot,

but it's worth remembering what she hasn't.

Not that even this is quite what it appears.

Gold and glitter and pageantry doesn't get much better than this -

this is Garter Day, one of the most important, emblematic moments

in the Queen's year, and the images go all around the world.

And yet this is a characteristic example

of the Windsor dynasty's great trick of reinventing tradition.

Because although Garter Day does go back to the English, medieval monarchy,

in its modern form, it was invented by the Queen's father in 1948.

So, that not that long ago.

Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh

were resplendent in rich medieval robes.

It's a kind of club for the top ranks of society -

former ministers, members of the Royal Family, the Establishment.

It's not the easiest part of the monarchy, this,

a reminder perhaps that, for 1,000 years,

monarchs stood on top of a pyramid of aristocrats,

landowners and nobles, whose power has vanished.

The monarchy, though, is a defiant survivor,

and orders of chivalry are still taken very seriously.

Well, the Garter is the highest order of chivalry in Britain,

and the oldest one as well.

It's the sovereign's personal gift,

it's an enormous honour for anybody.

What the public doesn't see is what happens inside the Garter Throne Room -

the dressing and decorating of the new knight,

including an actual garter.

In this case it's a judge - Lord Phillips, President of the Supreme Court.

And, for the Queen, this is hands-on.

..receive this robe of heavenly colour,

the livery of this most excellent order.

Monarchy comes barnacled with stately traditions, titles,

grandness, but if this was all,

if this was the only image of the British monarchy,

it surely wouldn't be half as popular as it actually is.

In fact, the Windsors have always been acutely aware of public opinion

and changing attitudes and ready to ditch what needs to go.

'They're on their way to Buckingham Palace

'to attend one of the three last presentation parties that Her Majesty will hold.

'Terribly thrilling, but we mustn't show how nervous we feel.'

Presentation of aristocratic young women - debutantes -

at a ball which used to mark the start of the annual London season,

a kind of very grand marriage market,

was abandoned in 1958, really out of embarrassment.

In the tart words of the Queen's late sister, Princess Margaret,

"Every tart in London was getting in."

But as the debs were gently shown one door, other doors were opened.

The Queen extended the once-traditional

and exclusive summer garden parties

and opened them up to people

from all walks of life, from nurses, builders and bombardiers

to care workers and captains,

8,000 at a time, at one of the most open

and relatively informal of Royal events.

It's nice just to be able to relax and just stroll round the grounds,

it's a beautiful garden, down by the lake,

and see the great and the good of Britain get invited here.

It's a lovely day for them, and it's great the Queen does it.

It's just a fantastic thing to do.

Got them on your plates?

One plate in your hand, ready to offer, OK?

DRUMROLL

BAND STRIKES UP

Modern world, modern monarchy,

which means that the statistics of even garden parties

are squinted over and published.

So we know each one involves 27,000 cups of tea,

20,000 cakes and sandwiches and the cost is rising

from £700,000 to £800,000 a year,

which could be something to do with the fact that every guest

on average consumes 14 items each.

Very calming, a cake or two!

-Really stunning surroundings.

-And the food's lovely!

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, we like the food!

The other essential ingredient for a British garden party

is, of course, dodgy weather.

It would be less interesting if it was always sunny.

Less to talk about.

'Shelter at once became the most important thing, and every vantage point was soon occupied.'

'It fairly poured down, and at least one guest was trapped.'

And this is, of course, the Queen's REIGN.

Away from the formal diary and the spotlights,

the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have spent a lot of time reaching out to key figures

in a changing country. When they were younger,

they began inviting actors, writers, scientists and others

for regular lunches. Now they welcome a wide range of people for themed evenings

at Buckingham Palace it might be Australians in Britain,

members of the emergency services, explorers. Tonight,

it's young performers and some of their mentors.

Never met the Queen.

Met Prince Charles - the Welsh connection, you know.

And so I'm really honoured to be here. It's like being in the movies!

It is an honour to be invited to the wedding.

I thought there'd be more people camped outside. Have I missed it?

-I think you may... This is not the wedding!

-I thought it was just me, Duffy and Ellie Goulding!

I think it's incredibly important for the young performers

in all the different arts to be recognised at an early age,

because I think it's so incredibly encouraging

to feel that you're accepted by your culture,

by your society, by your Royal Family,

by the status quo,

because so often performers, especially young performers,

feel they are on the outside of society,

and in many ways so they should be, because they have to challenge the status quo.

People around the world associate you with the Queen,

-because of the film.

-Well, in a ridiculous way,

-which is completely wrong, but...

-What does she mean to you?

Apart from my sister, she's the only other person

who's been a total constant in my life.

