What did Winston Churchill make of Princess Elizabeth when they met at Balmoral, 1928

When Britain's most famous Prime Minister met future HRM Queen Elizabeth II even as an infant he thought she was something special. 

Considered by many as Britain's greatest Prime Minister, Winston Churchill was a member of Parliament from 1900 to 1964, apart from two years from 1922 to 1924. He was the longest-serving Member of Parliament in Britain's history.

It's only fitting that Churchill met Queen Elizabeth who would go on to become the longest-serving monarch in history and the two would become good friends. They shared a great deal of mutual respect for each other.

Queen Elizabeth II was the sixth and final monarch that Churchill served under. He was the first Prime Minister, of 13 so far, that Queen Elizabeth had governed. It was Churchill, among others, who tutored the young Queen on the constitutional monarchy, politics, practices, and the law.

But when did the pair meet and did they have any strong opinions of each other before their paths truly crossed? Here we look at their first meetings.

Their first meeting

In truth, Princess Elizabeth would have been only two years old when Winston Churchill met the royal. While visiting Balmoral Castle, in the Highlands of Scotland, even at such a young age Elizabeth made an impression. So much so that he wrote about the Princess in a letter to his wife on Sept 25, 1928. 

At the time Winston was serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (his position until 1929). In his letter to his wife, he wrote that there was nobody there at the time of his visit except the family, the household, and two-year-old Elizabeth.

“The latter is a character,” he mused, describing her as having “an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant”.

And how right he was. 

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Winston Churchill.

Princess Elizabeth II was just 13 years old when the Second World War broke out. 

Poor health had forced Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to resign in 1940 and Churchill formerly took over the role and formed a War Cabinet. After five long hard years filled with tragedy and hardship, the Allies succeed and defeated the Nazis. 

On June 2 1953 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminister Abbey. Churchill was again Prime Minister and once again the pair met. 

According to Mary, Churchill's daughter, he was immediately impressed with the young Queen. She said the Queen had “quickly captivated him” and he felt her “immense sense of duty” early on.

Every Tuesday afternoon the pair would meet and discuss the matters of the state. According to Mary, Churchill would look forward to their meetings immensely.