Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has given audience to 14 UK Prime Ministers over 70 years

UK's Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony on June 2, 2022. Though her role is largely ceremonial today, it includes formally appointing the British prime minister. (Image: AFP)

The UK and parts of the Commonwealth are celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee to mark 70 years of her reign. She took over the crown on February 6, 1952, after the death of her father King George VI. Her position as the Queen makes her the head of the Church of England and also of the armed forces.

The role is largely ceremonial, but her long reign has become a symbol of providing stability to England. She formally appoints the Prime Minister (the leader of the largest party following the general election), marks the opening of the Parliament, and spells out the government’s agenda in the Queen’s speech. Over the last several decades and centuries many powers and privileges of the Royal family have been taken over by the government.

However, one powerful symbol of the Queen’s standing is the privilege she has of a weekly meeting with the Prime Minister of the day. Once a week, British prime ministers drive into Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen to discuss “government matters”. These meetings are private and are not recorded, giving rise to much speculation on what transpires for the average of 30 minutes that the meet lasts.

The first Prime Minister Elizabeth II met as Queen was Sir Winston Churchill, who was born in 1874, and the youngest was David Cameron who was born in 1966. She has given audiences to a total of 14 Prime Ministers.

We take a look at all the Queen’s men and women:

Sir Winston Churchill (1951-55): He was in his second innings (the first was 1940-45) as the Prime Minister when Queen Elizabeth took over the crown. The Queen was in awe of the war hero and Churchill had the greatest respect for her. They bonded over their shared interest in horses and racing, and tales about the Second World War. On his retirement in April 1955, he invited the Queen as his evening guest at Downing Street, which is when she first visited the PM’s official residence. The Queen valued his intellect and statesmanship and sent him a handwritten letter on his retirement. She famously broke protocol at his funeral.

Anthony Eden (1955-57): The best looking star in British politics who was nicknamed Miss England. Eden was the dandiest politician of his time. He served only 20 months as Prime Minister. The Suez crisis shortened his career at the political helm, although Eden’s previously important role in British politics meant that the Queen took him seriously. It was of course nothing like Churchill, but Eden was a widely respected name till the Suez crisis sank his career. In all fairness, a botched operation in 1953 also contributed to his resignation. The Queen apparently was not in agreement with the British intervention in the Suez, although what exactly transpired between them shall remain a secret.

Harold Macmillan (1957-63): They shared a good bond, good enough for the Queen to invite Lord Home to succeed him as the Prime Minister at his request. His last audience with the Queen happened in a hospital where he lay waiting for a prostate operation. The Queen went to the hospital and accepted his resignation. It was during that meeting that Macmillan suggested the name of Alec Douglas-Home while it was R A Butler the deputy prime minister who was the favoured candidate. Home was invited by the Queen, which led to the Conservative Party initiating major changes relating to choosing of leaders to prevent a similar occurrence in future.

Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64): He belonged to a family of Scottish aristocrats and was a childhood friend of the Queen Mother. The Queen evidently had much to talk about with him as they came from a similar background. For his 61^st birthday the Queen Mother attended a private lunch at Downing Street reflecting the close bond he shared with the Royal Family. Like the Queen, he too was a votary of the Commonwealth which came out sharply in his role both as the Prime Minister and as foreign secretary after he left the PM’s position.

Harold Wilson (1964-70 & 1974-76): He became the first Labour Prime Minister to serve the Queen. Having worked with Conservative Prime Ministers, the Queen didn’t know much about Labour politics, but despite initial apprehensions they got along well. The Queen was very receptive to the political gossip Wilson served her from around the world. Quite regularly his audience with the Queen would go beyond the usual time, and at times Wilson received invitations for drinks. He was also called for picnics in Balmoral. After Churchill it was Wilson who invited her to Downing Street in March 1976. Despite opposition from his party leaders he made substantial increases in the allowance to the Royal Family, while he also persuaded the Queen to do away with some protocols that looked outdated. What aided their conversation was the fact that they were of similar age.

Edward Heath (1970-74): After Wilson’s first term, the Tory party came back to power with Edward Heath as the Prime Minister. Heath was the son of a carpenter who made it to Oxford and then into Tory elite.  The relationship with the Queen was not easy going and she was uncomfortable with Heath’s stand on the Commonwealth. His comment to Radio 4 that during his time the weekly audience with the Queen had a formal agenda which was drawn up by their secretaries gained much traction. This renewed calls from critics of the Royal family to ask about the records of the meetings between the Queen and the Prime Ministers.