Ever since I, you know, came to consciousness, the Queen was there.

And that's an incredible, um, kind of rock to have in your life, I think.

One gets the impression a lot of these things are decided by committees looking at long lists.

Actually how much is the Queen herself involved in who she wants to come here?

Hugely - this is the Queen's guest list.

No-one comes here without the Queen extending that invitation.

And how much briefing does the Queen need to absorb

for an event like this? She will presumably be meeting huge numbers of people she hasn't met before.

The Queen's been involved in this evening from its very conception.

So, as the work has gone on here to develop the ideas you'll see later,

the Queen's been involved at every step along the way,

so not a lot of briefing, because she's built it up with the rest of us.

MUSIC: "Dance of the Knights" by Sergei Prokofiev

This evening there's a performance - a mix of traditional and modern culture based on Romeo and Juliet.

Once, palaces were closed off, royal refuges.

Now this one is more like a grand theatrical space,

where both guests and hosts are onstage together.

Queen Victoria would have been amazed, and amused? Well, who knows.

It's hard to imagine her mingling as easily as this.

INAUDIBLE SPEECH

It's very interesting.

It's a humbling experience to meet the Queen,

and I'm a strong believer in the arts and the support of the arts,

and all these wonderful people that are here, making things work.

-It's an amazing mix of people, isn't it?

-Also, times are changing,

seeing Romeo And Juliet, and everything from old to new being involved in that, is a great thing.

One of the other things tonight's done for me is make me proud of the industry I'm in,

and, often or not, I'm a bit ashamed of it,

but tonight I feel quite proud of it,

because I've met some great people, doing some great things.

New York, essentially, but I've been here now eight years.

'It was the first time that I'd met the Queen.'

It's only a shame, because they don't allow pictures,

-so you can't go, "Look, sis, that's me and my..."

-Me and the Queen.

One of the longest running campaigns of reaching out

was created by the Duke of Edinburgh, a man well known for his direct small talk.

His Award Scheme has helped more than seven million young people

test themselves, achieve more, push harder

with the Duke often presenting the Gold Award personally, as today,

at St James' Palace.

People were walking round the inside...

Senior members of the Royal Family have to cultivate a skill

almost nobody else needs.

It's a carefully-timed dance through the higher small talk,

designed to calm the nervous, restrain the over-talkative,

release some tension, produce a little bubble of laughter...

LAUGHTER

..and, in that way, ensure that millions of people leave events like these

having had some sort of personal connection with, in this case,

the Duke of Edinburgh, but in general, the British monarchy.

And you all walked, did you?

No, I kayaked, sir.

-Kayaked?

-Yeah, along the River Tweed.

-You mean down the River Tweed.

-Yeah.

From the start to finish, which was good.

-That's a long way!

-Yeah, we drove up to the source

and started kayaking down all the way to the Mall.

It's brilliant, you see, you all got lost walking...

THEY LAUGH

..he gets dumped at the top of the river and floats down!

So how do the royals learn these techniques?

It's a kind of trade, with its trade secrets and its special skills.

Most days of the year, the entire working Royal Family are spread around the country

from town halls, to schools, hospitals, and charities they've personally chosen to support.

Everybody gets their bit of time.

This is a huge undertaking.

Around 4,000 engagements a year between them.

So how do they do it?

You learn by watching, by listening,

by, as it were, first of all being in the background.

I've got so many fond memories of when I was younger, and growing up,

and trying not to get in the way of all sorts of

engagements or events that were going on,

and realising, when I got hit round the back of the head,

that it was probably time to behave!

I think the first engagement I did

was my father volunteered me to give leeks to the Welsh Guards on St David's Day.

Did the Queen help you in terms of how to do these things?

Well, that first engagement

probably came with helpful instructions

in the sense of structure of the day and the level of expectation.

But not much more than that.

She very much leaves the family to go off and find their own way.

If you get it wrong, stand by!

You'll be put back in your place, quite rightly so.

But she very much lets us get on with it.

and choose our own sort of... choose what we want to support.

'But how do they choose?

'The Queen's granddaughters are getting to the age

'when they're considering how much to contribute of their time.

-'So what causes are on their minds?'

-I had an operation when I was 12,

so I'm hopefully looking into helping other people

learn about the condition I had,

-so they can help...

-Can I ask what that was?

Scoliosis of the spine - it's when you curve...

your bones, it's the way you're born. Lots of people have it,

and, when they're diagnosed, don't know what it is.

-So that's something you can bring your own experience to help other people.

-Yeah.

I know about it, I'm not just talking from no experience,

I know about this. And Beatrice is doing...

Dyslexia in education, I think that's really important.

