Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II and a bond that shaped an era

Exclusive new details from Andrew Morton’s forthcoming book, Winston And The Windsors, reveal a wartime partnership that evolved into a deeply personal relationship between Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II. The excerpt portrays a prime minister who, in the last years of his life, formed a bond with the young monarch that went beyond politics, with the Queen reportedly willing to bend royal protocol to honor a man she described as her favorite prime minister. The revelations come as Britain reflected on a shared century of upheaval, in which Churchill had long been a symbol of national resilience and Elizabeth a focal point of continuity and statecraft.

Morton chronicles a pivotal moment in March 1955, when Churchill signaled plans to retire. The Queen, still early in her reign, is said to have pressed to grant him a Dukedom—a rank never before offered to a non-royal. Palace officials argued against the idea, citing a standing rule against creating non-royal dukedoms. Yet the Queen insisted she could make the offer, convinced that Churchill would decline. The plan rested on a calculated assumption: that the 81-year-old premier would refuse a title he had repeatedly said he did not want to join the House of Lords. The account paints a scene of private doubt among Churchill’s staff as he prepared to visit the Palace on April 5, with Jock Colville reflecting that Churchill “was madly in love with the Queen” and might be swept up in sentimentality.

After the meeting, Colville reported Churchill’s tearful reaction: the Queen’s offer moved him deeply, but he chose a self-image he associated with his lifelong identity—“I must die as I have always been.” He declined the Dukedom, and the exchange reportedly left the Queen quietly relieved. The episode underscores a theme Morton emphasizes throughout: the Queen’s personal respect for Churchill and her willingness to tilt the machinery of state to honor him, even when it clashed with official protocol.

The broader arc of the narrative presents Churchill as a monarch’s wartime ally and a mentor to Elizabeth II in the uneasy early years of her reign. The dossier details moments of intimate stewardship, including Churchill’s presence at royal and political occasions that helped define a new Elizabethan era in ration-book Britain still scarred by bombing. The excerpt notes how Churchill’s health began to falter in the early 1950s, with colleagues and doctors aware that his days in office were numbered. Yet even as illness pressed in, his proximity to the Queen remained a source of energy for both.

A sequence of solidarity moments punctuates the years leading to Churchill’s retirement. Morton notes a public-private dynamic in which Churchill’s private secretary, colleagues, and the Queen herself navigated the delicate balance between constitutional duty and personal affection. The pair’s proximity intensified at key social and ceremonial junctures—whether at Doncaster races, Balmoral, or the royal yacht Britannia—where Churchill’s charisma and the Queen’s composure drew public cheers and private assurances alike. Churchill’s devotion to the Queen endured through episodes of political deliberation, medical uncertainty, and personal loss, reinforcing a bond that, in Morton’s rendering, helped anchor a nation during periods of transition.

Morton details how the Queen stepped into leadership roles during Churchill’s later years, including her decision to oversee arrangements for his funeral. The plan, code-named Operation Hope Not, faced internal palace debate over whether a state funeral should accompany a commoner’s passing. The dialogue within the court reflects ongoing tensions about balance—honoring a premier whose status bridged the imperial and domestic spheres while managing the ceremonial expectations attached to a modern monarchy.

The narrative emphasizes the Queen’s extraordinary public gesture: during Churchill’s lying-in-state, she became the first reigning British sovereign to pay homage to a commoner, entering Westminster Hall with Prince Philip and other royals. The scene, Morton writes, captured a moment when the line between ceremonial duty and personal tribute blurred, underscoring how deeply Churchill’s leadership had shaped the national memory and how central the Queen’s presence remained to that memory.

As the chapter traces the late years of Churchill’s life, it also situates his legacy within the evolving relationship between the Crown and Parliament. The Queen’s personal note to Churchill after his resignation, and her later reflections that he had been her favorite prime minister, are presented as expressions of a bond that endured beyond party lines and political maneuvering. Morton’s excerpts recount Churchill’s involvement in public life even after retirement—from attending weddings and commemorations to the occasional, solitary moments when he would paint scenes of Wiltshire or receive guests at Hyde Park Gate. The overarching portrait is of a partnership anchored in mutual respect and shared history, rather than a conventional political alliance.

In the closing chapters, the narrative returns to the question of how a wartime minister and a constitutional monarch could redefine the late-stage careers of national leaders. Churchill’s health challenges culminated in a stroke in January 1964 and his death the following year. The Queen’s response—her condolences to Clementine Churchill and the initiation of Operation Hope Not for a fitting tribute—argued for a public remembrance that acknowledged both Churchill’s national hero status and his intimate bond with the Crown. The state funeral, attended by dignitaries from across the Commonwealth and beyond, reflected the complex legacy Morton attributes to his subject: a man who fought for a nation, who befriended a monarch, and who, in an era of measured tradition, was afforded extraordinary personal regard by a sovereign who had come to view him as a defining figure of her own reign.

Morton’s adaptation of these events in Winston And The Windsors, set for publication in October, positions Churchill not merely as a wartime leader but as a pivotal figure in the modern monarchy’s political and ceremonial evolution. The exclusive material underscores how deeply intertwined the lives of Britain’s greatest leaders could become, shaping perceptions of duty, affection, and national memory in ways that endure in cultural reminiscence of the era.