Contact Us

As queen, Elizabeth II's family life was far from traditional

She was 22 and still a princess when her eldest son and heir apparent, Charles, was born, and 24 when Princess Anne came along.

  • 8
  • 12
As queen, Elizabeth IIs family life was far from traditional

After Diana's death in 1997, the queen initially rejected the idea that Charles would marry his long-term mistress Camilla Parker Bowles.

She did not attend their civil wedding in Windsor in 2005 but did organise a reception at the castle.

Asked about Charles' criticism of their mother, Anne said: "I don't believe any of us for a second thought that she didn't care for us in exactly the same way as any other mother did.

  • 9
  • 12
As queen, Elizabeth IIs family life was far from traditional

"I just think it extraordinary that anybody could construe that that might not be true," she told the BBC.

Separations and divorces were not the end of family strife.

In 2019, Andrew -- reportedly her favourite -- was forced to step back from frontline royal duties because of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

  • 10
  • 12
As queen, Elizabeth IIs family life was far from traditional

The following year, grandson Harry and his wife Meghan quit royal life and moved to the United States, from where they criticised the family, including accusing some members of racism.

Elizabeth met the couple's daughter, Lilibet, only once. She was born in June 2021 and was named after her childhood nickname.

Eight times a grandmother, and with 12 great-grandchildren, the queen loved family dinners, and held annual Christmas get-togethers at her Sandringham estate.

  • 11
  • 12
As queen, Elizabeth IIs family life was far from traditional

Even as she slowed down after a health scare in October 2021, she attended the christening of two of her great-grandchildren at Windsor.

Grandson William, whom she had grown close to after Diana's death, paid a glowing tribute to her in a recent biography.

  • 12
  • 12
As queen, Elizabeth IIs family life was far from traditional

"The queen's kindness and sense of humour, her innate sense of calm and perspective, and her love of family and home are all attributes I experience first-hand," he wrote.

"I am privileged to have the queen as a model for a life of service to the public."