The Queen Mother's Blitz

(narrator) The royal family's unwavering loyalty to the country and the British people is an inspiration in times of crisis.

(Angela) They are brave, and they have this rock-hard sense of duty that runs all the way through them.

(narrator) During the Second World War, with British morale at an all-time low, the royal family stepped up, and one member in particular stood out.

(Professor Lipscomb) Putting themself in the line of danger was integral to the wartime effort.

It was the Queen Mother's genius, really.

(narrator) Tonight, how the Queen Mother became an icon when the country was blitzed by German bombers... (Queen Mother) To you, my fellow countrywomen all over the world: "What have I done," you may ask, "compared to what my boy has to put up with?"

(narrator) ...how she was determined to stay put despite deadly dangers... (Richard) The Queen Mother said, "The girls won't leave without me.

I won't leave the king, and the king will never leave."

And she meant it.

(narrator) ...how she took extreme measures to protect herself from the imminent threat of German kidnap... (Angela) She was ready with this rifle.

She had guts, and if she could, she would've used it against the enemy.

(narrator) ...and the moment Hitler came close to an assassination that would've changed the course of our history.

(Professor Lipscomb) Hearing the unmistakable whir whir of a German plane and the scream of a bomb that hurtled past them and exploded in the quadrangle.

(narrator) We'll hear how this extraordinary lady boosted morale across the empire... (Queen Mother) I wish you all every good fortune in the admirable work that you are carrying on.

-Hooray!

-She was leading from the front and saying, "We will get through this," and was the epitome of that British stiff upper lip but also with a smile on her face at the same time.

(narrator) ...and how the Queen Mother pulled no punches when it came to the enemy.

(Lady Campbell) She made sure that everybody knew that she was practicing killing Germans by killing rats.

(Professor Lipscomb) Hitler famously called the Queen Mother the most dangerous woman in Europe.

(Richard) She actually ended the letter: "Tinkety tonk old fruit, and down with the Nazis."

(dramatic music) (cheering) (narrator) The royal family are figureheads for the morale of the nation through good times and bad.

(Professor Williams) A crisis is really when the monarch has to earn his or her bread and butter.

Because it's all very well waving and smiling, but when the country has got real problems, that's when we really expect to see our king or queen.

(Angela) They are brave, and they have this rock-hard sense of duty that runs all the way through them.

(fanfare music) (narrator) Our queen witnessed her first national crisis at the outbreak of the Second World War when she was just 14.

But all eyes at that time were on her father, King George VI, and her mother, then Queen Elizabeth, now widely known as the Queen Mother.

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born in 1900.

A lady at the age of four, she was homeschooled and fluent in French by the time she was ten.

(soft music) (Lady Campbell) Well, my understanding is that Elizabeth was always a very bubbly, buoyant, bright, naughty, mischievous child and adult.

She was very charming, she was very intelligent, and she was extremely determined.

She was one of the most determined people you could ever hope to meet.

(Professor Lipscomb) She had a kind of carpe diem attitude to life.

She talked about how terrible it'd be if you'd gone through your whole life not doing the things you weren't supposed to.

So you hadn't smoked, you hadn't drunk, and then the next day you were run over by a big red bus.

So what should you be doing now to make the most of the opportunity?

(Richard) Her parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, stressed that patriotism and religion were so tremendously important.

I think this instilled in her a steel that became evident in a time of crisis, which was so important.

(narrator) Elizabeth's earliest experience of a crisis was at the age of just 13 during World War One.

(Victoria) Sadly, she lost one of her brothers in the First World War.

He was part of the Black Watch Regiment and he was killed.

Another of her brothers was also taken as a prisoner of war for two years, so this really had an impact on her throughout her life.

(narrator) One of the childhood homes, Glamis Castle in Scotland, was opened up as a convalescent hospital, and throughout the war years, she looked after the wounded soldiers.

(Professor Williams) These young men, these young working-class men, who no girl of her class would ever have spoken to, she's getting them cigarettes, she's chatting to them about their wives and girlfriends, and she really saw, I think, firsthand the sacrifices that the working classes make.