James Callaghan (1976-79): The Labour leader once said that talking to the Queen was akin to talking to a psychiatrist. He is the only British politician in the 20^th century to hold all the four major offices of state - chancellor of the exchequer, home secretary, foreign secretary, Prime Minister. Like the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, Callaghan too was in the Royal Navy, which endeared him to members of the Royal family. He famously told the Queen that she offered “friendliness but not friendship.”

Margaret Thatcher (1979-90): In 1979, Thatcher, the daughter of a shopkeeper, became the first woman British Prime Minister. It was not an easy relationship between the ‘Iron Lady’ and the Queen, by all accounts, although their differences seem to be a bit exaggerated. Press leaks did emanate from both the quarters to keep each other in check, leading to talks that it was a classic case of feminine jealousy between them. The Queen didn’t like that Thatcher did not give much importance to the Commonwealth. Thatcher called the palace suggesting that she and the Queen could co-ordinate wardrobes to ensure they do not end up wearing identical dresses in public after it happened once. Thatcher did invite the Queen in December 1985 to mark the 250^th anniversary of 10 Downing Street as the official residence of the Prime Minister, and the Queen attended her funeral in 2013.

John Major (1990-97): John Major had to brace the Gulf war and the Queen faced tough times due to the turn the relationship between Diana and Charles had taken. Major has been the most eloquent Prime Minister in praising the Queen. After Diana’s death he took over the role of special guardian to Prince Harry and William, signifying the comfort level he had with the Queen and her family. He was the only politician to be invited to Harry and Meghan’s wedding. It must be stated though that it was his government’s decision to decommission the Royal Yacht Britannia due to cost concerns, even though the Queen was very fond of it. She publicly shed a tear during the decommissioning ceremony. There has been no replacement of Britannia.

Tony Blair (1997-2007): Tony Blair handled the crisis which hit the royal family in the wake of Princess Diana’s death in Paris. Sensing the public wave of sympathy he wanted a big funeral which was initially resisted by the Royal Family members and Diana’s own family. He did gain the trust of the Queen although there were tense moments in their relationship. His wife Cheri Blair created a flutter when she blamed the Balmoral protocol of servants unpacking the luggage of guests for her getting pregnant. Horrified that all items, including contraceptives, from her toilet bag were taken out by the palace staff, she did not carry them on the next annual visit. And as it happened, the royal palace and a cold night, minus the contraception, got the Blairs’ pregnant with their fourth child.

Gordon Brown (2007-10): Though it was a brief stay in No 10 for Gordon Brown, he had struck up a good relationship with the Queen. Known to be an honest and straightforward politician, Brown’s Scottish roots endeared him to the Queen. Brown has the rare distinction of meeting her in his final audience accompanied by his wife and children.

David Cameron (2010-16): Although Alec-Douglas Home was a family friend, and Churchill had a similar social background, it was Cameron who was distantly related to the Queen. Though he appeared from nowhere to lead the Tory party and was described as a (relatively) political novice to be the Prime Minister, Cameron, unlike his predecessors in the last 45 years, came from a wealthy and well-connected family. The Scottish referendum was held under his premiership and in a very controversial move he had sought to enlist the Queen’s help to show her disapproval of Scotland voting for Independence. He revealed this in an interview to the BBC which did not go down well with the Palace who are always concerned that the Queen’s apolitical stance is beyond reproach. All she had said publicly during the referendum was: “I hope people will think very carefully.”

Theresa May (2016-19): After Thatcher, May became the second female Prime Minister of the UK. Both of May’s grandmothers were domestic servants which makes her rise in British politics phenomenal. Her working class background lent her a courteous and polite demeanour. And unlike with Thatcher, the Queen had fewer reasons to be cross with her. A rather testing time was when it became known (again no one can be 100 percent sure) that the Queen was not happy with May not sharing the government’s blueprint for Brexit in 2016.

Boris Johnson (2019 - ): Just like his Oxford-buddy Cameron, Johnson too came under fire for talking about the private audiences with the Queen which he described as tough interviews. Very early in his premiership, he had to apologise to the Queen after the Supreme Court ruled that his advice to her to prorogue the Parliament for five weeks was unlawful. A second apology was issued when it came out that parties were held in Downing Street on the eve of the Queen's husband's funeral. Johnson’s rule has been marked with telephone instead of in-person audience with the Queen due to the pandemic.