Especially primary education, which is something...

because, when I got diagnosed with dyslexia at age seven,

everyone was thinking, "Why is she so slow to read?"

It was something that you could recognise a lot sooner,

and get the support there and then,

and then you can go through your life knowing that you had more support.

But it can't all be personal choice - the spread is too big,

and, in 2002, for instance, the Royal Family faced a dilemma.

After the deaths of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret,

there were a great many different organisations that were left

without a patron or a president, or without some family association.

And then there was a bit of co-ordination.

How did you sort that out?

The list is laid on the card table at Sandringham,

and we all sit round the card table and decide.

Of course, it's not just the individual support that matters,

perhaps the Queen's, and the British monarchy's, most important role

is in bringing people, her people, together as a nation.

The most recent and spectacular example of this was, of course, the Royal Wedding.

We love William! We love Kate!

We love William! We love Kate!

Prince William, the Queen's grandson,

is due to marry Catherine Middleton.

More than a half a century after the Queen was married here,

much about this will be familiar

the glittering full-fig British monarchical event so many people watch around the world.

The crowd behind me look different

and probably sound different from the crowds

that were waiting for the Queen's wedding after the war,

or Princess Diana and Charles's wedding,

but they're doing exactly the same thing as their great-grandparents and grandparents and parents did.

They've been camping out all night, people are drinking tea,

singing patriotic songs, doing little dances.

This scene is almost as traditional as the modern monarchy itself.

How important is it for the British monarchy that we've got, in Kate Middleton,

a middle-class member of it?

Fantastic. It's what Britain is all about, isn't it?

London having a big party.

Have you been here for earlier royal occasions?

Yes, we always come to royal weddings, it's part of the fun.

Once you've been to one, you want to come to them all!

And even royal weddings have arguments about the guest list.

First meeting we had post-engagement,

when there was a big buzz going on, and I was obviously very excited

and happy about it, I walked into the first meeting

and got presented with a list of 777 names

and I looked at it, and there wasn't one person on there I knew,

and it brought a sense of dread and fear

over what was going to happen and who was going to run the whole day.

But I said, "This is not the way it's going to be, let's start again".

And I rang my grandmother up for some clarification on the issue,

and duly got told that it was ridiculous

and I should start with my own friends.

CHEERING

Boris Johnson, this is a very, very big day

for the couple themselves, but also for the British monarchy.

It's a huge moment, but this is of course

the anthropologically critical moment in the life of this nation,

and you could argue of many other nations,

because this is the moment when we publicly legitimate

the reproduction of the kings and queens of England.

And everybody sees in this fantastic happy event,

this marriage between two young people,

they see the incarnation of

the greatest emblematic institution of this country,

so the marriage stands for the continuity of Britain

and of British institutions.

That word again! Continuity. But it's change as well.

Trumpets, but trees in the abbey too.

Flags and foliage.

I am a very traditional guy, and so is my wife,

and so together we wanted to create that special atmosphere,

but at the same time, we wanted to have our personal twist on it,

because at the end of the day it's our day,

and so we wanted everyone to share in our happiness

as anyone does at anyone's wedding day.

But it had to be on a slightly bigger scale

than one might normally do!

I was just as nervous as William - being ring bearer was a bit of a responsibility, I had it in the cuff

because I had no pockets. So I was having to try and check

to make sure it was there without making it obvious.

As far as I was concerned, I was there to support him,

to tell them how great he is - it was his day, so I had to lie a bit,

and just make sure that he wasn't too nervous,

and everything was going to go according to plan.

And while all eyes were on the bride and her bridal gown,

behind the scenes, the groom's own attire

had also been a source of deliberation.

Within the Irish Guards regiment, there's several variances of dress you can wear,

and I was opting for a different one than the one I wore on the day.

So my grandmother very much decided that the red tunic

was very smart and appropriate for the day,

so I was duly told on that occasion, so I did as I was told!

I felt a little bit ridiculous, but his red tunic was definitely

the one to wear, so she was right, as she always is!

There's nothing frozen about this as we watch it again.

Or accidental.

It's tradition with a twist,

and the message is thought-through and serious.

-With this ring I thee wed.

-With this ring I thee wed.

-With my body I thee honour.

-With my body I thee honour.

And all my worldly goods with thee I share.

And all my worldly goods with thee I share.

Many people were tremendously encouraged

by the fact that here was a very contemporary couple

deciding to shape their lives

according to historic Christian disciplines of marriage,

doing it without fuss, without self-consciousness,

stepping into a role with confidence and happiness.

I think it was a very joyful and relaxed occasion in many ways.

I was quite glad when it was over, though - bit of a blur!