So, really, overnight, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon went from a very fun-loving girl who had a very sheltered childhood to seeing firsthand the suffering and the horror inflicted by World War One.

(majestic music) (narrator) Young Elizabeth would go on to have a significant relationship with a military man: Prince Albert, the Duke of York, Queen Mary's second son.

After courting Elizabeth for more than two years and proposing unsuccessfully twice, Albert finally won her over, and they were married on the 26th of April, 1923.

(Camilla) People were quite surprised that the Queen Mother, somebody very gregarious, very much a social butterfly, very extrovert, ended up marrying the Duke of York, or Bertie, as she affectionately knew him, because he was very shy, had a stutter.

I think there were royal watchers thinking, "How extraordinary that he has landed this lady."

(somber music) (narrator) In 1936, their lives changed forever.

The Duke's brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry twice-divorced Wallis Simpson.

Overnight, Albert was crowned King George VI and Elizabeth became Britain's new queen.

(Lady Campbell) I rely upon what the Princess Royal said about how Elizabeth felt when she became queen.

You know, some people said that she was furious and she didn't want it and all of that.

The Princess Royal said, "Oh, I do wish she'd stop grinning like a Cheshire cat.

It's so unseemly."

(laughing) I think she was absolutely thrilled to be queen and remained thrilled to be queen.

(narrator) Elizabeth quickly adapted to life as queen, and it soon became clear she was not interested in a back seat role.

(Queen Mother) And I would like to say to all those who have been taking part in the display how much I've enjoyed it.

(Lady Campbell) It is said that there were two kings of England, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

And in fact, Winston Churchill complained to Lord Beaverbrook-- and I got this from my sister-in-law, Jeannie, who was his granddaughter-- that he didn't think he could continue to have regular audiences with the king because whenever he needed immediate decisions, the king would say, "Oh, leave it with me, I'll think on it overnight," meaning, "I'll consult Elizabeth."

(soft music) (narrator) She started a mission to get her husband ready for his new life as king.

One of the most pressing matters was his stammer, which he developed around the age of eight.

(King George VI) King... whose inception we saw when we were last in Glasgow ten months ago.

(Angela) And she almost frogmarched him off to Harley Street because he had a stammer and she knew that that was not a way to be if you were a king, and he saw someone called Lionel Logue who helped him overcome his stammer.

And she helped him, too.

He had to do exercises every day.

So she built up his confidence.

(Professor Lipscomb) She bucked him up when he had to go and see members of the public which he found so daunting.

Lord Halifax actually described her as a steel hand in a velvet glove.

And above all, I suppose, she gave him love, and he flourished because of her love.

She made it possible for him to find the inner strength that was needed, and she inspired him, and she taught him how to connect with the people in a way that was really, really important for the years that followed.

(dark music) (narrator) Public opinion across the empire remained at an all-time low from the abdication crisis, but the monarchy was about to be faced with their biggest emergency in history.

(King George VI) For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war.

(shouting) (narrator) On September the 3rd, 1939, Britain declared war on Germany, and King George and Queen Elizabeth were catapulted into the center of a huge international crisis.

Elizabeth's actions would become vital not only for the Crown, but the spirit of the country.

(Camilla) When we think back to the king's speech and the idea of George VI having to step up, we must also look at the fact that his wife was forced to do exactly the same, and that was despite huge concerns about their own role and her own concerns about her husband being king and how he would cope with that during wartime.

(Angela) The Queen Mother was seen as Britain's secret weapon in the war.

She had two roles.

One was to help her husband, King George VI, and one was to be herself.

It was a role that she seems to have been made for.

(soft music) (narrator) Four months into the war, rationing was rolled out across every household in Britain.

Restrictions were placed on the purchase of all kinds of food produce, including meat, bread, and dairy.

The royal family led by example, and under Elizabeth's influence, they faced the struggles of war alongside their people.

(Professor Lipscomb) The Queen Mother had these strict rules for wartime economy.

So, Windsor Castle, there wasn't much heat.

I mean, it was so cold that the women were forced to wear their furs inside, cover themselves with blankets.

There was a, you know, single bulb in each room.

The royal family had ration books like everyone else.

They had clothing coupons.

