Queen Mother: Myth and History

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Myth

During WWII, the War Cabinet and Winston Churchill requested and advised
King George VI, his
wife, Queen Elizabeth and their daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and
Margaret to move to Canada
where they would be safer. This was during the time of the possible
invasion from Europe and at the
time of the Battle of Britain and the blitz.
(post Subject: Re: The Queen Mother is dead! Newsgroups: uk.politics.misc
Date: 2001-08-06 17:41:16 PST)


History

Official documents disprove this. On June 1st 1940, Foreign Office
officials submitted a plan to evacuate the Royal Family to another part of
the Empire. The Minister in charge of the Foreign Office was arch appeaser
and friend of the Queen Mother, Lord Halifax. There is no truth whatsoever,
that Winston Churchill or the War Cabinet advised King George VI to move to
Canada. According to World War II historian John Costello, Churchill
penned in red "I believe we shall make them rue the day they try to invaded
our Island........No discussion can be permitted"(p.264)

On June 4th, Churchill stood before the House of Commons and delivered a
speech that has become legendary,

"Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have
fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus
of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall
fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with
growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our
Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall
fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the
streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...."

***************


Myth

"The King, Queen and Princesses were subject to the same rationing as
everyone else."
(post Subject: Re: The Queen Mother is dead! Date: 2001-08-06 17:41:16 PST)


History

It is true that the King and Queen had to use rationing in common with the
rest of the population. But the similarities end there.

"Similarly, since the Queen had to make a good impression, her adherence to
'austerity dressing' was purely nominal. Like other members of her family,
she received 1,277 clothing coupons a year in excess of the ordinary ration,
which fell from 66 to 48 as the war progressed"(p. 113)

What about the diet of the King and Queen? Kitty Kelly sheds some light on
this subject because she interviewed the French cook who worked for the
Royals during WWII,

"During the war, when the King and Queen were in London and their daughters
at Windsor, the Princesses used to order their own meals....a typical day's
menu for them began with buttered eggs for breakfast; boiled chicken with
sieved vegetables - even when they were both in their teens, they still like
their vegetables sieved - potato chips, and hot baked custard for lunch;
bread and butter, cake, jelly, and toast for tea; and just some kind of
broth followed by compote of pear with whipped cream for supper"

Kitty goes onto comment,

"In London, no restaurant was allowed to charge more than ten shillings for
a meal. But at the Palace, the King ordered two eggs and six rashers of
grilled bacon for breakfast every day and grouse in season for dinner every
night."(p. 33)

***************


Myth

"On 13 September 1940, Buckingham Palace was bombed while King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth were in residence. They were there to pick up a few things
before going on a planned tour of East and West Ham. The bombing and
subsequent
inspection of the damage shook them up quite a bit, but the King and Queen
did
not cancel their afternoon visit. HM Queen Elizabeth said: "I'm glad we've
been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face."
(post Subject: Re: Queen Mother Quotation? Date: 2000/06/21)

History

It's not surprising she felt the need to say this, because her initial
visits to the East End, which have been written out of history by the media,
revealed just how her people felt about the Queen,

"Her wartime visits to the East End of London initially provoked fierce
hostility. Elizabeth was pelted with rubbish and jeered at by angry crowds.
She insisted on wearing high heels, jewels, and clothes in feminine pastel
shades, believing the sight of her prettily dressed would boost morale; it
made her look as though she was living through the war untouched by its
tragedies and deprivations."
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,676828,00.html

I wonder as well, how the people of the East End would have felt, if they'd
known that the navigator of the Messerschmidt 110 which carried out that
bombing raid, was none other than Prince Christopher of Hesse,
Brother-in -law of the Duke of Edinburgh.

***********
Myth

"I understand during WW II she served as a great inspiration to the
British people, "
(Subject: The Queen Mother during the war Date: 2000/05/30)

History

That's the way they want us to see it but it aint the way it happened.

In March 2000, the Bodleian Library released 10 boxes of the Monkton papers.
Walter Monkton served as the Kings lawyer. It was he who drafted the
instrument of abdication and under took delicate negotiations with the Duke
of Windsor, when he was intriguing with the Nazi's in Portugal in July 1940.
One box was kept back until 2037. Described by historians, as the 'crown
jewels', Box 24 contains correspondence between Walter Monkton, Lord
Halifax and the Queen Mother and appears to from the years 1939 and 1940.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_661000/661966.stm

One view has it, that this suppressed correspondence contains the personal
opinions of the Queen Mother on Wallis Simpson. But this wasn't the
complete story, as the Independent on Sunday, explained to it's readership,

"The reason that papers were withheld is potentially far more embarrassing:
they spell out the true extent of the Queen Mother's pro-appeasement views
on the brink of the Second World War."
http://www.fpp.co.uk/bookchapters/WSC/Monckton.html

History reveals that the King and Queen's sympathy for appeasement extended
well beyond the brink. In point of fact, if the Kings views had prevailed,
appeasement would have continued as the Governments policy and a negotiated
settlement would have been sought with the Nazi's,

"The Kings diary leaves no doubt about his conviction that Chamberlain was
making a terrible error in recommending Churchill. George VI's official
biographer described the King as 'bitterly opposed' to Chamberlain's
recommendation of Churchill. He had expected the Prime Minister to
recommend him to send for Lord Halifax....who was the 'obvious man'"
(Costello, Ten Days to Destiny, p. 47)

Lord Halifax, Foreign Secretary until he was sent to Washington as
Ambassador, had been an arch supporter of appeasement. He was also the most
vocal in government, for a negotiated settlement with the Nazi's as they
approached the English channel and conducted peace feelers behind
Churchill's back. The Queen Mother has been reported as being a friend of
Halifax.

*************

It's impossible to recall the multitude of platitudes, which have made up
the media reporting of this event. The volume is incalculable. But it
raises a question. If the Queen Mother was inspiration and the best that
those years had to offer, why have the media suppressed history and truth
and resorted to fabrication in the most obvious manner?

Geoff.