Title: Elizabeth The Queen
Author: Sally Bedell Smith
Genre: Biography
Synopsis: From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II was the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well did we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II, who led her country and Commonwealth through the wars and upheavals of the last twentieth and twenty-first centuries with unparalleled composure, intelligence, and grace.
In Elizabeth the Queen, we meet the young girl who suddenly becomes “heiress presumptive” when her uncle abdicates the throne. We meet the thirteen-year-old Lilibet as she falls in love with a young navy cadet named Philip and becomes determined to marry him, even though her parents prefer wealthier English aristocrats. We see the teenage Lilibet repairing army trucks during World War II and standing with Winston Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on V-E Day. We see the young Queen struggling to balance the demands of her job with her role as the mother of two young children.
Sally Bedell Smith brings us inside the palace doors and into the Queen’s daily routines—the “red boxes” of documents she reviewed each day, the weekly meetings she had with twelve prime ministers, her physically demanding tours abroad, and the constant scrutiny of the press—as well as her personal relationships: with her husband, Prince Philip, the love of her life; her children and their often-disastrous marriages; her grandchildren and friends. - Back Cover
My Thoughts
I loved following and learning about Queen Elizabeth II and English Royal Family history in general, so when The Queen passed away in 2022 I felt sad. It was the end of an era. With Charles, William, and George there won't be a reigning queen in Britain for generations. On my next visit to my parents' house following her death, my mom had this book waiting for me, understanding how I felt. I started to read it then, but just didn't feel ready. So now, over two years later, I picked it back up and thoroughly enjoyed reading about Queen Elizabeth's life. The book is well researched and written, so while it is a long book, it reads pretty quickly and doesn't feel dry. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, especially when she was young.
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