(Professor Williams) One very touching story is that there were national appeals for aluminum because it was needed to make the planes, and the Queen Mother encouraged her daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, to give up their saucepans that they had in their Wendy house.

The queen felt very strongly that she had to show they were all in there together.

(Camilla) When Churchill came to visit, he was taken aback by the fact that the Queen Mother had instigated the palace to react positively to rationing.

He was given some sandwiches and he said they were disgusting and were they filled with sawdust?

The Queen Mother was a very determined woman and she was very tough, and it's very clear that this adherence to these strict rules during wartime came from her.

(planes droning) (narrator) A year and a half into the war, things took a dramatic turn for the United Kingdom.

(dark music) The 7th of September, 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked London, leaving 430 dead, a day that will become known as Black Saturday.

(announcer) The battle of London, which began with strong forces of Nazi bombers attacking the capital at night, led to a big fire on the waterside early in the onslaught.

(piano music) (narrator) It marked the start of the Blitz.

And over the next 57 days, the country repeatedly came under attack by German aerial bombers.

The main aim was areas where the Third Reich felt there would be industrial production, and so we're looking at docks, we're looking at factories.

(narrator) In just nine months, over 40,000 people died and up to 139,000 were wounded.

(Professor Lipscomb) Over a million homes were destroyed.

Churches, historic houses, museums.

The Commons and the House of Parliament was destroyed.

And, so, there was a sense in which the city, particularly the capital city, was devastated and reduced to rubble.

(Professor Williams) The Blitz had an unimaginable effect on Britain.

The idea that you could be bombed to smithereens at home.

War had never been like this before.

It had always been overseas.

Now it was at home, and the home was threatened, and the suffering was really unimaginable.

(narrator) London was bombed more heavily than anywhere else.

The Luftwaffe destroyed a third of the capital.

On the morning of the 13th of September, they set their sights on the city's prime target: Buckingham Palace.

(Camilla) She describes these plumes of dust, the horrendous noise, and like any other families facing a similar situation at the time, that scrabble to find out if anyone had been injured.

(dark music) (narrator) Historically, it was the king's duty to fight on the frontlines of war.

The last to do so was George II in 1743 during the War of Austrian Succession.

(Professor Whitelock) Traditionally, the role of a monarch was to be a warlike figure, to actually be a war leader.

At the time of the Second World War, it was a more ceremonial role.

But, actually, that ceremonial symbolic role was incredibly important.

(narrator) A hands-on monarch was crucial in boosting the mood of a war-torn nation.

(melancholy music) (Queen Mother) Once again, we have been forced into war.

We have all a part to play, and I know you will not fail in yours.

Only when we have won through to an enduring peace shall we be free to work unhindered for the greater happiness and well-being of all mankind.

(narrator) The Queen Mother, then Queen Elizabeth, was ready to fulfill her duties even if that meant putting herself in danger.

As the death toll continued to rise, politicians expressed concern not just over the royal family remaining in their home, but staying in the country.

(Professor Lipscomb) The Queen Mother's personality was one of defiance.

She was tough, she was resilient.

Churchill was advising her to flee to Canada.

It was actually advised by the Cabinet Office at the beginning of the war and advised again by Churchill at the time of the Blitz.

The Queen Mother said, "The girls won't leave without me.

I won't leave the king, and the king will never leave."

And she meant it.

It was troubling to Churchill, it was troubling to ministers who had advised them like other aristocrats to flee and leave the country.

But they defied that.

(Professor Williams) Elizabeth had a great amount of influence over her husband.

I don't think he would ever have left the country.

He'd have seen it as his role to stay, but I do think that he did consider that Elizabeth and his daughters should go, and she was determined that she should stay and also that the princesses should stay as well.

(narrator) Elizabeth knew exactly what she was doing.

Press reports of the family remaining at the palace portrayed a powerful message to both the enemy and the people at home.

(Professor Lipscomb) They would remain in London as a symbol of indomitable patriotism, of resistance, and of British pride.

The message was that things weren't that bad, that they couldn't be that bad if the king and queen were still here.

So it's a very much a sense that they were saying, "We are in it with you.

This is a narrative of shared suffering."