FANFARE PLAYS

Above all, by taking into the highest ranks of the Royal Family

someone many people consider their first genuinely middle-class recruit,

Prince William is continuing the Firm's long-term hope

of always re-stitching the monarchy into the changing social fabric of the British.

Will we one day have our first black or Asian member of the Royal Family?

Well, there's no reason why not.

CHEERING

The Windsor dynasty has always presented itself as the family monarchy,

the ideal family,

but of course, it's also a real family -

and real families have bumps and upsets and fallings-out,

and even fallings-apart.

On the other hand, real families can mend and join hands again

and grow again - true of us, true of them.

And this generation just feels different

even down to the prince driving his bride off in his father's car,

to the gentle amusement of his brother.

William's been trying to drive that car for years,

and the couple of times he has driven it at home, he's stalled it.

It is a very difficult car to drive, combined with the fact that he can't drive,

but to make it even harder, he had his spurs on, which was very entertaining,

to see him doof-doof-doof out of Buckingham Palace.

And, let's be honest, the Royal Wedding also felt like a happy ending

after troubles that had dogged the Queen's own family.

In 1949, as a young married woman, the Queen made a speech to the Mothers' Union

denouncing divorce and separation

as producing some of the "darkest evils in society".

Back then, monarchy and iron-strong traditional marriage

seemed a natural equation.

Divorced people couldn't be invited to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot.

When, in 1955, the Queen's sister Princess Margaret wanted to marry a divorced man,

Group Captain Peter Townsend,

a senior minister threatened to resign from the cabinet and the marriage was vetoed.

But during the Queen's reign,

attitudes have changed at bewildering speed.

Three of the Queen's own children divorced -

the sad collapse of the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

produced a full-scale royal crisis and a time of deep personal unhappiness

for the Queen herself undoubtedly, the worst year in her life.

1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.

In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents,

it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.

LAUGHTER

SIREN BLARES

1992 was the year that struck the Queen like no other.

On her 45th wedding anniversary,

the seat of the monarchy for almost 1,000 years, Windsor Castle,

went up in flames after a humble spotlight began a blaze

which spread through more than 100 rooms.

The inferno accelerated a dramatic shift in the way the Queen dealt with money and tax.

The Government suggested taxpayers should fund the £37 million bill

for restoring Windsor, but there was an outcry,

and it came when questions were already being asked

about why the Queen didn't pay tax on her personal income.

The fire at Windsor I think affected the timing of the announcement of it,

but that sort of area of reform,

people had been thinking about for quite a while,

and it was progressive.

Because there had been a drumbeat of criticism,

and the opinion polls were showing that people felt she should pay tax?

Yes, that she shouldn't be above that part of the law.

During that period, at any stage were you worried

about the status of the monarchy in the country?

I was concerned at the shower of criticism and unpopularity

that the monarchy was facing in the short term.

I wasn't worried about the long term for two reasons.

Firstly, we had seen this before -

Queen Victoria being an obvious example,

very unpopular for a long period of time after Prince Albert died,

and, secondly, the roots of the monarchy are so deep

that, even in a period of unpopularity,

it can sustain that and come through at the end of it.

The Queen moved quickly, finalising her decision to pay income tax

and deciding to meet the Windsor repair bill

by throwing open the doors to paying visitors,

starting with Buckingham Palace.

Since 1993, they've arrived in their tens of thousands

to see the famous corridors, the grand interiors and the priceless art collection.

The income has grown and grown

though this is money not for the Queen,

but earmarked for the care of those palaces and artworks.

The greatest traditional source of royal wealth are the Crown Estates

monarchy's farmland, London squares, forests and foreshores,

going back to medieval times.

A new deal means the monarchy will get a percentage of that income, with safeguards,

and the right of MPs to oversee spending.

Most of what the Queen has isn't really hers personally

she can't go out and sell it

and the annual cost of the system to the rest of us isn't exactly huge.

It's been estimated that every year the monarchy costs each of us

about half the price of a cup of coffee at a high street chain.

Still, monarchy is a relatively expensive option or is it?

What do you think Britain would be like if there was no monarchy,

there had been no Queen's reign, and we were a republic?

A number of people think we'd be better off,

because we'd spend less money. Well, let's knock that on the head.

If you look at those countries with presidencies,

turns out they spend almost as much, if not more, in some cases, than we do.

-So I don't think...

-It doesn't save you money.

When I think about the Royal Wedding, which I had the privilege to be at,

that sort of event on the global stage - how much would we have paid

for the advertising for our British design industry to get all that on global television around the world?

-A third of the world's population, I read, probably watched that.

-Probably watched British designers

selling their wares, you know. This was fantastic free advertising.

