The Queen's close friendship with Sir Winston Churchill revealed in new exhibition
WATCH: Malcolm Shaw speaks with Chartwell's Property Curator, Katherine Carter, Sir Winston Churchill's grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames, and Chartwell's General Manager, Chelsea Pettitt. Pictures from British Pathé.
A special exhibition which reveals the long and close friendship between The Queen and Sir Winston Churchill has opened in Kent.
The 'Churchill and The Crown Exhibition' is taking place at Chartwell, the former Prime Minister's family home.
The hand-selected archive photographs are on show to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
Organisers say the photos "bring to life a genuine warmth and friendship which extended beyond that of monarch and advisor."
The Platinum Jubilee
This weekend (4-6 February) marked the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne
The Queen is the first British monarch in history to reach this milestone
Her Majesty spent the day privately on the Sandringham estate in remembrance of her father, George VI
Queen Elizabeth has seen 14 Prime Ministers come and go during her long reign but it is rumoured that Sir Winston Churchill was her favourite.
Churchill was Prime Minister at the start of the Queen's accession in 1952, while he was serving his second term.
Once asked which of her Prime Ministers she most enjoyed meeting, the Queen replied "Winston of course, because it was always such fun."
Chartwell's Property Curator, Katherine Carter, said: "Because The Queen and Sir Winston Churchill had a number of hobbies in common, for example horse racing, it meant that there was naturally rapport and easy conversation between the two."
"But in addition to that, there was also often laughter coming from their meetings, and staffers at Buckingham Palace did often comment that you could tell when it was a Winston meeting because of the laughter."
Sir Winston Churchill's grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames said the relationship between the Queen and Prime Minister was "one of profound respect and affection."
"As much as most of us worship and revere Churchill, his second Prime Ministership was not a great success. And I think she [The Queen] would have required all the tact and experience that she had gathered from her father. And he must have been so lucky to have her."
The photos at the exhibition have been enlarged and are on display at the Terrace Lawn just outside the house, running until February 27.