Across the table, her comment is met with an unenthusiastic silence. The Queen has been stirring her coffee and now puts the teaspoon into the saucer with a chink. ‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’

‘I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t.’

The Queen looks taken aback at the sharpness in her daughter’s voice. ‘I just meant that Philip isn’t … well, he’s not exactly …’

‘Not exactly what?’

‘Well … he’s not at home in the country, is he? Does he even shoot?’

‘He can learn.’

‘I just feel that he might not … fit in at Balmoral.’ The Queen is floundering under Elizabeth’s cool stare. ‘It might be uncomfortable for him.’

Elizabeth sets her knife neatly on the plate. Her face is calm, her movements precisely controlled as she folds up the napkin on her lap and puts it to one side. ‘What are you trying to say, Mummy?’

‘I know you like Philip, Lilibet, but Papa and I really don’t feel it would be a good match for you. I mean, he’s very handsome, I can see that, but you want more than good looks in a husband. You want someone who understands you, someone who belongs, and Philip doesn’t. He’s not one of us,’ she finishes with a helpless shrug.

‘She means he didn’t go to Eton,’ Margaret puts in from the other side of the table.

‘He’s a prince,’ Elizabeth points out. ‘I would have thought being royal would trump going to Eton.’

The Queen’s lips tighten. She is not royal by birth, and it rankles.

‘He’s a foreign prince. That’s not the same thing at all.’

‘He won’t be foreign when he has British citizenship.’

‘Attlee thinks the timing isn’t right for that. The situation in Greece is very precarious at the moment. George may be back as king but the communists are still strong. British troops are there supporting the royalists, but if a Greek prince suddenly becomes a British citizen, it won’t look good politically – or diplomatically,’ the Queen points out. ‘We can’t afford to look too involved in Greek affairs.

‘As far as the public is concerned, he’ll still be foreign,’ she goes on. ‘Most of his family are Germans, not to mention that ghastly old grandmother of his in Kensington Palace. His brothers-in-law were part of the Nazi regime. Philipp of Hesse could be facing a war crimes trial. It may be unfair but the people won’t like it, not after the war.’

‘Isn’t it more a question of what I would like?’ Elizabeth asks.

‘Papa and I only want what’s best for you,’ the Queen says irritably. ‘You’re very young still and you’ve barely met any other men.’

‘Mummy, that’s ridiculous,’ Margaret says. ‘Lilibet’s met bags of men.’

‘Thank you, Margaret.’ Elizabeth offers her sister a faint smile.

‘Well, if you’ll take my advice, Lilibet, you’ll be careful about encouraging Philip too much.’ The Queen pushes back her chair. ‘Fitting in might seem boring to you, but we all know what happened the last time a member of the royal family chose someone who wasn’t one of us!’