Nicola Adam: Queens and Princesses

Maybe the Queen, celebrating becoming the longest reigning monarch this week, can pat herself on the back, although it has to be said the Disney franchise can be held responsible for the pink, plastic, hue of such princesses.

HM the Queen herself prefers a silky yellow (but still loves a tiara.)

Whichever way you look at it, there is no doubt that Elizabeth, crowned at 25 and still going 63 years and 216 days later at age 89, is a remarkable, hard-working lady.

As such she is a positive role model for little girls, albeit she is living in a rarefied,fresh-paint smelling world that is certainly not attainable for all but the lucky lady who snares young Prince Harry.

It is hard to believe that when HM was crowned, Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister.

She is living history - and unique in that her view of the world was so very different from others of her generation.

We will never really know what goes on behind closed doors at the various royal palaces (maybe they have a takeaway and watch TV box sets of an evening) but there is no doubt it is a life of privilege.

But it is also worth thinking about all the things the Queen has not been able to do during her remarkable tenure.

Just pop out to the pub for a glass of sherry without shaking a million hands. She can’t walk her precious Corgis at the local park without a fortnight advance of security sweeps and an armed entourage.

She will certainly never pop in at a WI coffee morning in her slacks or to her local Tesco for a packet of biscuits and a bottle of red.

No, she doesn’t need to pop out, but these are freedoms we take for granted, unless we are actually locked up at her Her Majesty’s pleasure and denied them through law.

Congrats to HM but the life of a princess is not all it is cracked up to be.

Take note, little girls.