The Windsor fire was a great disaster for the Royal Family,

but from the ashes of that disaster has grown an enormous success.

In the 2011 season, half a million people have come through here.

It raises enormous amounts of money for the Royal Collection.

In total, around the country - all the palaces, all the galleries,

all the shops - something like £42 million a year.

In modern Britain, never underestimate

the huge economic importance... of cake!

In her 60 years, the Queen has broken new ground

well beyond simply opening up the palaces,

and in 2010, this palace, Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh,

was the setting for a highly significant moment.

Scotland has had a long, sad history of bigotry and hostility

between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

'It wouldn't be the same at the Rangers-Celtic match if opposing supporters didn't clash.'

So it's a significant place for the Queen,

supreme governor of the Church of England

and a member of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland to receive,

for the first time, the Catholic Pope of Rome on a State Visit.

'It means a great deal, of course, to Scotland and Scots'

to have the visit starting in Scotland, and secondly,

in terms of the communities of Scotland,

the fact the whole country was able to embrace His Holiness the Pope

with the warmth and affection that was displayed.

It is a great unifying feature of Scottish society.

It shows how far we've travelled

in terms of overcoming prejudices of the past.

This is the Queen as unifier, puller-together,

symbol of healing in the very place

where a Catholic Queen Mary was imprisoned. She was later beheaded

on the orders of Queen Elizabeth, an earlier Queen Elizabeth.

100 years ago, even 50 years ago, it would've been almost unthinkable

for the Pope of Rome and the defender of the Protestant faith

to meet here in Scotland, all friendly.

Not a hint of tension.

And when the Pope and the Queen get together,

here between them, on the carpet,

an old taboo lies...

..dead.

'Your Holiness, in recent times,

'you have said that religions can never become vehicles of hatred,'

that never by invoking the name of God

can evil and violence be justified.

Today, in this country, we stand united in that conviction.

We hold that freedom to worship

is at the core of our tolerant and democratic society.

The Queen has been willing to face many taboos in her time,

some more difficult than others.

It's May 2011 and the Queen is about to set foot in the Irish Republic.

No reigning British monarch has been here for a century.

When it comes to broken ground, it doesn't get more broken than this.

Now, this is not a visit without risk.

There were security alerts in London and in Dublin

before the Queen's arrival, and there's almost nowhere that she's going that doesn't have

some kind of sensitive, historical echo.

So this is not entirely easy stuff.

The Queen, as the representative of the British State,

takes credit for all the things that Britain gets right

and has done in history and, as the representative of the British State,

sometimes she has some harder jobs to accomplish as well.

As she touches down, a reminder that this is not a nation of Royalists.

It's just another Head of State.

We have Obama as well coming at the end of the month

so I don't really think much of it, one way or the other.

I don't think it's that important, but now that she's coming,

we will show her as much courtesy

as we can garner.

It's the first visit in about 100 years from the monarch.

Maybe an apology would be good.

Too many people have died because of the British.

Absolutely shocking.

On the same day her father became King, the Parliament

of the Irish Free State removed the monarch from its constitution.

Now, his daughter arrives as the Queen of the United Kingdom

of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

to meet the then Irish President, Mary McAleese.

If there is one place on Earth,

which has defined its identity against the British crown,

it's here.

It's important that we remember our history, but sometimes, then,

we have to forget it again.

And, for all the noise we're about to hear,

that is the Queen's job -

she's here to put a little history to sleep.

'It's like a door that's been locked to her for a long time'

and she's been dying to see what's on the other side of it.

Many people won't understand not being able to go somewhere

or see something for your life

and being almost like a child not allowed to go into a certain room.

For her, it's very much a case of Ireland was off limits.

She's always wanted to go in an official capacity

so I think it was a huge turning point for her.

There must have been a certain amount of nervousness beforehand,

because there's a lot of history to put to bed there.

I was nervous about it, but I was hugely admiring of the fact

that the Royal Family wanted to go ahead with this visit

relatively quickly after the finalising

of the last bits of devolution of power to Northern Ireland.

They didn't want to wait and play it a bit longer,

and I thought that was a fantastic judgment.

A century ago, crowds met the Queen's grandparents,

King George V and Queen Mary, with enthusiasm.

At the time, Home Rule, a reconciliation

of Nationalist Ireland with Imperial Britain, seemed likely.

The First World War and the Irish Easter Rising put paid to that

and a bloody history began to uncurl.

Today on the streets of Dublin,

the public are kept well back from the Royal party

and voices of discontent are kept to the traffic-free side streets.

Roads have been sealed off to keep the Queen moving.

Yes, the security from our point of view

was exceptionally heavy and exceptionally tight and had to be so,

because this was receiving global coverage

on everything from Al-Jazeera to Bloomberg.

