Throughout her historic reign, Queen Elizabeth II dedicated her life to royal duty, cultivating a steadfast and resolute public persona. Through times of great national adversity, she steadied the country with her trademark stoicism, strength, and quiet leadership.
Yet the late monarch was only human, and on rare occasions, she let her emotions show. The hit Netflix drama The Crown (2016-2023) dramatised several vulnerable moments, including the Queen weeping when Prime Minister John Major informed her that the Royal Yacht Britannia would be decommissioned. While we may never know her private reaction to that conversation, she was famously moved to tears during the official decommissioning ceremony in 1997.
Here, we look back at the rare and poignant moments when the late Queen openly displayed her emotions in public life.
© Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesAberfan – 1966
In October 1966, tragedy hit the coal mining village of Aberfan, South Wales, when a colliery spoil tip located directly above the village slid downhill. The devastating event resulted in the death of 144 people, 116 of whom were children. One day after the final victim was recovered from the debris, the Queen and Prince Philip travelled to pay their respects to the deceased and their loved ones.
It was later reported that waiting eight days to visit was one of the monarch's biggest regrets, but she appeared visibly moved as she walked around the site of the tragedy with her husband. "I think she felt in hindsight that she might have gone there a little earlier. It was a sort of lesson for us that you need to show sympathy and to be there on the spot, which I think people craved from her," said Sir William Heseltine, who worked in the royal press office at the time of the tragedy.
The Queen's visit to Aberfan was put under the spotlight once again in season three of The Crown. Many criticised the portrayal of the monarch, who is told in one scene to "display emotion". Actress Olivia Colman, who starred as the monarch, later voiced the line: "I dabbed a bone-dry eye and by some miracle no one noticed."
However, viewers were less than impressed by the "cold-hearted" portrayal of the Queen, with one tweeting: "Shame on the #TheCrown's producers! It's ridiculous how they portrayed the Queen as unfeeling during the Aberfan disaster. There's a video on YouTube of her visit and she is clearly upset."
Harold Wilson's then-press secretary Joe Haines also commented on the narrative that the Queen was faking her tears at Aberfan: "Anyone who saw her at The Cenotaph knows that," he said, calling the show's narrative "absolute nonsense".
© Tim Graham Photo Library via GetThe Decommissioning of Royal Yacht Britannia – 1997
The Queen famously shed a tear when she attended the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia during a ceremony in Portsmouth in 1997. Overcome with emotion, she was seen wiping her eyes as her beloved yacht was taken out of service after 22 years.
The Queen had a deep personal affection for the vessel, which she had herself launched in April 1953. It carried the monarch and her family on a number of occasions, on both official and private family voyages. She transported Princess Anne and the then-Prince Charles to Malta in order for them to meet up with the Queen and Prince Philip at the end of their Commonwealth Tour, and Charles and Princess Diana took their honeymoon cruise on the Britannia in 1981.
During her career as the Royal Yacht, Britannia conveyed the Queen, other members of the royal family, and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters.
The Royal Britannia is now a visitor attraction moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. The clocks on board are stopped at 3:01, the time that the Queen last disembarked the vessel. In July 2011, it once again welcomed the royal family when a drinks reception was held on board for Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall to celebrate their upcoming wedding.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesField of Remembrance – 2002
The Queen was moved to tears as she attended the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in 2002. It was an especially poignant visit as she took on her late mother's role at the ceremony, held in memory of Britain's war heroes.
The open-air service was rarely missed by the Queen Mother, and she had taken part in the ceremony in 2001, shortly before her death in March 2002. Tears rolled down the Queen's face during a minute's silence after she planted a small wooden cross in remembrance.
Following that, there was a walkabout around the churchyard to inspect some of the 19,000 crosses from all over the country which pay tribute to the fallen. The Queen then attended a short service in St Margaret's Church.
© Getty ImagesA service for fallen soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster Regiment – 2016
The Queen became visibly emotional during a moving service for the fallen soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster Regiment in 2016.
The monarch had just returned to her seat, having unveiled a statue in memory of members of the regiment who have died since it was formed in 2006. The Queen had a deep personal attachment to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. She was its colonel-in-chief, and it is also named after her. The Duke of Lancaster is one of the titles bestowed upon the sovereign.
With some 250 guests looking on, including soldiers severely injured in Afghanistan and the families of those killed in battle, a solitary tear could be seen rolling down her right cheek. The Queen was seen discreetly wiping it away with her gloved hand before managing to regain her composure. For a few moments afterwards, she closed her eyes. During the ceremony, she had laid a wreath with a simple message: "In memory of the glorious dead. Elizabeth R."
© Getty ImagesRemembrance Sunday service – 2019
The Queen was seen wiping away a tear during the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in 2019 as Britain fell silent to honour Britain’s war heroes. The late monarch, dressed in sombre black, was joined by the then-Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge on the balcony above the Whitehall memorial for the annual ceremony. She looked on as her son, then-Prince Charles, placed the first wreath of red poppies on the Whitehall memorial; the Queen last performed the same duty in 2016.
