[imagesource: Telegraph]

It’s hard to image Elizabeth II as anything other than the Queen of England, but there was a period where she was a mere princess, and wasn’t supposed to take the crown.

When her uncle Edward abdicated the throne to marry a woman that the family wasn’t too keen on, his brother, Elizabeth’s father, took the job and became King George VI. She was then bumped up to first in line.

King George led Britain through World War II, and Elizabeth was sent to Windsor to keep her safe, along with her sister Princess Margaret and, as it turns out, Alathea Fitzalan Howard (above), whose diaries chronicling the experience will be published later this year.

The Howards were relations of the Dukes of Norfolk. Alathea was a great-granddaughter of the 14th Duke and a member of Britain’s most prominent Catholic dynasty.

The Telegraph took a sneak peek at the diaries which, written over a period of six years, tell us about the then future Queen.

Alathea describes herself and the princesses in what was essentially a lockdown. They studied at home, took dancing lessons, and spent their afternoons on blankets in whatever passes for the sun in Britain.

At the centre of her story is the princess who, a decade later, became Elizabeth II: in Alathea’s account ‘Lilibet’ or ‘L’, ‘v matter of fact, uncurious and above all untemperamental’.

Photo: Telegraph

Her view of the Royal household is candid and affectionate. ‘I am REALLY HAPPY WITH THEM ALL’ she writes, resorting to capital letters for emphasis.

The princesses and Alathea also took cooking lessons, gardened, and put on a production of Cinderella, in which Liz took the role of the prince.

A concert earlier in the year had raised money to buy wool ‘for knitting for the Forces’. Among the princesses’ contributions to the war effort was rolling bandages and knitting socks. For Elizabeth, neither a keen nor an accomplished knitter, like much that lay ahead in her life it was a case of duty over pleasure.

The Queen and King visited Windsor as often as they could, but didn’t want to draw too much attention to Windsor where the princesses were being kept in secret.

Alathea’s diaries provide numerous instances of the easy and loving intimacy of the Royal Family whom George VI famously labelled ‘us four’. Queen Elizabeth’s ambitions for her daughters had always been simple and straightforward: ‘to have a happy childhood which they can always look back on’. War or no war, and despite the fact they were in hiding in a 1,000-room castle guarded by its own Castle Company of soldiers, Elizabeth and Margaret continued to enjoy the happy childhood their mother intended.

Lockdown in a castle doesn’t sound that bad. Here’s an extract from the diaries:

Sunday 6 July 1941

After breakfast we sat about and also went for a little walk with Crawfie. I mentioned going away but L said nothing about me staying till Monday, so much against my wishes and secret hopes I had to resign myself to leaving this evening; L is funny in some ways – v. matter of fact and uncurious and above all untemperamental.

But one can’t have everything and I’m eternally grateful for this heavenly surprise. I went to church in Windsor with Monty and L went to Royal Lodge. How I wish I could have gone too!

When we both got back, we fed the chameleon and then to Frogmore with Crawfie and Monty pulling Margaret, who’d just got up, in a basket on wheels. Got into punt, and then found a nice place to eat our picnic lunch. Great fun – we drank ginger beer out of bottles! Monty left after and I must say it was more fun without her – Crawfie is so much more fun.

“We fed the chameleon” is peak royalty.

You can read more on those diaries here.

Alathea remained close with Elizabeth long after she took the throne, and is still going strong at the ripe old age of 96.

[source:telegraph]