Winston and the Windsors

Few figures in British history have been so deeply and so consequentially involved with the British royal family as Winston Spencer Churchill. While numerous men of stature have advised kings and queens during their reigns, Churchill is unique in his role: helping to shape not only a single reign but an entire royal dynasty. However, it was by no means a seamless relationship. At times, the royal family treated him with suspicion and contempt; at others, their relations were avuncular, competitive and cheering. Yet whether he was playing the role of antagonist to the royal family or that of trusted confidante, Churchill’s influence was central to the twentieth-century history of the British monarchy. The attitudes of the royal family towards him, whether warm or icy, were also crucial in creating the legend of Winston Churchill. The House of Windsor helped shape his career and his legacy: from his young days receiving paternal advice from Edward VII; his middle years of diehard loyalty