In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history and on 6 February 2017, having reigned for 65 years, the first to mark their Sapphire Jubilee. Now in her nineties, she seems to lack neither the physical nor mental powers to continue for some time yet. Comparisons with the previous longest-reigning monarch, Victoria, are inevitable and, in at least four respects, illuminating. To begin with, Victoria saw herself as the daughter of a soldier and therefore a ‘warrior queen’, a monarch in whose hands defence and foreign policy rested. By contrast, Elizabeth is the daughter of a reluctant, hesitant king – a man who, before he unexpectedly became king, and substantially after too, looked to the philanthropic side of monarchy. This has also been the core of…
