My Husband and I by Ingrid Seward

Author:Ingrid Seward [Seward, Ingrid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Chapter 9

WATCHING THE FAMILY GROW

In November 1972, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. At a speech at the Guildhall in London, the Queen uttered those words which have made it into the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations: ‘I think everybody really will concede that on this, of all days, I should begin my speech with the words, “My husband and I”.’

She went on to say: ‘A marriage begins by joining man and wife together, but this relationship between two people, however deep at the time, needs to develop and mature with the passing years . . . When the bishop was asked what he thought about sin he replied with simple conviction that he was against it. If I am asked today what I think about family life after twenty-five years I can answer with equal simplicity and conviction. I am for it.’

For most people, family is the most important thing in their lives. It is what keeps them together and it is what keeps civilisation together. Life revolves around significant family events – education, career, marriage, children and grandchildren. Family life is also central to the monarchy, as Prince Philip explained. ‘If you have a monarchy, you have got to have a family and the family has got to be in the public eye.’

But as at first one, then all but one, of the marriages of the Queen and Prince Philip’s children came to their bitter ends, the methods by which they were raised appeared to be woefully inadequate training for dealing with the demands and pressures of the modern age.

Princess Margaret’s doomed marriage to man-about-town photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones in 1960 set a precedent. After numerous rows and affairs and two children, they divorced in 1978 – the first royal divorce since Henry VIII split from Anne of Cleves in 1540.

The divorces of the Queen’s children were not because they didn’t have a loving and united family life. Despite the demands of their parents’ position, they all always had family time together – Christmas at Sandringham, holidays at Balmoral and Windsor – but to a very large extent they were left to their own devices or to other people to educate and bring them up. Their career opportunities were limited and for some of them were mapped out in advance. They either went into the forces or they did charity work or, in most cases, both.

Trade has never worked for the immediate royal family as, whether they liked it or not, they were automatically separated by their heritage from the rest of the world. A royal prince or princess must act like one and not be seen to exploit their status for commercial gain, and this distinction has caused Prince Andrew some awkward moments. For the senior branch of the family, the isolation is reinforced by a protocol so rigid that even her children must bow or curtsey to the Queen.

This problem with commercial activities became even clearer in 2001, when Prince Edward’s wife Sophie

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