Winston Churchill’s friendship with the Queen which led her to break royal protocol

and ‘s relationship preceded her ascent to the throne in 1952. They first met during the war when her father King George VI was the monarch. Their long relationship would eventually see her break royal protocol in order to show respect to him and his family.

The legendary politician was the first Prime Minister she worked with when she became Queen and she was said to greatly value his wisdom and guidance. For Churchill’s part, politician Roy Jenkins said that he had “near idolatry” for Elizabeth and great respect for the monarchy.

The pair thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company and this was observed by others.

Civil servant Jock Colville, whose diaries gave an intimate view of number 10 Downing Street during the war, wrote that Churchill “was madly in love with the Queen…and that she got more fun out of her audiences with Churchill than with any of his successors.”

The Queen’s staff also noticed the pair’s affection for each other. Her Private Secretary Sir “Tommy” Lascelles wrote of their meetings: “I could not hear what they talked about, but it was, more often than not, punctuated by peals of laughter, and Winston generally came out wiping his eyes.”

Churchill felt his role was as The Queen’s constitutional tutor and this is reflected in a note he wrote following his resignation in 1955. “I have tried throughout to keep Your Majesty squarely confronted with the grave and complex problems of our time.

“Very soon after taking office as First Minister I realised the comprehension with which Your Majesty entered upon the august duties of a modern Sovereign and the store of knowledge, which had already been gathering by an upbringing both wise and lively.

“This enabled Your Majesty to understand as it seemed by instinct the relationships and the balances of the British constitution so deeply cherished by the mass of the Nation and by the strongest and most stable forces in it. I became conscious of the Royal resolve to serve as well as rule, and indeed to rule by serving.”

Elizabeth also wrote to Churchill following his resigntion and her admiration for her former Prime Minister was clear in the heartbreaking, handwritten letter.

In it. she declared no other Prime Minister would “ever for me be able to hold the place of my first prime minister, to whom both my husband and I owe so much and for whose wise guidance during the early years of my reign I shall always be so profoundly grateful.”

Churchill would survive for another decade after his retirement. Upon his death on January 24 1965, the Queen personally requested he have a state funeral and wrote to parliament to grant permission.

In a letter written to his widow she reflected of her friend: “The whole world is the poorer by the loss of his many-sided genius while the survival of this country and the sister nations of the Commonwealth, in the face of the greatest danger that has ever threatened them, will be a perpetual memorial to his leadership, his vision and indomitable courage.”

She further showed her affection for Churchill by completely breaking royal protocol. It was a common royal etiquette for the monarch to not attend any funeral service outside of one for a member of the royal family. However she not only attended the service but was among the first officials to arrive at St Paul’s, even before the coffin and Churchill family. It is a royal custom that the monarch is always the last to arrive at any event.

Additionally, it is a royal convention that the monarch is the first to exit or end an ongoing event. Again she saw fit to break protocol. As the funeral service ended she followed the Churchill family out of the cathedral.

Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames commented on the break from tradition writing: “It is absolutely exceptional if not unique for the Queen to grant precedence to anyone. For her to arrive before the coffin and before my grandfather was a beautiful and very touching gesture.”