How Winston Churchill was an important help to the young Queen Elizabeth

Author Andrew Morton believes Queen Elizabeth could not have survived the difficult first few years of her record-breaking reign without the steady support of her favorite prime minister, Winston Churchill.

The Queen, who inherited the throne at just 25 years old and became the first female sovereign since Queen Victoria’s death 51 years ago, found herself learning the new demands of being head of state amidst family conflicts.

“He came into her life during a time of tragedy and loss, advising and guiding her through a very difficult family maze,” Morton tells PEOPLE. His new book, Winston and the House of Windsor (on sale October 21), captures Elizabeth’s public life and the prime minister’s important role in shaping the modern royal family.

Mr Morton said the king and prime minister had a common connection through a shared interest in horses and horse breeding, which strengthened their bond. “He admired the fact that she was not only beautiful, but also had a solid personality. She was very much her father’s daughter, and he admired her for that,” Morton added. “And I think there can be little doubt that he was her favorite of the 15 prime ministers she had.”

The big job came sooner than expected, especially for Elizabeth’s husband, as Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, died suddenly in 1952 (while Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, were away in Kenya).

“He was disappointed that he had to give up his naval career. He had hoped that George VI would live longer and enjoy more time in the navy,” says Morton. “I mean, he looked like a bear with a headache.”

Elizabeth then asked to live at Clarence House, but this was rejected by politicians and courtiers. “Where the flag flies, that’s where the Queen stays,” Morton said.

“So they went en masse to Buckingham Palace. Prince Philip insisted that the dynasty should henceforth be called the House of Mountbatten, because that was his surname and all spouses took their husband’s surname. When Churchill, along with Queen Mary and his cabinet, stopped that and insisted that they be called Windsors following King George V’s decision in 1917, Prince Philip declared: “I’m just a bloody amoeba.”

However, as the Queen, who had two young children, the future King Charles and Princess Anne, needed the support of the more senior royals around her, it was Churchill who intervened on her behalf and traveled to Birkhall in Scotland to visit Elizabeth’s mother, who had retired in mourning.

“He took it upon himself to persuade his mother to return to royal life, and I would argue that this was one of the great successes of his relationship with the Queen, because the Queen could not persuade her mother to return to public life, but Churchill did,” Morton said. “And as we know, she was a great asset to the monarchy throughout that period. She was a true national treasure.”

Queen Elizabeth also had to contend with the fact that her younger sister, Princess Margaret, “was not only mentally unstable over her father’s death, but also had an illicit relationship with recently divorced Hussar Colonel Peter Townsend,” Morton said. “This put the Queen in a very difficult position as she did not want to affect her sister’s well-being, but at the same time it was Anglican teaching that divorced women could not marry in the church.”

Morton said Churchill’s reaction to the union was positive. “He thought it was wonderful, that a beautiful princess would marry a war hero. Incidentally, they had the same instincts as the majority of people who were perfectly happy to get married, but the Royal Marriages Act of 1701 required the Queen’s permission, which meant that no one could marry after the age of 25.”

“It shows how deeply involved he was in the House of Windsor. When he first proposed bringing the matter to Cabinet, the Queen told him, ‘Let’s keep this within the family.’ And that included Churchill. He was like a godfather to the whole House of Windsor. His reaction was positive towards Margaret and Townsend, but then he realized that the Constitution and the Church of England were an obstacle.”

The partnership was successful. “Churchill believed she had the charm of a queen while having the temperament of a bureaucrat,” Morton tells PEOPLE. “She was very resolute in some of her views, very stubborn, and Churchill valued and respected his position as an advisor very much.”

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Churchill’s importance to the monarch, and his position to the British people, was so important that Queen Elizabeth II granted him a state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1965. Churchill held the post for 70 years, until his death in September 2022 at the age of 96.