On family matters, the Queen and Prince Philip at last had much to be satisfied with. The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles took place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on 9 April 2005. The ceremony, conducted in the presence of the couple’s families, was followed by a Church of England Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George’s Chapel, which incorporated an act of penitence. The Queen and Prince Philip did not attend the civil wedding ceremony, but were present at the Service of Prayer and Dedication and held a reception for the couple in Windsor Castle afterwards.

In the years following the wedding of their grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton, on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey, the Queen and Prince Philip welcomed two more great-grandchildren into their family (George, on 22 July 2013, and Charlotte on 2 May 2015), thus ensuring the direct line of succession of the House of Windsor for generations to come. On 4 September 2017, it was announced that the couple were expecting a third child.

An indication of the possible relaxing of the strict formality that has governed the Queen’s life occurred at the opening of the Olympic Games in London in 2012, directed by Danny Boyle. The Queen was seen in her first acting role, with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, in Buckingham Palace. In a short film, Her Majesty was seen to leave the palace gardens in a helicopter with James Bond, before appearing to parachute into the opening ceremony of the games. This rather undignified stunt, which was kept secret from the press, could not have taken place without the approval of Prince Philip, who was extremely dubious about it. At an Irish State banquet at Windsor Castle two years later, the Queen joked: ‘It took someone of Irish descent, Danny Boyle, to get me to jump from a helicopter.’

Another reason for satisfaction for both the Queen and Prince Philip was the result of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. Scotland has always been a favourite place for the royal couple. It was at Balmoral where, as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, Philip had proposed to Princess Elizabeth. Their happiest family holidays were spent cruising round the Western Isles in the royal yacht Britannia. They are proud to dress in tartan kilts and have often been seen at highland games watching with obvious enjoyment. The Queen is roused each day by her personal piper playing the bagpipes as he walks round underneath her room, and she favours Scottish reels over all other types of dancing.