Personally, my own office got several thousand messages

and each of them contained two words -

pride and respect.

APPLAUSE

The Queen understands the torment of the Irish Troubles.

Violence has marked much of her 60-year reign

and it reached her own family in the most direct way.

In 1979, the Queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten,

the former First Sea Lord, one of the most colourful and closest influences

on the inner circle of the Royal Family,

was assassinated by the Provisional IRA at his home in Ireland.

Lord Mountbatten had taken his boat

and members of his family on a day out in County Sligo.

On board was a boat hand, Paul Maxwell,

Mountbatten's eldest daughter Patricia,

her husband Lord Brabourne, her mother-in-law

and their 14-year-old twins, Nicholas and Timothy.

The seven of us went out.

We had been going for a few minutes, beautiful flat, calm sea,

not a cloud in the sky and...

my grandmother, sitting also in the stern with her legs up

in front of her, said, "Oh, isn't this a beautiful day?"

And shortly after that,

there was this almighty bang.

I mean, it wasn't for a long time that I knew that it was the IRA,

I thought, because we'd had problems with the boat,

I thought the engine had blown up. And not until after I came out

of intensive care did somebody explain to me,

"No, no, it was a bomb," which I was really surprised about.

Only three people survived the blast.

Patricia, her husband and just one of their twins, Timothy, were all seriously injured.

So at what point did you realise that Nicky was dead?

My sister Joanna, one of my two sisters, came to me...

..and she explained that,

"When you arrived in the hospital, you were unconscious.

"You woke up - Nicky never did."

And...

I knew really in an instant that...

either I was going to survive

or I would never get over it and, in that instant,

I think the path towards being a survivor started.

A few weeks later, his parents still hospitalised,

the Queen stepped in and invited Tim and a sister to Balmoral

to help with his recovery,

and he saw a side of the Queen seen by very few outsiders.

We arrived through the door

and I looked down this long imposing corridor

and the sight that greets me

is of the Queen, Prince Charles at her side,

and she's sort of steaming up the corridor towards us with -

it's difficult to describe -

it had this feeling of a mother duck gathering in some lost young.

They just wanted really to go into their default setting of love,

of care, of asking about family,

of plying us with soup and sandwiches

and of wrapping us up in what I can only really describe

as a sort of motherliness coming from the Queen.

The Queen's visit to Ireland was,

in a completely different way, another act of healing.

Formal salve for old wounds,

it goes to the most sensitive places possible.

'I always had this idea'

that, in a way, the culmination of, um...

the changed relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the UK

would be a Royal Visit, and it's something

I discussed with the then Irish Prime Minister.

This, again, is a role probably only she could've played to put the stamp

on the fact that history was history and the future would be different.

Perhaps one of the most important places for the Queen to visit was Croke Park.

In 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, 13 spectators

and a player were killed here as forces under British control opened fire at a match.

Earlier that day, IRA assassination squads

had shot 14 suspected British intelligence agents dead.

It became known as Bloody Sunday.

At Dublin Castle that evening,

the Queen made an unexpected opening to her speech,

and she expressed sympathy, though not apologies,

for what had happened between the British and Irish.

A Uachtarain agus a chairde.

'I wondered to myself, because I speak Irish,

'how she would get on with the words "A Uachtarain agus a chairde",'

which means "President and friends", and yet she did it very well.

In fact, it was exceptionally good pronunciation.

It had an absolutely electric effect.

All these people who were sitting around,

who are quite strong Republicans,

you could sort of...

hear the hearts melting in the room. You could just see

she had used the authority of the monarchy,

her own brilliance and experience,

to crack a problem and to improve a relationship

and to change the nature of, um, of what has gone between us

in a really, absolutely spellbinding way.

We could never forget those who have died or been injured,

and their families.

To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past,

I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy.

With the benefit of historical hindsight,

we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently

or not at all.

She did close a circle of history.

So everybody can make a contribution for the future. After all,

we are closest neighbours.

Ireland and Britain, for many reasons,

are probably the closest in every sense of that word, and that's to be welcomed.

-Are a lot of people coming tonight?

-Yes, quite a lot.

Back home as Head of State, she's welcomed so many overseas leaders, icons of the 20th century,

such as France's Charles de Gaulle, South Africa's Nelson Mandela

and Cold War Russians like Khrushchev.

She knew the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie,

and, obeying her ministers,

she's also had to greet some brutal tyrants -

Nicolae Ceausescu, the Marxist dictator of Romania,

welcomed in 1978.

He gave her a Communist medal.

Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe came into 1994,

although he was later stripped of his honorary knighthood.

