Royal Expert Recalls Queen Elizabeth Being Unfairly Compared to a Younger Royal Who "Defied Convention and Broke With Tradition"
"Pundits took to their columns, comparing the cold unfeeling Queen who left her children behind..."
When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, she left behind an incomparable legacy, having spent 70 years on the British throne. But at a number of points during her life, the late Queen was reportedly compared to other Royal Family members, often unfairly, per one royal expert.
In the book Queen Elizabeth II: Pocket Giants, royal expert Victoria Arbiter examined one instance in which the late monarch was pitted against a younger family member.
"In 1983, Charles and Diana were lauded for taking their 9-month-old son Prince William on their 6-week tour to Australia and New Zealand," Arbiter shared. "Pundits took to their columns, comparing the cold unfeeling Queen who left her children behind, to Diana, who defied convention and broke with tradition."
But as Arbiter noted, the comparison isn't necessarily equitable due to a number of factors.
"In order to do a fair comparison, however, one must consider the generational divide," the royal expert explained. "30 years had passed between The Queen's tour and that of the Waleses's, during which time advances in modern aviation made travel significantly speedier."
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Bermuda in November 1953.
Discussing some of the reasons why Queen Elizabeth II shouldn't have been compared to her daughter-in-law, Arbiter wrote, "People's attitudes towards royalty had shifted and, adored as she was, Diana was merely a princess, not The Queen."
Importantly, when the monarch arrived in Bermuda in November 1953 following a 17-hour flight, she faced a huge welcome party and incredible pressures.
"News reports declared that nearly every one of the island nation's 38,000 residents had turned out for a glimpse of their new sovereign," the expert explained. "Conversely, when Charles and Diana landed in Alice Springs...a handful of local officials waited to greet them."
Prince William, Princess Diana, and King Charles at Alice Springs Airport at the start of their tour of Australia on March 20, 1983.
Arbiter continued, "After a brief photo call, William and his nanny left for Woomargama, a working sheep and cattle ranch in South West Australia. He remained there for the duration of the tour, and his parents visited him several times."
Charles and Diana spent a total of 6 weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth was away for 6 months—from November 1953 until May 1954—visiting everywhere from Jamaica, Fiji and Tonga, Australia and New Zealand, with a return sailing stopping in Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Malta, and Gibraltar, per Cambridge University.
With very different remits and expectations placed upon them, Diana and Elizabeth arguably had very separate aims during their respective trips, leading to unfair comparisons.
