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<\/p>\nTo mark the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s birth, royal biographer Robert Hardman tells Sally Ann Voak about the monarch\u2019s enduring interest in France, its people and language.<\/p>\n
It was in spring 1948 that a newly married Princess Elizabeth \u2013 as she then was \u2013 made her first official visit to France, accompanied by Prince Philip.<\/p>\n
She had been abroad just once, to southern Africa, and was eager to visit Paris.<\/p>\n
It was a time of remembrance, aspiration, hard work and a renewed interest in travel and glamour after the suffering of World War Two.<\/p>\n
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\n Greeting crowds on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honor\u00e9
\n Mirrorpix\/Alamy\n <\/p>\n
Up to a million spectators were anticipated for her four-day trip, which it was hoped would help rebuild relations between the two countries, strained by the tumultuous events of the war.<\/p>\n
However, the palace and government totally underestimated the impact her visit would have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned out to be a riot!\u201d said Robert Hardman, Daily Mail journalist, broadcaster and royal biographer.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wore elegant clothes and her French was excellent thanks to good teaching and natural talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the hottest Whitsun weekend in memory and tens of thousands lined the streets of Paris. A sight that reportedly moved her to tears.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her French fans did not hold back, shouting \u201cZizette\u201d \u2013 their affectionate name for her.<\/p>\n
When she visited the Eiffel Tower by lift, they climbed the stairs to meet her.<\/p>\n
They followed her car through the packed Paris boulevards and even turned up outside the elegant Tour d\u2019Argent restaurant to wave while the royal couple tucked into a sumptuous \u201cprivate\u201d spread.<\/p>\n
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Macmillan\n <\/p>\n
The Duke of Edinburgh, suffering a digestive problem, did not mask his irritability and pain when he spotted a camera lens at an adjacent table. His wife, however, kept smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one noticed Elizabeth\u2019s tummy, and thought her waist was very small,\u201d said Mr Hardman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, she was three months\u2019 pregnant with Prince Charles but worked her socks off during that short, hot visit, setting the high standard which we all still admire.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was fun too, combining her dedication to work with joie de vivre. The French sensed that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite five-course lunches and dinners, late nights, including an early morning departure from a nightclub, she opened a new exhibition called Eight Centuries of British Life in Paris, greeted dignitaries and waved to the enthusiastic crowds, which included tourists who had travelled to Paris from nearby Belgium and Holland.<\/p>\n
\u201cA princess raised on wartime notions of duty was not about to let her own medical condition upset months of planning,\u201d said Mr Hardman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only after the visit that it was announced that the princess would not undertake any public engagements after the end of June.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the couple were in France, President Vincent Auriol, her host, conferred the L\u00e9gion d\u2019honneur, France\u2019s highest accolade, on Elizabeth<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cProtocol would normally have meant a kiss on both cheeks for his royal guest, but he announced: \u2018I will delegate my powers to your husband,\u2019 and handed the Croix de Guerre to Philip for his war service.\u201d<\/p>\n A warm welcome as Queen<\/p>\n It was quite the weekend. However, her next visit to France in 1957 \u2013 her first as monarch \u2013 was even more exuberant, said Mr Hardman.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, her command of French was an important factor. The then British ambassador, Sir Gladwyn Jebb, wrote: \u2018When she speaks in public here, there is a quality in Her Majesty\u2019s voice which the French find profoundly moving.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cShe received a tremendous reception from workers at a Renault factory and an ovation at a textile factory in Roubaix.\u201d<\/p>\n How the Queen learnt French<\/p>\n So where, and why, did Elizabeth learn to speak such good French?<\/p>\n Mr Hardman explained: \u201cPrincess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, still in their early teens, were educated at home in Windsor Castle during the war years. She excelled in constitutional history, taught by Henry Marten, vice-provost of nearby Eton, and another strong subject was French.<\/p>\n \u201cAs she was later to become Queen of Canada, this skill proved to be of huge importance.<\/p>\n \u201cEven as a young student, she recognised that good French was vital. It was still the lingua franca of the royal houses and embassies of Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Queen Mother was also a great Francophile and encouraged her daughters. She often referred to the importance of their devoir \u2013 the French word for duty, homework, or both!<\/p>\n \u201cOn the fall of Paris, she had broadcast to the women of France in French and, at the end of the war, General de Gaulle had special praise for her.\u201d<\/p>\n After various tutors, a big boost to the young princesses\u2019 French and social education came with the appointment of the Vicomtesse de Bellaigue, known as \u2018Toni\u2019 by her pupils.<\/p>\n A Belgian aristocrat, she had escaped to Britain with her husband and two young sons.<\/p>\n Toni taught French to the daughters of the King\u2019s private secretary, Lord Hardinge, who, in 1941, recommended her to the King and Queen.<\/p>\n \u201cToni accompanied the princesses on their famous VE Day walkabout in London. She was smart, sophisticated and a great friend to them both. By all accounts, they had a good time!\u201d<\/p>\n A lifelong connection with France<\/p>\n Throughout her reign, Elizabeth worked to improve her French.<\/p>\n \u201cShe visited often, including important trips to see her horses in Normandy, ordered French language tapes and swotted up on business, national and political events before travelling, especially to Canada,\u201d said Mr Hardman.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was au fait with changes of leadership, checking details about everyone she was due to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n Will younger royals continue to prioritise these French links?<\/p>\n