Queen Elizabeth II’s Best Feminist Moments

Queen Elizabeth II’s Best Feminist Moments

Olivia Petter  Fri, September 16, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96.

The monarch passed away “peacefully” in Balmoral Castle on Thursday 8 September. Her death comes almost a year and a half after the Duke of Edinburgh died on 9 April 2021.  Over the course of her reign, the Queen was the most powerful person in Britain, but she was also one of the most inspiring women in the world.

She was the UK’s longest-serving monarch, recording 70 years on the throne, and despite hardly ever discussing women’s rights, she had a watershed impact on empowering women everywhere throughout her reign.

The Queen was described by many as a feminist icon, including Olivia Colman, who played the monarch in the fourth season of The Crown.

The Oscar winner previously told Radio Times: “[The Queen is] the ultimate feminist. She’s the breadwinner. She’s the one on our coins and banknotes.”

In remembrance of the Queen, we’ve rounded up some of her best feminist moments.

When she took Saudi King Abdullah for a spin in her Land Rover

In 2003, the Queen famously took Abdullah, who died in 2015, for a drive in her Land Rover when he came to visit her in Balmoral, Scotland.

The story was told in a memoir by British diplomat Sir Sherard Cowper-Cowles, who was Ambassador to Saudi Arabia at the time.

“After lunch, the Queen had asked her royal guest whether he would like a tour of the estate,” wrote Cowper-Coles.

“Prompted by his foreign minister the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers were drawn up in front of the castle. As instructed, the Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, his interpreter in the seat behind.

“To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off.”

The move was particularly significant considering women were not yet allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and, as Cowper-Coles writes, “Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a Queen”.

When she quietly oversaw the change in royal rules of succession to allow the eldest woman to accede to the throne

In 2011, the Queen oversaw a major change to succession laws as agreed by the leaders of the 16 Commonwealth countries that meant sons and daughters of any future British monarch would have equal rights to the throne.

Up until that point, the laws of succession dictated that the heir to the throne is always the first-born son of the monarch.

But according to the new rules, had the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a daughter first, she would have taken precedence to the throne over her younger brothers. As it so happens, the couple had a boy first, Prince George.

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