Queen Elizabeth “Couldn’t Understand” One Sign of How “The World Had Changed”
Gan Gan was not impressed.
Queen Elizabeth II saw tremendous amounts of change throughout her life: politics, culture, fashion, architecture, but the most noticeable changes must have come from family life. In her early life, she spent most of her time with her nanny in a secluded nursery, far from the daily lives of her parents, the then-Duke and Duchess of York and later King and Queen of England. Like a scene from Downton Abbey, young Elizabeth would most likely make an appearance at afternoon tea time and occasional family lunches in the garden, but traditionally children were neither seen nor heard by their parents throughout the day.
Prince William and Princess Kate have been very hands-on parents.
Prince George was Queen Elizabeth's first great-grandchild.
Based on her own experiences in childhood and in early motherhood, Queen Elizabeth’s first meeting with young Prince George came as a huge shock. Ingrid Seward wrote in her new biography, Catherine Diana, that Prince George cried the entire time. "When the Queen came to inspect her great-grandchild for the first time he managed to scream throughout her visit, which was not something the monarch was used to or enjoyed," Seward wrote.
Prince William and Princess Kate have suggested in the past that Prince George was a very colicky baby, crying a lot and sleeping infrequently. Great Granny Queen Elizabeth II was probably hoping for a sweet baby snuggle and instead got a huge dose of reality: some babies cry, a lot. This memorable family moment reminded the late Queen that “the world had changed and childcare had changed with it” in the decades since she became a mother.
Prince George and Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince George was reportedly a very colicky baby.
Seward wrote that Queen Elizabeth II "was not used to babies being fed on demand" and "couldn't understand the infant George's displeasure at having to wait.” The Princess of Wales reportedly nursed infant Prince George, and one can imagine that she might not want to feed the little prince while the Queen of England came to visit—even if she is the baby’s ‘gan gan.’ The combination of royal etiquette, generational differences, and an unhappy newborn made for an unpleasant first visit.