And it's amazing what people can endure if there's a sense of equity about the distribution of the suffering.

And, so, understanding that putting themself in the line of danger was integral to the wartime effort.

It was the Queen Mother's genius, really.

(Camilla) Well, I think there was a very strong propaganda message to the royals staying put.

It was very much this sense of we will not be defeated.

(narrator) Refusing to leave the most iconic building in the country was a tactical move, but it left the family and their staff vulnerable to attack from the Third Reich.

(Victoria) It was a huge risk for the royal family to stay in London at the time of the Blitz.

Just like today, the royals are a target.

To be able to take one of them out, that would've been a morale boost for the Germans.

It also would've knocked the morale of the Brits as well.

(planes droning) (narrator) German aerial bombers were not the only threat to the royal family.

There were rumors of potential kidnap from German parachutists.

So, with the help of Winston Churchill, Elizabeth took drastic measures to prepare herself.

(ominous music) (Angela) During the war, Churchill came and saw her a great deal, and he gave her a rifle, and so she would go around practicing shooting by trying to kill off rats.

But she was ready with this rifle.

She had guts.

If she could, she would've used it against the enemy.

(narrator) This was seen by many as a clever propaganda technique devised by Elizabeth.

(melancholy music) (Lady Campbell) She made sure that everybody knew that she was practicing killing Germans by killing rats.

There was a link, and the link was that the Nazis were rats.

And, so, the word was leaked that she was at the palace practicing shooting rats.

Propaganda is very important in a war.

All this tells us of a woman who was humorous in the face of disaster.

The expression is a "tough old bird," isn't it?

She was somebody who wasn't going to easily be cowered.

If you think that the best way to deal with rats is to practice hitting them as if they're Germans, then you've got a certain spirit about you.

(ominous music) (narrator) Nothing could prepare Elizabeth for the events that unfolded during September 1940.

(planes droning) On the 8th, a 50-kilogram bomb was dropped by the Luftwaffe on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, but it failed to explode.

Just a few days later at 11:00 a.m. on the 13th of September, the Germans hit the palace again.

(announcer) The Nazis hit Their Majesties' private chapel.

The King and Queen had worshiped here only a few hours earlier.

(somber music) (narrator) In 2009, a previously unpublished letter written by Elizabeth gave us a unique insight into what happened that day.

(Professor Lipscomb) We have her writing to her mother-in-law describing hearing the unmistakable whir whir of a German plane and the scream of a bomb that hurtled past them and exploded in the quadrangle.

So they were very close to assassination.

She says that her knees trembled a little bit after the explosion, which seems reasonable if you had a bomb almost explode on you.

(narrator) The devastation caused by the five high-explosive bombs was terrifying.

(Camilla) She describes these plumes of dust, the horrendous noise, and like any other family facing a similar situation at the time, that scrabble to find out if anyone had been injured.

Didn't take her long to realize that she was actually the person who had to make sure that everybody else was all right.

That would be very much her role.

So I imagine that's also quite strengthening, actually, if you can put your own fears aside and sort of concentrate on other peoples.

And I'm sure she did a very good job because she was basically a, you know, very strong person and she was very much a leader, and she knew that that was where she could make an impact.

(Professor Lipscomb) She went to check on the housemaids, she went to speak to the chef, and she talks of how the servants were really magnificent.

(Camilla) They then retreated to their air-raid shelter which we know the Queen Mother had kitted out in soft furnishings and had fashion magazines on a table to make sure that everyone could be relaxed.

But again, they were there-- in there with their staff.

Everybody had their nerves shot to pieces, but there was this sense that this was the way things were back then and they just had to keep on carrying on, gritting their teeth and getting through it in any way they could.

(narrator) Despite the devastation, Elizabeth's primary concern was her people.

She wrote in the letter: (Professor Lipscomb) Rather than staying around to deal with their own problems, they went to see those in the East End who'd also been bombed.

So, that's a private letter, and I think as such, it gives us a privileged insight into the character of this woman.

(narrator) The letter also gave a touching and personal description of how Elizabeth was feeling at the time.

Four people were injured that day and, later, one died.

