- Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: All to open things up.
- Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.
- Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Bring us more in line with the real world. Democratize us. And so it goes. The stings and bites we suffer as it slips away. Bit by bit, piece by piece. Our authority, our absolutism, our divine rights.
- [footsteps approaching]
- Martin (footman): [footman clears throat] Ma'am?
- Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The history of the monarchy in this country is a one-way street of humiliation, sacrifices and concessions in order to survive. First, the barons came for us, then the merchants, now the journalists. Small wonder we make such a fuss about curtsies, protocol and precedent. It's all we have left. The last scraps of armor as we go from ruling to reigning to...
- Queen Elizabeth II: To what?
- Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: To being nothing at all. Marionettes.
- Lord Altrincham: I see we have something in common.
- Queen Elizabeth II: And what would that be?
- Lord Altrincham: Your Majesty.
- [stuttering]
- Lord Altrincham: I was referring to the photos of Eton and Sandhurst.
- Queen Elizabeth II: Hm. Which you attended too, I gather.
- Lord Altrincham: Yes.
- Queen Elizabeth II: Going on to become an Officer of the Guards at both St James's Palace and Windsor Castle. It doesn't quite fit the profile of a revolutionary.
- Lord Altrincham: It's the assumption everyone has made. Because I dare offer an opinion, I must be trying to burn the temple down. On the contrary, I'm trying to make sure it survives.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: I thought you were hoping for more children from me.
- Queen Elizabeth II: I am.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Then why on earth would you do something like that to your hair?
- Queen Elizabeth II: What's wrong with it? I thought it was tidy and... sensible.
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Adjectives to stir the loins.