Second time around Queen soften (8)
I believe the answer is:
moderate
'soften' is the definition.
(I know that soften can be written as moderate)
'second time around queen' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 'mo' (both are short periods of time).
'time' becomes 'date' (date is a kind of time).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'queen' becomes 'ER' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'date' going around 'er' is 'derate'.
'mo'+'derate'='MODERATE'
(Other definitions for moderate that I've seen before include "Lessen the intensity" , "Make reasonable" , "Average; not radical" , "Reduce" , "Make less severe" .)