Just four days before her 101st birthday, the Queen Mother has been ordered to rest by her physicians, as she is suffering from mild heat exhaustion. She was due to lay the foundation stone of a memorial to the colonial war dead tomorrow, but her place will be taken by the Queen. However, it is not thought that her ailment, which almost certainly has been caused by the heatwave in Britain, will get in the way of her birthday celebrations.
“She is suffering from heat exhaustion, but with the temperatures that are currently being experienced in England, a lot of other people are as well,” said former Palace aide Dickie Arbiter. “Given that she is going to be 101 in four days' time you have got to expect a little bit of weariness. I think she is going to take this opportunity of relaxing over the next few days and come Saturday we will see her out there in all her glory.”
The Queen Mother is one of Britain’s most enduring icons, and TV bosses are aware of this, having given the green light to a story of her life. ITV has commissioned a £5 million drama about the royal matriarch’s life, to be screened next year, and work on it starts today.
Merchant-Ivory actor James Wilby and BAFTA-winner Juliet Aubrey will star as Bertie and Elizabeth, the working title of the project, which focuses on the courtship of the then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and King George and Queen Mary’s second son, George VI, who only acceded the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII.
A spokesman for the TV company said that the programme would attempt to be as historically accurate as possible, and is meant to be a “celebration” of the Queen Mother’s life. Bertie and Elizabeth is based on the book The Political Role of George VI, which is largely seen as a hagiography.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
