While Britain changed as a country during the Queen’s reign, the royal family changed too. Gradually — and sometimes not so gradually — the style, working practices and general assumptions that went unquestioned in the 1950s were exposed to scrutiny and, where they were found wanting, reworked to fit in with the spirit of the times. While the Queen was always resistant to sudden change, she was aware, more than some of her ossified courtiers, that the royal family was only there with the consent of the people, and if it did not adapt it would die.
Even the concept of who is regarded as an essential member of the royal family has shifted subtly. Before yesterday the Court Circular still listed the activities of
