How the Queen became the ultimate feminist icon – the most important woman in the country

SCALING the highest echelons of a man’s world as a woman, Queen Elizabeth II has used her charm, glamour and even femininity to advance both the monarchy and the country since the start of her record-breaking 70-year reign. So it’s no surprise that many see her as the greatest female icon. But the Queen has never […]

SCALING the highest echelons of a man’s world as a woman, Queen Elizabeth II has used her charm, glamour and even femininity to advance both the monarchy and the country since the start of her record-breaking 70-year reign.

So it’s no surprise that many see her as the greatest female icon.

But the Queen has never let her gender define her.

She’s modest, capable and tough, and as her famous “never complain, never explain” motto proves, she just gets on with things.

However, by doing just that – and with the utmost dedication – she’s inadvertently turned gender stereotypes on their head and done a huge amount for women, not least paving the way for our first female prime minister in Margaret Thatcher.

This no-nonsense monarch is the only female royal to have entered the armed forces – of which she’s now head – and served during WW2.

When she married Prince Philip in 1947, Elizabeth kept her own surname, which was revolutionary at the time, and even used clothing rations to pay for her wedding dress.

For post-war women, she was a role model as a working wife with a husband who gave up his navy career for her and managed their family.

Most recently, she encouraged the government to make a change to royal rules of succession ahead of the birth of Prince George in 2013.

It meant if they’d had a girl, the Cambridges’ first child would still be third in line to the throne and keep their place in the Windsor hierarchy, regardless of sex.

Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman, who portrayed the Queen in the hit Netflix series The Crown, called her “the ultimate feminist”.

“She’s an extraordinary woman,” Olivia said, confessing that she’d changed from a conflicted monarchist to a staunch supporter of the Queen.

“She’s the breadwinner. She fixed cars in WW2.

“She insisted on driving a king who came from a country where women weren’t allowed to drive [Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, while visiting Balmoral in 1998.]

“She’s no shrinking violet.”

But can an incredibly wealthy woman who inherited the job through birthright and accident – after her uncle Edward VIII’s shock abdication – really be viewed as a feminist icon?

The Queen hasn’t exactly donned a “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirt.

She remains quiet on women’s rights, as she does with any opinion that may be viewed as political.

Yet her actions speak louder than words. 

While Queen Victoria – Elizabeth’s role model – famously loathed the suffragettes, saying: “Feminists ought to get a good whipping,” the Queen pioneered social change for women.

She ended the “coming out” debutantes’ presentation at Buckingham Palace in 1958 and ensured garden parties, receptions and lunches were extended to as many Brits as possible, entertaining around 50,000 people a year at the royal residences.

Every so often, she gives a small insight into her feelings on women’s roles in the world. 

At a 2015 speech for the centenary of the Women’s Institute – of which she has been a member since 1943 – she said: “There has been significant economic and social change since 1915.

“Women have been granted the vote, British women have climbed Everest for the first time and the country has elected its first female prime minister.”

She added: “In the modern world, the opportunities for women to give something of value to society are greater than ever, because, through their own efforts, they now play a much greater part in all areas of public life.”

‘SECURITY AND CONTINUITY’

Reflecting on next month’s four-day Platinum Jubilee celebration, royal biographer Penny Junor says: “The Queen’s legacy is one of security and continuity.

“She is the ballast in an ever-changing world.

“She’s overseen an incredible pace of change in her record-breaking 70 years on the throne. 

“Social hierarchy has changed, we no longer have the respect for the institutions we once had.

“There’s been seismic change in technology, communication, in how we view ourselves as a society. 

“The Queen has been the one constant and she’s been hugely important, as that gave people a sense of identity and security. 

“She’s been solid, true and worked tirelessly for the country and the Commonwealth. We will never see her like again.” 

The Queen embraced her role, despite the fact she was never supposed to be the monarch.

She had an aristocratic childhood, but safe in the knowledge that she was never going to have the top job. Ditto, her father.

But in 1936, when Elizabeth was 10, her uncle Edward VIII abdicated so he could marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, meaning her father George VI then took the throne and she became next in line.

Edward’s abdication almost brought down the monarchy, but Elizabeth has made sure to protect it.

With her father’s untimely death in 1952, she came to the throne as a shy 25 year old.

However, Elizabeth surprised many by emerging stronger than ever from the winds of change.

She recognised that her role was never about “self” – it was always about others.

It was the Queen who first introduced the idea of “walkabouts” to meet her people, and with the encouragement of Prince Philip, she embraced modernity in terms of using television as a way of communicating with her public.

And it’s not just in the good times that she’s there for her subjects – her televised address at the start of the pandemic in 2020 thanked the NHS and essential workers while promising better times were ahead, echoing the words of the Vera Lynn wartime song: “We will meet again.” 

The Queen is also ruthless when it comes to protecting the institution.

The Firm has always come first, even at the expense of her family. The disintegration of the marriages of both the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of York caused the Queen huge heartbreak.

But with newspaper headlines full of infidelity and recrimination, she asked both couples to divorce in order to stem the damaging collapse in royal popularity.

Both Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were stripped of their titles and effectively thrown out of the protective royal forcefield. 

Earlier this year, Prince Andrew – reportedly the Queen’s favourite son – was unceremoniously stripped of his royal titles and patronages after being accused of sexually assaulting a minor. 

And when Harry and Meghan wanted their freedom, they found they had to be in or out – the Queen does not do half measures.

Elizabeth has always tried to separate her role as head of the Firm from that of matriarch.

Family members know in advance whether they are coming to see Granny or her Majesty. However, sometimes the two roles collide.

When Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris in August 1997, the Queen was at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands and chose to remain there supporting William and Harry.

But when anger at the royals grew for not joining in the unprecedented public outpouring of grief, the Queen returned to London, spoke on television of Diana’s legacy and brought out William and Harry in front of the crowds to inspect the mountain of flowers. 

Now in the winter of her life, even the indefatigable monarch is slowing down.

Over the last few years she has endured one of the most difficult periods of her reign. 

Last April, she suffered the loss of her beloved husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, just short of his 100th birthday.

She then fended off Covid earlier this year, and weathered the storm of Prince Andrew’s controversy.

Meanwhile, the royal family continues to feel the fallout from the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 

There is no question that coping with Philip’s death has been one of the most profound challenges of her long life, putting her private pain at the centre of the world’s attention.

The couple had enjoyed a golden twilight together in the months before he died at Windsor Castle, and sources have said she considers it fortunate that her family were able to  say their goodbyes in person.

How much we will actually see of the Queen during her Jubilee celebrations remains under constant review and will be decided on the day, depending on how she is feeling. 

In just over two years she will overtake the longest-reigning monarch in the world, King Louis XIV of France, who ruled for 72 years 110 days.

No monarch is likely to reach the 70-year milestone again, as her successors simply won’t come to the throne at such an early age. 

As the Queen contemplates her extraordinary legacy, perhaps the words of her Tudor namesake, Elizabeth I, rallying her troops against the Spanish Armada best sum up her approach: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king – and of a king of England, too!”

As we raise a glass to her on the Jubilee weekend, long live the Queen!