The king and queen had been lucky to walk away unharmed.

(Richard) Churchill himself was not told the closeness of this attack and what had happened until quite a long time later.

(Professor Williams) She wasn't intimidated, she wasn't scared, so I really think that showed.

Although "keep calm and carry on" was never used as a war slogan, the Queen Mother, I think, was the epitome of it.

(Richard) Her spirit is summed up by the way she said, "Dear old BP," meaning Buckingham Palace, "is still standing."

And to a cousin, she actually ended the letter: "Tinkety tonk old fruit, and down with the Nazis."

(piano music) (narrator) The bombing was a pivotal moment in the royal family's relationship with the public.

Hitler had actually brought them closer together.

(Professor Lipscomb) I think from the Nazi high command that if they bombed Buckingham Palace, it would create press images of this destitute sovereign, the bombed-out palace, and it would lead to despair among the British people, and exactly the opposite happened.

(narrator) Forty reporters were invited to view the damage.

(horn music) (announcer) All civilized people give thanks that Their Majesties have escaped the Nazis' barbarous attacks.

(narrator) The Sunday Graphic newspaper detailed how that day resonated with so many people.

(Professor Lipscomb) The message that was coming out of that was, you know, "This beast in Berlin who has tried to assassinate our beloved sovereign, we can't let them get away with this."

And there was a sense of pulling together.

So, immediately, it actually served to do the opposite to what the Germans had thought and became this extraordinary PR opportunity.

(upbeat music) (male vocalist) The king is still in London In London In London Like Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown The king is still in London Town (melancholy music) (narrator) Sharing in the horrors of the Blitz by staying put at the palace was just the start.

Elizabeth forged herself a new role and became an inspiration on the streets of war-torn Britain.

There were times when the Queen Mother was putting her arm around people, physically comforting them through this horrific time.

(Professor Whitelock) She was by her husband's side but really was hugely influential, and it was almost more her than him that became the figurehead at this time of great national crisis.

(narrator) During the early stages of the war, public perception of the royals was not always positive.

(Professor Lipscomb) War broke out only a few years after the abdication crisis, and so the royal family hadn't really recovered in terms of public opinion.

You know, the fact that she was wearing her furs and showing off their riches, and it seemed their safety, by comparison to those who'd been bombed, really struck a nerve, and there was great hostility.

(narrator) King George and Queen Elizabeth's perseverance and solidarity with their subjects at the outbreak of the Blitz turned the tide.

(announcer) Sequel to the big Blitz, the visit of Their Majesties, the King and Queen, to districts in East London which suffered very severely.

The royal visitors were wholeheartedly welcomed everywhere they went.

And everywhere they went, Their Majesties saw and admired the spirit of the people.

(spirited music) (Camilla) Well, indeed, they didn't cancel their royal visits either during these bombings, although they had faced horrific turmoil on their own property and had bombs raining through, they still insisted on going and seeing those who weren't so fortunate.

There was an occasion where she offered to hold a baby because the mother was there with her arm in a bandage and couldn't quite handle the infant.

There were times when the Queen Mother was putting her arm around people, physically comforting them through this horrific time.

(Professor Lipscomb) After Buckingham Palace was bombed, where there'd been booing, jeering beforehand, now it was clear that even if you live in a palace, it doesn't mean you're safe.

It doesn't mean that Hitler is not going to attack you.

(narrator) London wasn't the Nazis' only target, and Elizabeth insisted on visiting all sites obliterated by war.

(Professor Whitelock) Of course, the Germans didn't simply just bomb London.

They bombed other parts of the country, and the Queen Mother would go there.

She was this kind of on-the-spot task force figure that would go and rally people and sympathize and empathize.

(Camilla) They were very much at the forefront of this charm offensive to just try and keep smiles on faces, try and keep morale up.

And they did that well beyond the confines of Buckingham Palace and went all over the country doing it.

(Professor Lipscomb) There was an incident in Plymouth, in March 1941, when a place, which obviously a naval port, had been bombed badly during that day they visited.

And after they left that evening, it was faced with another bombardment.

You know, they were just between the two.