Uganda's Idi Amin, a monstrous leader,

arrived to visit in 1971 and promptly asked the Queen to arrange

a visit for him to Scotland, Ireland and Wales

so he could meet "The heads of revolutionary movements

"fighting against your Imperialist oppression."

So, she's known all sorts.

In 2011, the Queen is about to welcome her 101st Head of State,

and he really is welcome.

So here we are on the sun-dappled lawns on Buckingham Palace

where President Barack Obama has just arrived,

only a few days after the Queen's historic reconciliation visit

to the Republic of Ireland.

And there is something that connects these two events,

because, when Barack Obama first became US President,

many people in Whitehall were worried that he was

not particularly pro-British, even a bit cool.

Part of the reason for that was that Barack Obama's own grandfather

was arrested, imprisoned and tortured

by forces loyal to the Crown

just before the Mau Mau Rebellion,

one of the darker colonial moments in the young Queen's history.

And so the fact that, when he arrives here, the Queen has formed

such a strong personal relationship with Barack Obama

and his family is a sort of human reconciliation.

I'm not saying that it's the most important thing

in British-American relationships, of course not,

but at a human level, this sort of thing really does matter.

BAND PLAYS "The Star-Spangled Banner"

They are extraordinarily gracious people.

They could not have been kinder to us.

I met the entire Royal Family the first time I was in England

in April 2008, and then Michelle and the girls

actually visited London again and went to Buckingham Palace.

She could not have been more charming and gracious to the girls.

They had a chance to ride in the carriage on the grounds.

I think what the Queen symbolises,

not just to Great Britain

but to the entire Commonwealth, and obviously the entire world,

is the best of England and we're very proud of her.

On all of these visits, small touches count -

each guest gets a special show from the Royal Collection archives.

This time, it emphasises how hostile Queen Victoria was

to slavery in America

and it displays King George III's anguished handwritten note

"America is Lost!"

-He travelled incognito as Lord Renfrew?

-Theoretically.

This is a gentle little break in the day - the President is off

to Downing Street for serious talks about the world economy,

and then he's going to dress up for a State Banquet

in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom

which won't be your average dinner party.

You've got the Queen and the President here

and then key other guests across the top of the table.

The silver gilt that we're using is part of the Grand Service

commissioned by George IV in 1811, approximately,

although it's been added to over the time.

There's in excess of 4,000 pieces in this.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

Every time, once the table is set at about 6pm,

in comes the boss for a final check.

Smells nice, doesn't it?

These are rather fun, aren't they?

And she really does check. What about those microphones

for the after-dinner speeches? Shouldn't they be hidden?

They're a bit more obvious this time.

Of course, because he's so tall.

Is that all right, in fact? He's taller than you!

A good bit taller than you.

I think that they're quite sensitive, aren't they?

It'll pick them up fine.

The Queen checks the menus, the flowers,

the seating plan. She'll show visitors to their bedrooms,

where she's suggested bedside books for them.

It's all gently flattering. There is no such thing here

-as a routine foreign visitor.

-It looks nice having the roses.

Bowl of roses in the front.

I wondered if there'd be anything left after Chelsea.

This is what we were concerned about -

the good stuff went to Chelsea, but we seemed to not do too bad.

I think people may not realise around the world

what an iconic figure the Queen is.

The highlight of the State Visit is the Buckingham Palace Banquet.

It does an enormous amount of good. Can you quantify it? Very difficult.

Does it matter? Yes. Is it in the British interest?

Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Would we lose something if it wasn't there?

We certainly would.

I must say, though, this dinner is a humbling reminder

of the fleeting nature of presidencies and prime ministerships.

Your Majesty's reign has spanned about a dozen of each, and counting.

That makes you both a living witness to the power of our alliance

and the chief source of its resilience.

It's been a delicate dance between tradition and modern times.

The unsentimental demands of international politics

and old-fashioned politeness.

And not everything survives Britain's changed status,

as the Queen herself knows all too well.

I name this ship Britannia.

I wish success to her and to all who sail in her.

BAND PLAYS "Rule Britannia"

In 1953, the Queen launched the Royal Yacht Britannia,

which would sail the seas for half a century as her personal vessel.

What was it like being on Britannia with her?

It was the most enjoyable single thing that I did.

I wouldn't have missed it.

Did you think that the Queen was more relaxed on Britannia than she would've been elsewhere?

She certainly was. There was a magic moment at the end of the day

when she came down the stairs from her room

and kicked off her shoes and gave herself a good Scotch

and embarked on a sort of resume of the day.

You saw a different person -

the Queen in trousers and a shirt

and sitting around telling

funny stories from the past.

I think the yacht's just been enveloped in one huge low

and wherever we went, the heavens opened and the wind blew.

