The Morton Files: Andrew Morton on The Life of Queen Elizabeth II (Part One)

Andrew Morton takes us Queen Elizabeth II's extraordinary life and reign and discusses his book ' The Queen: Her Life'. Order your copy here - https://amzn.to/49QrG4j Join Andrew on Substack here! - https://substack.com/@andrewdavidmorton In this first part, Andrew Morton discusses the making of his book on Queen Elizabeth II and traces the formative forces that shaped her: her father George VI, the women who raised and guided her, wartime austerity, horses, dogs, duty, faith and the lifelong discipline of self-control. Morton presents Elizabeth as someone who may have dreamed of a quieter country life, but who understood very early that monarchy was a life sentence rather than a role she could step away from. The conversation then moves through her marriage to Prince Philip, their happiest period in Malta, the death of George VI, her accession in Kenya, and the early strains placed on the family by her sudden transformation from princess to sovereign. Morton explores Philip’s frustration at losing his naval career, the surname battle, the move to Buckingham Palace, and the coronation, where Philip’s modernising instincts helped secure the televising of the ceremony even though the Queen herself was cautious about it. The episode also looks at the Queen’s handling of family crises: the Duke of Windsor, Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, rumours about Philip, the changing relationship between the monarchy and the press, the 1969 Royal Family documentary, Margaret’s marriage breakdown, and the arrival of Diana. Morton argues that Diana changed everything, turning royal coverage into a global obsession and exposing the limits of the old palace compact with Fleet Street. 00:00:00 Introduction to Andrew Morton and The Queen 00:00:19 Writing the book and approaching the Queen as an icon 00:01:23 Elizabeth’s childhood and the adults who shaped her 00:02:22 How George VI becoming King changed family life 00:03:19 George VI’s temper, stammer and Elizabeth’s calming influence 00:04:06 Churchill’s early sense of Elizabeth’s authority 00:05:08 Horses, dogs and the Queen’s emotional release 00:05:49 Wartime austerity and how it shaped Elizabeth 00:07:49 Royal thrift, cold houses and the old country-house mentality 00:09:19 Elizabeth and Philip’s first meeting 00:12:19 Mountbatten, Princess Marina and the courtship 00:13:26 Philip’s brusqueness and rumours about his private life 00:15:07 Philip and the Balmoral test 00:17:09 Formality, silliness and anti-intellectualism in the royal family 00:18:15 Princess Mary, the Duke of Windsor and the wedding boycott 00:19:02 Wallis Simpson, Meghan Markle and women blamed for royal exits 00:19:28 Malta and the happiest period of Elizabeth’s life 00:21:44 Philip’s tensions with Mountbatten 00:22:57 George VI’s illness and Elizabeth’s preparation for queenship 00:25:40 Elizabeth becomes Queen in Kenya 00:29:19 The Duke of Windsor’s allowance and royal money 00:32:00 Philip, the Windsor surname and Buckingham Palace 00:33:44 Philip’s humiliation and the coronation committee 00:35:55 The televising of the coronation 00:37:22 Churchill’s influence and whether he held back reform 00:39:43 Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend 00:40:35 The misunderstood truth about Margaret’s choice 00:43:36 Cabinet papers and Morton’s discovery 00:43:56 Public opinion, divorce and establishment power 00:45:35 Rumours around Philip and Pat Kirkwood 00:48:10 How the press once handled royal rumours 00:50:11 The old palace control over editors and photographers 00:50:36 Diana and the collapse of royal press control 00:51:30 The Queen, Philip and parenting Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward 00:54:48 Charles, spirituality and searching for identity 00:55:56 The Queen’s faith and friendship with Billy Graham 00:57:35 The Queen’s loneliness, humour and desire for ordinary life 00:59:32 The 1969 Royal Family documentary 01:01:10 Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon’s marriage breakdown 01:02:35 Charles, Diana and the Queen’s early view of the match 01:03:58 Was Charles bullied into marrying Diana? 01:05:03 Diana, the press and the breakdown of the old compact 01:06:00 Diana’s early distress inside the royal family 01:06:41 Diana’s fame, Charles’s jealousy and the Queen’s irritation 01:07:16 How quickly the Charles and Diana marriage began to fail 01:07:59 Why the Queen waited so long to accept the marriage was over