Queen Elizabeth II and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, were married on November 20, 1947. When he died, they were married for a whopping 73 years, and if he was still alive today, it would be 74.

That’s a looooong time to be married to the same person, especially since about half of all marriages end in divorce. If you have seven decades of marriage under you, wouldn’t it be pretty upsetting to watch your kids go through divorces?

For the Queen, three out of her four children’s marriages ended in divorce. Prince Edward is her only child to stay married to his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex. However, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, and Princess Anne have all gotten divorced from their spouses (though Charles and Anne have since gotten remarried).

This was not easy on the Queen. According to her new biography of the royal family titled “Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II,” author Robert Hardman says this was actually more than difficult for her, and that each divorce filled her with despair.

“Outwardly stoical, as ever, the Queen was finding the divorce talks deeply upsetting,” Robert wrote. “Another former member of the Household recalls that every now and then, there would be a glimpse of her despair.”

“I said, ‘Ma’am, it seems to be happening everywhere. This is almost common practice,’” he continued, “But she just said, ‘Three out of four!’ in sheer sadness and exasperation. One shouldn’t underestimate the pain she’s been through.”

Her intense feelings on the matter came as a bit of a surprise. Though we can see how it would be upsetting, the queen was been quoted in the past by her former press secretary, Charles Anson, saying, “I don’t remember a single occasion when I went to see her and she exclaimed, ‘No! What next?’ The issue was sometimes embarrassing, but she got on with it. It is immensely reassuring in those situations to work for someone who isn’t knocked back.”

We’re sure no matter what it’s hard to watch your kids go through such sad life changes—especially ones as life-altering as divorce can be. It’s also not easy to watch them do something that you never went through or could really understand.

How would you feel if the majority of your children ended up divorced while you were married for over 70 years? Do you know anyone who has been through that?