'Common good'...Prince William delivers his Belfast speech (Image: Getty Images )
It's because she so rarely says anything beyond expressing pleasantries that when she does feel the need to speak on a subject, it carries so much weight. And she knows that you don't need to hammer your point home. Subtlety can be an even more effective technique.
That's why a speech she gave last month was so powerful. She didn't need to mention the word Brexit for it to be obvious what her plea that we should "seek out the common ground" was referring to.
Like grandmother, like grandson, it seems.
On Wednesday Prince William delivered a speech in Belfast that could have been one of hers.
Referring to the appointment of 1972 Olympics pentathlon champion Dame Mary Peters - a Northern Irish heroine - to the Order of the Garter, he said: "Mary Peters is not only one of the UK's sporting legends, she has also inspired generation after generation to come together in times of trouble and work for the common good, a lesson I hope many of us can learn from."
One of the Queen's great strengths is that she knows the value of silence (Image: Getty Images)
Like the Queen, William knows the importance of a subtle hint
Again, the word Brexit didn't cross his lips. But it is crystal clear what he meant. It is easy to take the Royal Family for granted.
The Queen and Prince Philip are the last of their generation and are widely revered as standing for values which often seem to be dying out with that generation.
But that's not the case with their children. The idea of the royals as a real-life soap opera began with coverage of the predilections and foibles of Charles, Andrew, Edward and Anne and their respective wives, lovers and husbands.
Because they are all so familiar to us, we can sometimes forget that the royals stand for something that goes to the very heart of what it means to be British.
And with Meghan Markle marrying into the family, the notion that the younger generation are more showbiz than constitutional royalty seemed a statement of the obvious.
Prince William and his wife met Dame Mary Peters, a Northern Irish heroin (Image: Getty Images)
But it's wrong.
Prince William's