So, this was a dangerous strategy but an important one because it gave the message they weren't cowards, that British people weren't cowards, that they weren't a cut above the British people-- they would go and put themselves in these places-- and that they cared about the suffering of their people.

And that was such an important message.

(somber music) (narrator) On the 14th of November, 1940, Coventry City was struck by 30,000 explosives, killing around 600 people.

(announcer) The city, having been mercilessly bombed throughout the whole night without regard to military targets, now presents a grim appearance of devastation.

(narrator) Again, without hesitation, Elizabeth defied the Nazi threat by standing shoulder to shoulder with the British people.

(Professor Whitelock) She understood the fear, the devastation of the Blitz, and she would once again go out, visit people.

It absolutely exemplified all that was the best of London, indeed, the whole country at this time of crisis.

Many, many hundreds of people were killed.

She went there, and there was this sort of outpouring of affection for her.

The national anthem was sung by hundreds of people.

But it was this reaffirmation of those bonds between monarch and people.

She was by her husband's side but really was hugely influential, and it was almost more her than him that became the figurehead at this time of great national crisis.

(narrator) As a significant part of the monarchy, Elizabeth played a pivotal role supporting the nation in a time of crisis.

I think she was determined to do everything in her power to help this country.

I mean, obviously, she couldn't go and fight, but she could be there to boost morale.

(announcer) Our own Queen Elizabeth has found time amidst a host of other royal war duties to institute a sewing bee in Buckingham Palace.

Part of, I think, the Queen Mother's psyche of getting through the war was trying to maintain as normal a life as possible, this sense constantly that she would not let the Nazis defeat her didn't just mean in that sense of kowtowing to bombing raids over Buckingham Palace, but equally, not to stop her and fellow Britons in their traditional way of life.

(narrator) Elizabeth found many ways of instilling positivity in troubled times.

It wasn't just through visits to bombed-out areas.

Due to the closure of music halls, theaters, and other cultural venues, she kept spirits up through public appearances.

(Professor Lipscomb) She went to concerts at the National Gallery.

The pianist Myra Hess had organized these daytime concerts, and the Queen Mother said that these were some of her happiest hours in these dark times.

And she was also concerned about keeping other people's spirits up.

(Hugo) On one occasion, the Queen Mother actually even wrote out a poem for Churchill and had it sent around to Downing Street.

He was--had a very romantic sort of nature really, and is said to be supported, you know, by some stirring words from the queen at this point.

It was very important to him.

And boosting things for him to keep him going was very important, and that's one of the key roles that the king and queen had during that time.

(narrator) While the king focused on how the war was unfolding overseas, Elizabeth kept her focus closer to home and spoke directly to those left in Britain.

(Camilla) Well, the Queen Mother was in a great position to give speeches to women and children.

If you imagine that the king was in lockstep with Winston Churchill trying to give the more alpha message about the war effort and how things were going on the Western Front, a sense that the queen's responsibility was to try and keep things calm and settled on the home front.

World War Two was a significant moment in the changing roles of women, that women took on new roles.

They're in factories, they're out there working and they're working in, you know, the transport, they're working in shops.

And even if they're not working, they are at home with full responsibility for the family because the men are away.

You know, financial decisions, they have to take them.

Elizabeth did these motivational speeches throughout the war, speaking to women and children about what they were suffering, what they were going through, supporting the war effort, supporting their men.

(fanfare music) (narrator) On the 13th of October, 1940, the Queen Mother gave a speech supporting the women of Britain.

To you, my fellow countrywomen all over the world: "What have I done," you may ask, "compared to what my boy has to put up with, dodging submarines in the Atlantic or chasing Rommel across Africa?"

(Lady Campbell) She was basically saying to them, "We're all in this together, and I'm acknowledging that you're having a hard time."

And she made it plain to people that she was sharing their hard time.

(Queen Mother) In your different spheres, you have done all that he has done and endured all that he has endured.

(narrator) It wasn't just through her words that Elizabeth inspired others.

She also joined the military services.

(Professor Lipscomb) The Queen Mother became the Commandant-in-Chief of a number of services like the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Naval Service-- Women's Royal Naval Service.

So much of the communications from the royal family during the war was intended to say, "We are like you.

