October 29, 2022

Free Download of Finest Hour Special Issue

The International Churchill Society is pleased to make freely available a download of the recently published special issue of its journal Finest Hour commemorating the friendship between Sir Winston Churchill and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Churchill was the first of fifteen different men and women who served the late Queen as Prime Minister. But their acquaintance with one another began long before the Queen ascended the throne in 1952.

We were extremely fortunate to secure the services of veteran royal biographer Hugo Vickers to write our lead feature. During one of the most demanding weeks of his life, Vickers balanced the many calls upon his time to document the long and deep association between Queen and Churchill, a man described by his wife Clementine as “Monarchical Number One.” The remarkable friendship included an affinity for horses, a subject examined for us by Fred Glueckstein.

The Queen died at her beloved Balmoral Castle, where by chance she had her first meeting with Churchill in 1928. Alastair Stewart shows that there followed many experiences that the Queen and Churchill shared at the Scottish estate. Australia was another country with which the Queen had a long and happy association. Harry Atkinson explains that the great Commonwealth also connected Churchill with the Queen in several ways now little known.

2025 International Churchill Conference

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2025 International Churchill Conference

Churchill College, Cambridge had its own connections with the Queen, and Churchill Archives Director Allen Packwood illustrates these with images from the collections, while Katherine Carter tells us about the day she guided the new monarch, King Charles III, around Chartwell. Finally, Andrew Roberts imagines a conversation between Churchill and the late Queen that should inspire us all.

Finally, we have a striking cover image generously supplied by artist Richard Stone, who tells the story on our back cover of painting the Queen at the time of her fortieth jubilee in 1992. Thirty years on, the historic reign ended following the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.