We were the luckiest people to be able to go on holiday on Britannia.

I mean, so many memories.

She was a home away from home,

certainly in the early years

when they were doing six-month world tours, Britannia was home.

Aboard her, the Queen made almost 1,000 Royal

and State visits around the world, playing host to leaders

from Boris Yeltsin to Ronald Reagan.

If the Queen was Queen of the United Kingdom,

Britannia would be a floating extravagance.

But she wasn't and isn't.

She's head of the 54-member Commonwealth

and Britannia was part of the plan

to keep that extraordinary organisation,

ranging from huge countries

to tiny little barnacle-encrusted lumps of rock together.

But there was a secret role for Britannia throughout the Cold War.

Once the Royal Yacht was in existence, its real purpose in war was not to be a hospital ship -

that was the cover story. It was her floating nuclear bunker.

It would lurk in the sea lochs on the north-west coast of Scotland.

The mountains would shield it from the Soviet radar, and at night,

it would quietly go from one sea loch to another - it wouldn't be static.

So if the Prime Minister was wiped out once the Sovs knew

where the bunker was that he was operating from

from the signals traffic, the Queen would be in a position

out of the rubble to appoint a surviving prime minister,

because only the Queen can appoint one.

So the British Constitution was taken care of even unto Armageddon,

and she would've been somewhere beyond Kyle of Lochalsh ready to do the business

when her kingdom was a smoking and irradiated ruin.

Dreadful thought. Dreadful thought.

As it was, the yacht proved to be a safe haven of a different kind.

Unlike her other residences, this was the only one built for her.

She designed it in great detail herself, and this is what she chose.

This is her bedroom on Britannia and it is commendably plain.

It's rather 1950s in style.

Lots of people of that generation will recognise it exactly.

You can make the same point about the Duke of Edinburgh,

because his bedroom, designed by him, is just next door.

It's a rather starker, more masculine version

of the same thing.

He left very detailed instructions about it - for instance,

when it came to the pillowcase, "No frills."

As she said goodbye in 1997, after a million miles shared,

the Queen was seen to shed a tear.

Conservative ministers had never inveigled New Labour politicians

onto the boat to enjoy it and so, after that year's general election,

Tony Blair's government had no substantive debate

about decommissioning Britannia without a replacement.

This happened just when we came in and it was

the time when we were keeping to some very tough financial measures.

It would've been a very hard sell at the time.

But it was arguably something that had earned its way as an institution.

And I think there is a case for that...

so I don't know whether, if it had come at the end of the ten years,

maybe I'd have had a different view of it.

There's talk, though not from the Queen,

of a new privately-funded yacht. We'll see.

Meanwhile, Britannia herself remains a gleaming motionless museum,

tethered outside Edinburgh.

The last cruise that we did on the west coast in '97...

Yeah, it was very emotional and very sad for Granny as well, because...

it was a massive part of her life and her growing up.

I think it says up there, when you go

and look around it, there's a picture of her

and it says, "The place where I feel most free."

Which just says it all.

Most people in their 80s have stopped changing.

For the Queen, that isn't an option.

Central to the monarchy's survival is the constant need to adapt

and stretch out to everyone from thinkers and leaders

to the crowds at garden parties.

When God Save The Queen is played, some people still stand to attention.

She has lived at attention,

60 years of never standing still.

'To think, for example, in 1947, the Cold War really froze'

and yet in 1990, by 1990,

it's over without a general war or a global nuclear exchange.

If you consider a woman, who was monarch

when Stalin was still in the Kremlin, seeing through all that.

She's got on with the job,

she hasn't expressed public angst about being monarch

or about being monarch of a declining nation,

she's just got on with it.

It's arguably the case that she's been a very good front person during this period when, in many ways,

Britain has de-Victorianised, downsized, deimperialised,

she's been terrific for that.

'What the Queen's managed to do is bring the monarchy

'into the 21st century as best as she can.'

Every organisation needs to look at itself over time

and the monarchy is a constant evolving machine.

I think it really wants to reflect society and move with the times.

It's important it does for its own survival.

In her 60-year reign, the Queen has seen much

and said little. In episode three,

we revisit the rare moments

when we've heard the Queen's inner thoughts.

What I say to you now

as your Queen and, as a grandmother, I say from my heart.

Those words in that speech were her own.

We go right back to February 6th 1952,

the day she unexpectedly became Queen and we follow her

to a country where the monarchy's future is hotly debated - Australia.

-What about the Commonwealth?

-She's been referred to as the glue

that binds the Commonwealth together.

And, in this final episode, her family

reveal who the Queen herself turns to for support.

I personally don't think that she could do it without him.

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