The Queen of England, cousin

Margaret Rhodes died Friday at the age of 91. In September 2011, the Queen's cousin met our journalist Ghislaine Ribeyre on the occasion of the release of his autobiography. For newsoftheworld.top, she had opened the doors of Balmoral and told with a humor so British, the newspaper of Windsor.

On Sunday, after Mass, Margaret Rhodes, 86, often visited by his cousin 85 years. Like thousands of old ladies across England, they exchange the latest news, talk about their grandchildren, and perhaps even the weather.Except that the cousin in question is called Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Lord of Man and Duke of Normandy. Margaret Rhodes has obviously attended the recent wedding of his cousin, William, though, "with all these hats," she regrets she could not see any of the ceremony.She was best placed for the wedding of his cousin, in 1947: bridesmaid, she was ringside to follow each episode, the sudden disappearance of the bride's bouquet to the glowing happiness of the young couple. At 86, the Honourable Margaret Rhodes - and the right to the title as the daughter of a baron - the feeling of having had a full life, even if it sometimes feels "like a dinosaur species forgotten by evolution. "

"Prince Charles is very funny. It has the same sense of the ridiculous that the Queen Mum "

Told by Margaret Rhodes, the "Firm" is almost a normal family, where we laugh a lot. "Prince Charles is very funny, she said. It has the same sense of the ridiculous that the queen mother. Both, they could laugh to tears at the same jokes. And the Queen is an excellent imitator, who knows reproduce all accents. "Margaret Rhodes cried several times in the movie" The King's Speech, "as she regained the deep kindness of his" Uncle Bertie ", King George VI:" It was very attractive, with a kid of humor . "As a family, he does not stutter, but Margaret still remembers" the muscles of his neck which blocked when he stumbled over a word. " As for the Queen Mum, her favorite, she described the optimistic, spirited, courageous. The newspapers in Britain have often attributed the good mood of the queen mother, who died in 2002 at 101, a slight penchant for gin and tonic. Not at all, protests Margaret Rhodes: "Before lunch, she took a gin and Dubonnet with a slice of lemon and lots of ice. Wine during the meal. In the evening, a dry Martini and a glass of champagne during dinner. "

To see her sitting quietly on the sofa in floral fabric, or doing admire rhododendrons, difficult to guess that the life of Margaret Rhodes lies somewhere between the novels of Nancy Mitford and adventures of James Bond - she worked during the war for MI6, the British secret services. She remembers a Britain where, "in big houses, the invited ladies were supposed to change three times a day, one held in the morning, another in the afternoon, and a long dress in the evening, jewelry and tiara. " His father, "the 16th Baron Elphinstone," she says, was an explorer and adventurer, who finished governor of the Bank of Scotland. "His philosophy of life could have been:" I have a gun, I'm going to travel, "affectionately she says. We were brought up to believe that it was totally immoral to stay inside, whatever the weather. Needed attention outside, preferably something useful: chopping wood, pulling weeds, take a walk to the charge. "

If we sent the boys to the best schools, it would occur to anyone to do the same with the girls. "Queen Elizabeth and I belong to the last generation of girls from families like ours to be not gone to school," she notes. She has the late Queen? Margaret Rhodes does not say. Itself was, at the time, rather delighted: "I thought going to school was terrible, that you are obliged to play hockey. And I did not want to play hockey. "She was educated in books and travel: Kenya, the Himalayas, wherever there was game. For Margaret Rhodes, the Queen as, obviously love to hunt.

"Girls, Queen and I liked to play" catch the happy days ""

Margaret Rhodes now lives in a house of Windsor Castle Park, the Queen offered him when her husband, Denis, was sick. Its neighboring Prince Andrew and his daughters. In August, joined Margaret Elizabeth II for a stay at Balmoral. When invited, she lets "spoil" by his royal cousin, "I have breakfast in bed and not get up before 10 am," she says, almost as stunned by decay. In true Scottish (it descends Macbeth and his maternal grandparents were at the head of the "most haunted castle in Scotland"), Margaret Rhodes particularly like Balmoral. Little girl, she played a lot with her cousin: "She loved that we pretended to be horses. We spent our time gallop as coupling animals, racing, circus ... Our other game was called "catch the happy days." He was to seize on the leaves falling from the trees, "as she recounts in her memoir," The Final Curtsey, "published in the UK. It is also here that the young Margaret took his "first being male anatomy", thanks to the Duke of Gloucester, brother of George VI, "who has never mastered the kilt of the technical adjustment in sitting position , "she said mischievously. It confirms that the kilt is clothed with nothing underneath, adding that when they are in Balmoral, "all men of the royal family in a deal." 
A 86-year-old Margaret Rhodes was forced to retire with regret hunting and horseback riding, but she said that the Queen still rides "at no bomb on the head." In their family, women are hard to cook. So do not talk to him for a possible abdication of Elizabeth II: "In our country, it is not done."

Photo (top left): Margaret Rhodes received Paris Match at her home in Garden House in Windsor Castle Park. (Photo: Kasia Wandycz)