Queen Elizabeth II had a lot on her shoulders at a very young age. Just 25, Elizabeth was forced to take the throne after the sudden death of her father, King George VI in 1952. The eyes of the world were suddenly on her as was the weight of shouldering the entire monarchy - and so soon after her marriage to Prince Philip.
To suddenly become one of the most watched and powerful women in the world can't have been easy to process - especially as she was known to be quite shy growing up. If she didn't feel ready, she had to at least pretend she did.
And it was The Queen Mother, Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, gave her one piece of important advice, to ensure that she was able to cope with her newfound time in the spotlight.
The Queen Mother’s advice for her eldest daughter has been revealed by former lady-in-waiting Lady Penn, a close friend and confidant of the Royal Family in later years, reports Hello.
Speaking of how the Queen Mother chose to boost Her Majesty’s confidence, she said: “The Queen mother told the Queen when she was very young to be brave. I think the Queen found walking into a room full of people when she was young rather daunting, and she said to her ‘well what you want to do when you walk into a room is walk in through the middle of the door.’”
While it seems like strange advice at first, there was a lot of practical logic to it, according to Penn.
“I think by that she meant, don’t go in apologetically, walk in as if, you know ‘I’m in charge’ and I think that was very good advice.”
Considering Elizabeth II has been quietly confident in ruling the throne for over 60 years, she clearly took the advice to heart and used it to her advantage.
