Queen Elizabeth II’s Sweet Gesture at Winston Churchill’s Funeral

The Queen’s adherence to royal etiquette is well-known, but in 1965, she set aside her royal privilege to honour the late Sir Winston Churchill.

Churchill, who led Britain to victory during World War II, passed away on January 24, 1965, and was given a state funeral in St Paul’s Cathedral six days later.

State funerals are usually reserved only for royalty and those who have truly changed history.

According to a Channel 5 documentary, Elizabeth, Our Queen, the Queen arrived before Mr Churchill’s family and before the wartime leader’s coffin was in the church.

This was a departure from royal etiquette, which dictates that the reigning monarch arrives last and leaves first for events.

The narrator said, “On this occasion it was different, she arrived before the coffin and before the Churchill family and left after both of them.”

The Queen’s sweet gesture meant a lot to Sir Winston’s entire family, especially his grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames.

He said, “It is absolutely exceptional if not unique for the Queen to grant precedence to anyone, for her to arrive before the coffin and before my grandfather was a beautiful and very touching gesture.”

The Channel 5 documentary also revealed behind-the-scenes attempts by the government and royal family to show a more modern Queen.

In 1957, the Queen delivered the first televised Christmas speech by a monarch, following a precedent set by her grandfather King George V’s first radio Christmas message 25 years earlier.

Ronald Allison, who was the Queen’s press secretary from 1973 to 1978, described the Queen’s nerves during the broadcast.

“The Queen described it as nerve-wracking but she was in good hands, Prince Philip was very much holding her hand through all of this,” he said.

Prince Philip’s support was crucial, according to Christina Aldridge, the daughter of Peter Dimmock from the BBC, who produced the broadcast.

“The Queen was rather nervous and Prince Philip must also have known that she was rather nervous, he stood behind the camera and made encouraging faces at her, not ridiculous faces, which encouraged her to relax and smile,” she said.

Myra, Lady Butter, a close friend of the Queen, also commented on the pressure the Queen faced during the broadcast.