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At n 11:30, she holds the first of her day's audiences. A foreign ambassador is presenting his credentials. If it is the representative of a friendly power, Elizabeth chats graciously in English, or in serviceable French. If it is Andrei Gromyko, the interview is brief and formal. It may be a recently appointed bishop eager to discuss the problems of his new see, and Elizabeth as head of the church must be interested and informed. It may be a visiting Governor General from one of the Commonwealth nations, come for luncheon with his lady. Gourmet or no, the guest must face the fact that Elizabeth the Queen likes short meals and plain, wholesome British fare. After lunch (maximum: an hour and a quarter) come the public appearances—a ship to be launched, a hospital to be visited, an exhibition to be opened, a cornerstone to be laid—always accompanied with a gracious, impromptu and neat little speech.
Advise & Warn. At 5 o'clock, the Queen is back once more in the palace to play with her children for another hour and—on Tuesdays—to await the weekly visit from the Prime Minister. Churchill used to drop in on her father at 5:30, but Elizabeth makes him wait until an hour later to give her more time in the nursery.
No one but the Queen and Churchill himself knows what is said at these meetings (which often last an hour or more), for not even Philip may be present, but a glimpse of the forcefulness of the young Queen's questions may be had in the words of another senior Cabinet member, who recently remarked: "Younger ministers than I will soon learn that this is no woman to be trifled with." The British monarch's sole governmental duty is only "to advise, to encourage and to warn," but that can nevertheless be a vital and important duty. At this stage, Elizabeth for the most part spends her time attempting to learn what she can from her wise first minister, and asking, "How will this affect the average housewife?" In some cases, Elizabeth is empowered to enforce her warning. No minister, for instance, may leave the country without her consent, and Churchill himself had to ask permission before making his plans to visit the U.S. this month.
"All We See." Elizabeth's first and primary duty to her people, however, is to represent in her person all that they hold best in the British way of life, to endow the average Briton's life with a spaciousness beyond his own means. All last year, Britons were making plans and looking forward to Elizabeth's coronation like a family planning a favorite daughter's wedding (see ART). They mean it to be her TIME, JANUARY 5, 1953 party, but they mean it to be a family party as well. The common sense and kinship Elizabeth shares with her people are both exemplified in her decision, against stiff conservative prejudice, to let TV enter the Abbey so that all the family may share the ceremony.