The harsh judgments Queen Elizabeth faced before winning the nation’s heart

Queen Elizabeth is now remembered as one of the most beloved monarchs in history – but it wasn’t always that way. 

In the 1950s, she was reportedly still finding her footing. According to writer James Pope-Hennessy, who interviewed the Queen in 1957 while researching a biography of her grandmother Queen Mary, Elizabeth came across as somewhat uneasy. 

In her book Elizabeth & Philip, historian Tessa Dunlop sheds light on Pope-Hennessy’s impressions. ‘He found a self-possessed young woman, but not someone entirely comfortable in her own skin,’ she writes. 

Pope-Hennessy, eager to make a good impression, was himself nervous – and his own tension may have amplified the Queen’s. 

‘One feels that the spring is wound up very tight. She is brisk, jerky and a little ungraceful,’ he observed. 

Dunlop notes that, in hindsight, these remarks feel almost unfair. 

They paint a picture of a young woman still growing into the role we would later see her embody with such grace and strength – a queen the world would come to deeply admire and respect. 

However, at the time ‘people wanted more from their young Queen and had started to say so’. 

Queen Elizabeth is now remembered as one of the most beloved monarchs in history – but it wasn’t always that way

According to writer James Pope-Hennessy, who interviewed the Queen in 1957 while researching a biography of her grandmother Queen Mary, Elizabeth came across as uneasy

Lord Altrincham launched a scathing critique of Queen Elizabeth, accusing her of being out of touch in an article published in The National and English Review

Not long after, Lord Altrincham launched a scathing critique of Queen Elizabeth, accusing her of being out of touch in an article published in The National and English Review.

As Dunlop explains, his criticisms were numerous: ‘Elizabeth’s entourage were ‘people of the “tweedy” sort’, she and her sister still bore the ‘debutante stamp’, her voice was a ‘pain in the neck’ and her speeches lacked ‘spontaneity’, parts of which ‘sound very hollow’.

The controversy was later dramatised in an episode of Netflix’s The Crown, and in Sarah Bradford’s biography, she suggests the criticism may have been more directed at the Queen’s advisers than at the monarch herself. 

Dunlop sees it differently. ‘He clearly thought the Queen was a bit of a frump and said so,’ she writes.

Dunlop notes the irony that Elizabeth remained true to that very image – headscarves tied neatly beneath her chin, her distinctive high-pitched voice unchanged and her speeches always delivered word for word.

What is often overlooked in Lord Altrincham’s widely discussed article, however, is his admiration for Prince Philip. 

Dunlop highlights that Altrincham offered a flattering assessment of the Duke of Edinburgh, describing him as a man of ‘merit’ and framing his lack of Britishness as an asset in a rapidly modernising era.

‘He gives the impression of being a citizen of the Commonwealth, at home wherever he goes,’ she writes.

James Pope-Hennessy’s comments paint a picture of a young woman still growing into the role we would later see her embody with such grace and strength

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Olympic Horse Trials in 1952

Elizabeth was criticised for delivering speeches word for word

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the bridge of the liner Gothic as it arrives at the Miraflores Locks during the Royal Tour of the Commonwealth in 1953

Lord Altrincham praised Philip’s public speaking skills, noting, ‘he is a first-rate speaker’ who had ‘recently moved, not without success, into the domain of television’

Altrincham even praised Philip’s public speaking skills, noting, ‘he is a first-rate speaker’ who had ‘recently moved, not without success, into the domain of television’.

Though Altrincham’s critique came from a respected journalist and peer – one who later renounced his title – it was considered a bold attack at the time. 

Yet by the final years of her reign, Queen Elizabeth was cherished not despite her constancy, but because of it. 

Her unwavering presence became a source of national comfort and nostalgia.

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