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the Nation and by the strongest and most stable forces in it. I became conscious of the Royal resolve to serve
as well as rule, and indeed to rule by serving.
Lastly, he paid tribute to the effect of her ‘sparkling presence’ linking and illuminating
the structure of ‘our new formed Commonwealth’. 17
The Queen had not consulted anyone as to Churchill’s successor. Out of politeness she
had asked Churchill at their farewell audience whether he would like to recommend
anyone, but he had replied that he would leave it up to her to decide. In practice there
was only one choice, Anthony Eden, Churchill’s long-acknowledged heir, who held the
unconstitutional title of ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ to which George VI had objected as
implying automatic succession and therefore impinging on the royal prerogative of
theoretical choice in the matter. Eden was the brilliant star of the 1930s, when his
resignation in protest against Chamberlain’s dealings with the dictators had won him
the admiration of Churchill and his followers. Extremely handsome, always impeccably
dressed, cultivated and intelligent, he had operated at the top level in world affairs with
only a six-year break since replacing Halifax as Foreign Secretary in December 1940.
Although only fifty-eight when he succeeded to the premiership, he was past his prime,
his health permanently undermined by the slip of a surgeon’s knife during an operation
for gallstones in April 1953. His relationship with Elizabeth was distinctly warmer than
it had been with her father and her grandfather, both of whom he had served in
government. ‘When he first took office’, an aide said, ‘he was very sensible that he was
following the towering figure of Churchill who had felt towards her as if she were his
granddaughter and spoke to her like that. He was very conscious that the Queen might
think him a lesser figure in that post but the Queen treated him so well that he didn’t
feel like that… He always spoke of her with warm affection – he was very fond of her.
He was sensitive to the Queen and consulted her on a wide range of subjects.’ Both Eden
and his Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox-Boyd, were surprised by the extent of
Elizabeth’s interest in and knowledge of the Commonwealth even in those early days of
her reign. ‘When Lennox-Boyd was Colonial Secretary,’ Professor Dilks recalled, ‘he
went to check with Eden to find out some question about the grazing rights of Somali
tribesmen – Eden scoffed at the idea that the Queen might ask or even know about the
question, but she did.’ 18
Elizabeth was learning to be, as her father before her had quickly had to learn, a
professional. Where Edward VIII’s brief reign had been marked by official ‘boxes’
returned unopened and ringed with telltale circular stains from cocktail glasses, George
VI had been thorough in his work and used to enjoy catching out unwary ministers who
might have skimped their official briefs. This was a game which his daughter too liked to
play; she had caught out Churchill, who, in his later years, had been lazy about reading
papers on certain subjects even when warned to do so by Jock Colville, who, as her
former Private Secretary, was well aware of the Queen’s working methods. Harold
Wilson, her Prime Minister for two terms (1964–70 and 1974–6), was to be mortified
when the same thing happened to him at his first audience.