A COOL HEAD IN TROUBLED TIMES

She lost her beloved husband, was heartbroken by Harry and Andrew, and battled with her health – but 2021 also saw the arrival of new babies into the royal fold. We take a look back at Her Majesty’s tumultuous year

- NICI DE WET

ANNUS horribilis – it’s a phrase she famously used 29 years ago to describe a shocking year when fire swept through her beloved Windsor Castle and the marriages of three of her four children imploded.

But 2021 may well rival the miseries of 1992. Death, divorce, health problems, an ongoing sex scandal, family fallouts, allegations of racism – all this and more affected Queen Elizabeth.

A documentary called 2021: The Queen’s Horrible Year even aired in the UK in November, detailing the calamities that have befallen the most famous family in the world.

However, Charles Anson, her former press secretary, believes the difficulties of the past 12 months haven’t weakened the monarchy – if anything, they’ve made it stronger.

“The strength of our monarchy is that it’s able to adapt,” he says in the doccie.

“It’s changing and I think, providing the values are still there, it often changes for the better.”

And the shoulders many of the values rest on are the tiny ones belonging to the 95-year-old monarch. The queen has covered herself in glory this year, says Stewart Purvis, a former TV executive and documentary producer. “She’s lost her husband and she has a grandson who’s semidetached.

“But she’s symbolised so much of what we hope for from a royal family that, in a sense, I think the respect for her is stronger than ever as a result of the way she’s steered us through these difficult months.”

Journalist Andrew Neil agrees that Her Majesty has led with flair this year. “She’s been a figure of love for the nation as well as a figure of common sense.