I'm joining up to these things in support of the men just as you are doing."

And that's the tone of her communications to the women of Britain as well, that she was nothing special, but she was doing what they were doing, and that was the symbol that was at work there really.

(narrator) It was the work of their mother that encouraged Elizabeth and Margaret to follow suit.

(announcer) Princess Elizabeth, now a second subaltern in the ATS, has been on a three weeks course of instruction.

In the classroom, she pores over a map, sharing it with Sergeant Patricia Young of Fleet, Hampshire.

(Camilla) Well, I think the queen's example was followed by her daughters literally to the letter in the sense that the queen said she wanted to contribute to the war effort and contribute to the military effort.

And Princess Elizabeth particularly looked at this example and said, "Okay, well, I shall also sign up."

So she signed up to the ATS, the Auxiliary Territory Service, and she qualified to drive trucks.

And she made her own contribution.

I think eyebrows were raised at the time, this idea of a future queen taking the risk of helping to serve on the home front, but the queen wanted to do it, and I think she was largely empowered to do so because she observed her mother.

(melancholy music) (narrator) The reputation of the monarchy was now on the rise, thanks to their contribution during the darkest days of war.

And as the British public warmed to the royals, the enemy's opinion of them began to change as well.

(Camilla) This idea that she was rallying the troops and those at home, having a huge effect on morale, a positive effect on morale at the very time the Nazis were trying to reduce it.

(cheering) (announcer) Britain's beloved monarchs are again demonstrating a human sympathy for their subjects, whose courage has never yet been shaken.

(narrator) The Blitz spirit was a rare moment of hope to emerge from the ruins of heavily bombed London during World War Two.

The British people were brought closer together through the common goal of surviving the war, and the then Queen Elizabeth, now known as the Queen Mother, nurtured the solidarity.

(Professor Williams) The Queen Mother was a key part of Blitz spirit.

She really felt that it was her job to give hope, it was her job to go and see people and say, "It will be better."

And I think she knew that it meant so much to people for her to go out there.

(narrator) Elizabeth was at the forefront of raising the nation's spirits during the war.

But in the dark days of the Blitz, would even her best efforts have an impact?

(Camilla) Well, I think the Blitz spirit and this idea of "keep calm and carry on" is very much exemplified in the Queen Mother, that sense of putting duty first, of being visible, of trying to connect with the public because you are a figurehead on one hand, but also taking this role as mother of the nation.

(Professor Whitelock) The Queen Mother was this kind of on-the-spot task force figure that would go and rally people.

It just gave everybody a sense of hope, a sense of optimism, and a sense of strength.

And, indeed, the Ministry of Supply, when they did figures afterwards of productivity on days after visits from the king and the queen, productivity would increase.

I wish you all every good fortune in the admirable work that you are carrying on.

(Professor Whitelock) People had had a lift.

People were re-energized again.

And it was that that the Queen Mother really did bring to the war effort.

(narrator) Elizabeth's unsinkable optimism and rabble-rousing character was well-received on the home front but also felt keenly behind enemy lines.

(Professor Lipscomb) Hitler famously called the Queen Mother the most dangerous woman in Europe, and that gives you some indication of how he perceived her inspiring popularity to be a real threat, that actually it would continue to encourage British people to keep going in the face of what looked like certain defeat.

It is not at all trivial that the king and the queen were out and being seen and encouraging and putting a smile on their face.

(Camilla) I'm sure the Queen Mother loved the notion that Adolf Hitler dubbed her the most dangerous woman in Britain, this idea that she was rallying the troops and those at home and having a huge effect on morale, a positive effect on morale.

(Hugo) She was wonderfully defiant.

That can't have gone down at all well in Nazi headquarters I wouldn't have thought.

(clock chiming) (dramatic music) (narrator) On the 11th of May, 1941, the Blitz came to an end.

Four years later, at 6:00 p.m. on the 8th of May, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally.

The kind broadcast to the nation that the war in Europe was finally over.

(King George VI) Germany, the enemy who drove all Europe into war, has been finally overcome.

The Queen and I know the ordeals that you have endured.

We are proud to have shared some of them with you.

