THROUGHOUT LIFE, QUEEN ELIZABETH II MET WITH 15 DIFFERENT PRIME MINISTERS AND DOZENS OF WORLDLINESS. OVER HER 70 YEAR REIGN, SHE LIVED THROUGH A TRANSFORMING WORLD, WHY THAT COULD SEE MORE CHANGES AS HER SON, CHARLES III, TAKES THE THRONE. AT BRING IN HENRY FORD WHICH, SHE IS A GLOBAL BUSINESS CONSULTANT AND A BRITISH ROYAL COMMENTATOR AND EXPERT.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I WAS TALKING TO OUR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT EARLIER ABOUT HOW GOOD THE QUEEN WAS AT DELEGATING MEETINGS WITH WORLD LEADERS. SHE HAS MET MANY OF THEM, SOME OF THEM WITH COMMONWEALTH NATIONS, SOME OF THEM FROM NATIONS THAT WERE COLONIZED BY BRITAIN BEFORE, AND SHE IS, SHE WAS ABLE TO BE A ALMOST NONPOLITICAL, POLITICAL FIGURE, CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT THE QUEEN HAD WITH WORLD LEADERS? >> Reporter: SURE.
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THAT WAS PARTIALLY HER CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY. IT WAS A UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. IT WAS AS HEAD OF STATE TO BE NONPOLITICAL AND RISE ABOVE POLITICS. SHE DID THAT SO DEFINITELY. WE CAN TURN TO PRESIDENT OBAMA THAT SAID IT WAS HER GENERAL SPIRIT AND WARM WELCOME.
YOU ARE SHOWING PHOTOGRAPHS NOW, THEY WERE WELCOMED WARMLY. MICHELLE MADE THE MISTAKE OF PUTTING HER ARM AROUND THE QUEEN, BUT THE QUEEN WAS WITH WARMTH. SHE DID NOT BRISTLE. I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT. HER COMMONWEALTH WAS PART OF HER FAMILY. SHE KEPT THE COMMONWEALTH TOGETHER. MEMBERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH DID NOT HAVE TO BE MEMBERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH, THEY CHOSE TO BE, AND HAVE BECOME, THOSE WITH COMMON VALUES AND TRADE VALUES.
IN AUSTRALIA, IN THE MIDDLE OF A CEREMONY, WITH NEW CITIZENS BECOMING CITIZENS OF AUSTRALIA IN THE MIDDLE, IT WAS ANNOUNCED THE QUEEN HAS PASSED, OR THE MAGISTRATE IN THE MOMENT, WHAT IS HE DOING, HE DID NOT HAVE OPERATION LONDON BRIDGE, BUT HE HAD ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING. HE WAS NOT TOLD OR DICTATED.
THE QUEEN DID NOT HAVE ARMIES THAT MARCHED, BUT HE THOUGHT SO BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING, AND PEOPLE WANTED HIM TO DO THAT. >> WHAT IS INTERESTING IS YOU POINT OUT THE COMMONWEALTH NATIONS, THEY ARE A PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION BY CHOICE. WHEN SHE BECAME QUEEN, IT WAS A FLEDGLING KIND OF PARTNERSHIP IF YOU WILL.
SHE HELPED TO NURTURE AND KEEP COUNTRIES IN. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN GHANA LOOKED LIKE THEY WANTED OUT, AND SHE WENT TO GHANA AGAINST THE RECOMMENDATION BECAUSE SHE FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT, CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT WHAT THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NATION’S MEANT TO HER, AND WHERE DO WE SEE THE FUTURE OF THIS, I CALL IT AN ORGANIZATION, BUT IT IS ALMOST DIFFERENT THAN AN ORGANIZATION, IS IT? >> Reporter: YOU ARE CORRECT.
REMEMBER, SHE DANCED WITH THE AFRICAN KING AND THAT WAS REVOLUTIONARY, IT IS NORMALLY NORMAL TO DANCE WITH A WHITE WOMAN WITH A BLACK MAN, AND THAT WAS EMBRACING. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE COMMONWEALTH, YES, THE NATIONS ARE CHOOSING TO BE PART OF THAT IN AUSTRALIA IN THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE OVERNIGHT AND EFFIGY OF THE CRANE WAS PROJECTED OVER THE UPPER HOUSE, THAT WAS NOT DICTATED THAT THEY HAD TO DO THAT, THERE WERE OTHER COMMONWEALTH COMPANIES, AND THIS IS BY CHOICE, BUT WHAT DID SHE DO WITH THE COMMONWEALTH? SHE EMBRACED.
