queen elizabeth ii

meghan markle and prince harry

Harry and Meghan stepped back as senior royals in March and decided to reveal a lot publicly that left the Monarch upset. 

In a rare move, she issued a statement regarding the matter, one that highlighted her role as grandmother and head of the family. 

The Queen said Harry, Meghan and their son Archie would “always be much loved members of my family.”

“I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life,” she said. “I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family.”

A rare public address

As Covid cases and deaths across the UK started to spiral in April, so too did criticism of Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic. In coordination with Downing Street, the Queen agreed to address the nation in a televised speech.

“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all,” the Queen said in early April.

In the speech, she drew on her first broadcast alongside her sister Princess Margaret in 1940 to relay that the nation and those watching would overcome the current crisis.

“We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do,” she said, while also thanking frontline healthcare professionals.

Royal resilience 

In October, the Queen undertook her first public engagement since the spring lockdown. But she was criticised by some for not wearing a mask.

In response, Buckingham Palace said the Queen had chosen to forego a mask after consulting her own medics and scientists at the military research facility.

Social distancing guidelines were in place at the event and every one the British monarch met had tested negative for the virus. A month later, she appeared in a mask for the first time at a commemorative ceremony in London.

Prince andrew

Prince Andrew’s relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein caused further controversy this year, after an ill-advised BBC interview with the Prince. 

The Queen has not publicly addressed the matter, but in accepting Prince Andrew’s choice to step back from public duties, she made a clear statement. 

It would have been a painful decision for the monarch but ultimately one that again she felt was right for the institution.

queen’s new found relevance 

This year has seen the world deal with something nobody could have predicted 12 months ago. And for the Queen, she has reaffirmed her role as unifier-in-chief for the nation. 

At a time in her life when she might be expected to step back, the Queen has shown she is still in charge, even as she delegates more duties to Charles and William. Any rumours that she plans to abdicate and hand over the crown have been quashed for another year.