(Professor Whitelock) So, V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day, was huge.

The end of the war.

(Professor Lipscomb) Well, you got huge jubilant crowds gathering, people jumping in the fountains in Trafalgar Square, you've got people dancing in the streets, and at the heart of this is thousands of people gathering to pay tribute to the royal family.

(Professor Whitelock) The royal family were at the heart of the nation's celebrations.

The king and queen had been at the heart of the war effort, and that was displayed in the appearances.

("Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar) (Lady Campbell) Everybody went absolutely wild.

The king and queen were called onto the balcony eight times.

They were there sometimes with their daughters, sometimes with Sir Winston Churchill.

People went crazy.

It was the most wonderful, wonderful day.

The average Briton were calling for the king and queen because they had absolutely perfectly embodied the spirit of the nation.

(soft music) (narrator) The war had finally come to an end.

V-E celebrations were over, but Elizabeth's contributions to the war effort continued.

(Camilla) The Queen Mother never forgot the East End and she did, post-war, make many visits.

She also never forgot her military and wartime connections and was very much a symbol going forward of the proper memorials around events like D-Day and V-E Day.

(Professor Lipscomb) We see her again and again at this heart of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, or just before her 99th birthday, she unveiled a memorial at St. Paul's Cathedral to those civilians who died during the bombing of London.

So this was absolutely in her heart till the end of her life.

Their undaunted spirit and courage... allowed them... to take the bits as it came.

They defied it.

(narrator) In particular, Elizabeth's unique relationship with the East End was never lost.

After all its residents had been through during the Blitz period, her commitment to them continued, visiting them whenever she could.

(Professor Lipscomb) The famous one is from 1987 when she visited Limehouse.

She went to a pub and she poured a pint.

So, she is almost 87 at this time.

Poured a pint and then drank it, drank it, about three quarters of it, we're told.

She was the best of them.

And for them, she was not this great other distant, privileged woman.

She was a woman who had gone through the war with them, at one with them, had seen them through.

(Professor Lipscomb) One lovely thing was that every year whilst the Queen Mother was alive, at her house, Clarence House, on her birthday would arrive a huge cake from the East End which was from all of those that she had comforted during their terrible suffering.

(Professor Whitelock) Long after the war, really right through to the end of her life, she was one of theirs.

And there was a sense of real affection and bond between them that really, actually, you know, never died.

(narrator) The Queen Mother's death on the 30th of March, 2002, marked the end of an era for Britain and the monarchy.

(Hugo) I remember it very clearly, a sort of terrible feeling of loss when she went.

There was a feeling that somehow a tremendous sort of spirit who had been still very visible right up to the end had suddenly left us, and that was very sad.

(Professor Lipscomb) I think that everybody who remembers the Queen Mother remembers her affectionately.

And there was this great outpouring when she died.

She had lived a long life, 101 years, but she was a great loss.

And the only thing that we can take from that as a silver lining is that so much of what she exemplified in her life has since been adopted by the younger royals.

(uplifting music) (narrator) The Queen Mother's efforts during the Blitz set the standard for future royals, particularly in times of national crisis.

(Hugo) The Queen Mother's example was very, very important to the other members of the family and to the younger ones.

They saw what she did.

And, certainly, the way that the royal family operate today, the queen is very quick to go to a place of tragedy or crisis.

(Professor Williams) Even though the Queen Mother is now dead, people still talk about her in World War Two.

She set the bar for what is expected of a queen in a war.

You go out there, you see people, you think about others rather than yourself.

That is really important.

(Camilla) There is this reflection that the Queen Mother's contribution during the Second World War should always be echoed, that it was a hugely successful example of where royals are at their best, connecting with the general public.

We very much see that in Princes William and Harry in the way that they now carry out their charitable work.

This idea of having a close connection to those who are living through difficult times and using your position of enormous privilege to give something back to the communities around you.

(Professor Williams) No royal can ever stay in their gilded cage, no royal can ever stay in their tower if there's a moment of national crisis.

What she did during World War Two, it's simply--it's impossible to say how important it was, what she gave to morale, to the country, to her husband, and really to the vision that Britain could survive.

(bright music)