Queen ‘changed her demeanour’ in Aberfan says expert

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Queen Elizabeth II, 96, will be celebrated by the nation next week over an extended bank holiday weekend to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Britain’s longest-serving monarch has reigned for an incredible 70 years – a feat no other British Sovereign has matched. Her Majesty has seen Britain transition from the days of Empire, and has helped steer the country through many crises.

Praise for the monarch’s tireless service to the nation is not in short supply, with the Queen having been hailed by a range of public figures in recent months from the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to the actor Tom Cruise.

In the run-up to the Jubilee, royal historian Dr Ed Owens has similarly lapped on the praise, in the process taking a critical look at the Queen’s reign, highlighting both her successes and occasional missteps.

The former university lecturer and an expert on the House of Windsor is author of the book, ‘The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932-1953’.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, he claimed that the Queen has “not always had her finger on the pulse”, referring to two major blunders on Her Majesty’s part during her near-flawless reign.

He said: “I think the times where she has struggled to connect with the public is because she has not always had her finger on the pulse of the people.

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“We saw it with Aberfan in 1966, the Welsh mining village disaster where the leftover waste product from the mine in Aberfan avalanched down the hill onto the village, killing more than 100 people, the majority of whom were schoolchildren.

“She did not visit Aberfan. Prince Philip and Lord Snowdon, Margaret’s husband, did, but she didn’t.”

The disaster on October 21, 1966, killed 116 children and 28 adults as Aberfan was buried in a heap of slurry.

Within hours of the tragedy, Philip arrived at the village by helicopter and was praised for doing so, having been sent by the Queen to meet survivors of the accident, as well as families who had lost loved ones.

Her Majesty’s brother-in-law Lord Snowdon, the husband of Princess Margaret, also travelled to Aberfan on his own.

The Queen finally went to the village eight days after the catastrophe and shed tears during her visit.

Dr Owens said: “She was deemed to be out of touch then, just as she was deemed to be out of touch with the public following Diana’s death.”

The royal historian picked out the Princess of Wales’ tragic death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 as one of the only other rare occasions where the Queen was out of step with the British public.

The monarch was on holiday in Balmoral at the time when Prince Charles broke the devastating news of his ex-wife’s death.

With the British public in mourning, some were angered by the initial refusal to fly the Union flag at half-mast on Buckingham Palace and at the Queen’s apparent reluctance to return to London from Scotland.

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However, the Queen’s press secretary at the time claimed that the monarch’s grandchildren, Diana’s sons, princes William and Harry, wanted to be with their grandmother.

Her Majesty did address the death of her former daughter-in-law in a speech to the nation five days later.

Commenting on her slow response to the tragedy, Dr Owens said: “She didn’t seem to be grieving with her people and the tabloids made much of this.

“The headlines were essentially along the lines of, ‘Where are you Ma’am? Why haven’t you made a public message? Why haven’t you told us how you’re feeling?”

The historian noted how the Queen did eventually publicly respond to both Aberfan and Diana’s death.

However, he added: “Her judgement of character, clearly at times, has been misguided and clearly she always seems to present herself as very in tune with the people but that’s not always the case either.”

But Dr Owens was quick to stress that for the most part the Queen has generally been aligned with the public during her 70-year reign, adding: “I have to emphasise at this point, that these are exceptions.

“Generally speaking, she is well advised and her views, as best as we know, are in keeping with the public mood.

“And I think in that respect, the positives outweigh the negatives in terms of her public record.”

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