A jubilee interview with the Queen ought not to be unthinkable – even one with the Guardian
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II has just marked 40 years on the throne with an extensive interview with the BBC in English. In March, Queen Elizabeth II will mark her own 60-year reign by giving not an interview but a speech to a joint session of parliament. The coincidence of two such jubilees inevitably draws attention to the contrast. Unlike her Danish counterpart, and unlike her own husband, children and grandchildren, the Queen has never given any interview, let alone in a language other than her own. It is tempting to infer a connection between the Queen's media purdah and her undisputed popularity; the distance at which the looking-glass is held may indeed intensify the enchantment and mystery that the glass casts. Yet the regal silence may owe more to the inertia of ruling-class custom. Earlier British monarchs did not give interviews – not even a prime minister gave a proper interview before 1958 – so the question probably never arose with this one. Once the tabloid revolution was under way, royal omertà was a no-brainer. Whether this is a good thing or a bad, it is certainly odd. Even popes give guarded interviews now, and Queen Margrethe's relative openness is more typical of today's reigning monarchs than Queen Elizabeth's absolute reticence. A change of policy may condemn our descendants to endless interfering interviews by King Charles III, so caution is natural. Yet a jubilee interview with the Queen ought not to be unthinkable – even one with the Guardian.