The older the Queen gets, the more she changes

In a fortnight the Queen will set a remarkable record. On 21 December, she will overtake Queen Victoria (81 years and 243 days) to become the oldest British monarch in history. Do not expect any fanfares, not from royal quarters at any rate. The Queen will be at Sandringham and there will be no official recognition of this milestone. As far as she is concerned, last month’s Diamond Wedding anniversary was quite enough celebration for one year. In any case, she is not one for getting competitive with the ancestors.

But the rest of us are entitled to ruminate on this achievement. Of Britain’s three octogenarian monarchs, the other two — Victoria and George III — were barely capable of standing up. Since her 80th birthday, the Queen has undertaken some 500 official engagements and made five state visits overseas, most recently to Uganda. Some might seek to put her stamina down to genes and modern medicine. But her achievement goes far beyond mere longevity. At an age when all of her contemporaries have long since retired, she has, very quietly, been something of a royal rebel.

For the last 18 months, I have been part of a small production team following the work of the Queen, her family and her staff for the current BBC1 documentary series, Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work. As well as writing the series, I have written a new book alongside it. Viewers have already been treated to the inside story of a White House welcome, the domestic dramas behind a Palace banquet and the emotional impact of a royal investiture.

What is less visible, but even more striking, is the quiet change of pace that has taken place at the Palace over the last ten years. And the real surprise is that things are actually speeding up.

You might imagine that an institution governed by a woman of 81 (and with a husband of 86) would either be slowing down or handing on.