SHE ALWAYS EMBRACED BACK AND EMBRACED THAT AS KING CHARLES III. ONE THING THAT IMPACTED HER, THEY ALWAYS SAY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE CHARACTER OF A PERSON, LOOK WHERE THEY WERE WHEN THEY WERE TEENAGERS. SHE LIVED THROUGH THE SECOND WORLD WAR. SHE LIVED THROUGH THE BLITZ AND FELT BOMBS DROPPING.
SHE WAS ABOUT PEACE AND ABOUT HARMONY. THINK ABOUT SOMETHING REVOLUTIONARY GOING TO NORTHERN IRELAND, SHE DIPPED HER HEAD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES. HER BELOVED UNCLE, LOUIS MOUNTBATTEN, WAS MURDERED BY THE IRA, BUT SHE SHOOK HANDS WITH THE LEADER WHO COMMANDED THAT BECAUSE SHE WAS A LADY OF FORGIVENESS.
AT THIS TIME, I HOPE WE CAN BE FORGIVING AND REALIZE THE GENEROSITY OF HER SPIRIT ACROSS RACES, ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH, AND RELIGIONS, MAYBE WE CAN ALL BE LIKE THAT. >> YOU MENTIONED IT WAS HER JOB NOT TO BE POLITICAL, BUT THE NEW KING NOW HAS BEEN TRAINING FOR THIS POSITION FOR A LONG TIME.
WE KNOW AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT HIS POSITION ON CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS, LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE. I’M CURIOUS AS TO HOW YOU FEEL HAS A RELATIONSHIP, OR MAYBE NOT, I GUESS HOW YOU THINK HE WILL NAVIGATE THAT NOW? HE WILL BE INTERACTING WITH WORLD LEADERS. DO YOU THINK THINGS WILL CHANGE? >> YES, I THINK THEY WILL CHANGE.
YOU ARE RIGHT. HIS ROLE IS CALLED A PREDICAMENT. HE HAS BEEN THE LONGEST PRINCE OF WALES EVER IN WAITING. HE IS NOW 73. HE IS NO SPRING CHICKEN. CAN EIGHT TIGERS CHANGE THEIR STRIPES? THAT IS THE QUESTION. HE TAKES HIS ROLE SERIOUSLY AND HE HAD THIS APPRENTICESHIP KNOWING HIS MOTHER WAS NOT POLITICAL.
HE HAS MADE MANY MISTAKES, INCLUDING COMMITTING ADULTERY, WHICH IS FORBIDDEN BY THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, BUT EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A 40% APPROVAL RATING, AND THE QUEEN WAS ALWAYS OVER 80%, RIGHT NOW, THE NATION SEEMS TO BE RALLYING BEHIND KING CHARLES AND THEY HAVE BEEN HEARD IN MANY PLACES, BUT THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN.
WE NEED TO SEE HOW HE IS ACCEPTED. THE QUEEN DID, ON HER PLATINUM JUBILEE, REQUEST THAT THE NATION ACCEPT HIM AS WELL AS THE QUEEN CONSORT, THAT IS HOW HIS WIFE, CAMILLA, WILL BE KNOWN BECAUSE SHE IS NOT A QUEEN IN HER OWN RIGHT. >> TALKING ABOUT CHARLES AND CAMILLA, IT SEEMS TO ME, BUT YOU WOULD KNOW BETTER, THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN EVOLUTION THAT THE BRITISH PUBLIC HAS WITH THEM, THAT THEY HAVE GROWN IN AFFECTION FOR THIS COUPLE, THAT IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT, BUT SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE COME AROUND PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO CAMILLA, WHO IS THE QUEEN CONSORT.
YOU ARE RIGHT, AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY, AND THAT IS BECAUSE THE QUEEN WAS A LADY OF BEAUTY AND DIGNITY. SHE HAS NOT TALKED ABOUT HERSELF, WHAT HAS SHE DONE? DAY IN AND DAY OUT, SHE HAS DEDICATED HERSELF TO DUTY AND HER MAN, AND SHE HAS BEEN A GOOD INFLUENCE ON KING CHARLES, AND HE HAS DONE LIKEWISE.
HE HAS BEEN EXTREMELY LOVING TO HIS SONS. HE EXTENDED AN OLIVE BRANCH TO PRINCE HARRY, EVEN THOUGH HE IS BEING LAMBASTED WITH NUMEROUS INTERVIEWS, BUT PRINCE CHARLES EXTENDED OLIVE BRANCHES AS THE QUEEN. I THINK YOU HAVE SEEN HIM DO HE FOLLOW IN THE LEADERSHIP AND GUIDANCE OF HIS MOTHER IN TERMS OF BEING FORGIVEN AND BEING DEDICATED TO DUTY.
YOU ARE RIGHT. THE EMOTIONS HAVE SHIFTED, IT DEPENDS ON HOW FAR THEY HAVE SHIFTED, BUT WE DON’T KNOW THAT YET.
