With a business-like tappity-tap of her new walking stick on the ancient stone floor of Westminster Abbey, the Queen joined a packed congregation that rose in her honour and needed no reminding of her appetite for work.
Resplendent in royal blue, the 95-year-old monarch was attending a service for ex-armed forces personnel and the poignancy was not lost on anyone. Her own former naval officer husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, died in April after a long, extraordinary life, and the world wondered how Her Majesty would cope without the man she’d depended on for so long.
This Christmas will be her first without Philip for over 70 years, but the Queen is in no mood for solemnity. Everyone who has observed her since she emerged from a relatively brief period of mourning has been astounded by her resolve to carry on with her duties. She has received world leaders, helicoptered onto warships, celebrated another landmark birthday and been a regular at the races.
“There was never any serious suggestion she would do a Queen Victoria and withdraw from the world,” says royal author Hugo Vickers. “But it’s remarkable to see her picking up exactly where she left off.”
An admirer of tradition, the Queen is particularly keen to resume her annual Christmas gathering at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the extended royal family comes together for the kind of grand celebration she remembers from her own childhood.
Denne historien er fra December 2021-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2021-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
