That night the Queen and many of the important guests from the wedding attended a party at Claridge’s Hotel in London’s Brook Street given by party supremo Lady Elizabeth Anson. ‘I arranged for video screens to be erected so the guests could see the ceremony replayed,’ she recalled. ‘The Queen sat next to Nancy Reagan and Princess Grace on a circular sofa, all glued to the screens. There was a wonderful atmosphere as people were elated by the day and we all fell about laughing when someone thought the man in Lester Lanin’s band was the King of Tonga.’

By the time November came around, Diana was expecting a baby and the press frenzy reached a new peak. After she was photographed pregnant wearing her bikini on a beach on the private Mountbatten estate in the Bahamas, the Queen was genuinely worried about Diana’s ability to cope and instructed her press secretary to invite all the Fleet Street editors to Buckingham Palace for a meeting to ask them to rein back. In an unprecedented move, the Queen appealed to them personally. It worked, but not for long.

In April 1982, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced Britain was at war when Argentina invaded the remote Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic in a dispute over sovereignty. A task force was sent to take back control of the islands by amphibious assault. Among the serving helicopter pilots onboard HMS Invincible was 22-year-old Prince Andrew. He had joined the Royal Navy in 1979, and had only recently completed his training. There were some in the government who felt he should not be sent into combat, and the Queen was concerned, not only as head of state but as a mother. However, Buckingham Palace issued a statement confirming she had no doubts that her son should take part and stay with his ship.

Within a few days of the victorious conclusion of the war, the Queen had further good news. On Monday 21 June at 9.03pm, Diana gave birth to a son, who was to be second in line to the throne. ‘I am very pleased that we have another heir,’ the Queen told injured Falklands servicemen with characteristic understatement. She was of course delighted and saw the birth as one of the few positive things in an otherwise difficult year. It was about to get much worse.