Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > Elizabeth: Queen and Crown > Status Update

‘In her 1977 Jubilee year, the Queen was determined to see as much of Britain as possible, and that Britain would see her. ‘I have to be seen to be believed,’ she said once. The Queen and Prince Philip toured thirty-six UK counties over three months and... a million people came out on one day in Lancashire alone.’

‘Elizabeth was now heir to the throne - but, as a girl, she was ‘Heir Presumptive’, rather than ‘Heir Apparent’. Any late-born brother would supersede her - and her mother was only thirty-six. (She would remain merely Heir Presumptive until the day of her accession, which is why she was never given the title of Princess of Wales.)’

‘Over the preceding weeks, she had been wearing the crown while sitting at her desk, to get used to its great weight. Prince Charles would recall her going in to say goodnight to him with it balanced on her head. She had practised her steps in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace with sheets tied to her shoulders, to simulate the coronation robes with their eighteen-foot train.’

My non-fiction book picked randomly from my jar for August.