A tribute to the life and enduring reign of Elizabeth II draws on numerous interviews and previously undisclosed documents to juxtapose the queen's public and private lives, providing coverage of such topics as her teen romance with Philip, her contributions during World War II and the scandals that have challenged her family. (This book was previously listed in Forecast.)
The definitive portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by a renowned royal biographer. As seen on Good Morning America, CNN, and the BBC Shy but with a steely self-confidence; inscrutable despite ten decades in the public eye; unflappable; devout; indulgent; outwardly reserved, inwardly passionate; unsentimental; inquisitive; young at heart. Even with her recent passing at age ninety-six, she remains a twenty-first century global phenomenon commanding unrivalled respect and affection. Sealed off during the greatest peacetime emergency of modern times, she has stuck to her own maxim: "I have to be seen to be believed." Robert Hardman, one of Britain’s most acclaimed royal biographers, now wraps up the full story of one of the undisputed greats in a thousand years of monarchy. Hardman distills Elizabeth's complex life into a must-read study of dynastic survival and renewal. It is a portrait of a world leader who remains as intriguing today as the day she came to the Throne at age twenty-five. With peerless access to members of the Royal Family, staff, friends, and royal records, Queen of Our Times brings fresh insights and scholarship to the modern royal story. There will be no more thorough, more readable, more original book on Elizabeth II as we celebrate a life and reign that, surely, will never be equaled.
ELIZABETH II: A QUEEN FOR OUR TIME is a lively and affectionate celebration of the beloved monarch and a beautiful visual record of her extraordinary reign over the past twenty years leading up to her platinum jubilee. For as long as many of us can remember, Queen Elizabeth II has been an omnipresent figurehead—an icon. As Head of the Commonwealth, she is respected and admired around the world in equal measure. Her stalwart presence has signaled stability, neutrality, and responsibility. Uniting all that is British as an ambassador and statesperson, Queen Elizabeth II has seen more of the planet and its people than any other head of state and has engaged with them like no other monarch in British history; she is unquestionably a global voice for our time. As a Getty Images royal photographer, Chris Jackson has been granted privileged access to the monarch and the British royal family. He has documented the Queen’s official engagements over the past two decades, during a period of seismic changes in the British monarchy. "Photographing Her Majesty the Queen has, and is, one of the biggest privileges of my career as Getty Images Royal Photographer. As we head towards the celebration of her Platinum Jubilee, she remains at the heart of a nation and Commonwealth's affections, and is hugely admired and respected around the world,” says Jackson.. “This book is my personal perspective across the last, almost two decades, documenting many different facets of the Monarch's life, from the formal ceremony to family life and those unexpected and heartwarming moments that left me smiling behind the camera". In Jackson’s photographs, documenting public and private moments and accompanied by warm and engaging text offering a personal perspective and behind-the-shot anecdotes, ELIZABETH II: A QUEEN FOR OUR TIME captures her majesty’s great elegance and charm. From royal tours and state dinners to family time and equestrian triumphs, this book takes us to the heart of what it means to be the head of the British royal family. Much has also been made of the Queen’s enduring style, and Jackson shines a spotlight on the coats, dresses, evening gowns, jewels, bags, and accessories that make up her coordinated wardrobe.
A timely and revelatory new biography of Queen Elizabeth (and her family) exploring how the Windsors have evolved and thrived, as the modern world has changed around them. Clive Irving’s stunning new narrative biography The Last Queen probes the question of the British monarchy’s longevity. In 2021, the Queen Elizabeth II finally appears to be at ease in the modern world, helped by the new generation of Windsors. But through Irving’s unique insight there emerges a more fragile institution, whose extraordinarily dutiful matriarch has managed to persevere with dignity, yet in doing so made a Faustian pact with the media. The Last Queen is not a conventional biography—and the book is therefore not limited by the traditions of that genre. Instead, it follows Elizabeth and her family’s struggle to survive in the face of unprecedented changes in our attitudes towards the royal family, with the critical eye of an investigative reporter who is present and involved on a highly personal level.
A stunning and revelatory oral history of Queen Elizabeth II and her reign. There seems an unquenchable fascination with the British royal family on both sides of the Atlantic, borne out by the popularity of The Crown on Netflix, the spotlight on the Sussexes and Cambridges, and the media attention on the death of Prince Philip. These detailed interviews and insightful accounts range from the very early years of her reign to Prince Phillip’s death in 2021. Covering the shocking death of her father and the adjustment required of a newly married couple as well as the turmoil of the later years and her grandchildren’s families. This lavishly produced hardback with rarely seen color photos paints a full, detailed and sympathetic portrait of a life lived in service. Featuring interviews from diverse sources from private staff at Buckingham Palace and family friends, to international figures like Nelson Mandela, it contains a broad spectrum of views on Queen Elizabeth II—her story and her personality and how her life has intersected and impacted others.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “masterly account” (The Wall Street Journal) of the life and loves of King Charles III, Britain’s first king since 1952, shedding light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at the man who was the oldest heir to the throne in more than three hundred years. This vivid, eye-opening biography—the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus, and more, some speaking on the record for the first time—is the first authoritative treatment of Charles’s life. Prince Charles brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities, and convictions. It begins with his lonely childhood, in which he struggled to live up to his father’s expectations and sought companionship from the Queen Mother and his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. It follows him through difficult years at school, his early love affairs, his intellectual quests, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his intense search for spiritual meaning. It tells of the tragedy of his marriage to Diana; his eventual reunion with his true love, Camilla; and his relationships with William, Kate, Harry, and his grandchildren. Ranging from his glamorous palaces to his country homes, from his globe-trotting travels to his local initiatives, Smith shows how Prince Charles possesses a fiercely independent spirit and yet spent more than six decades waiting for his destined role, living a life dictated by protocols he often struggles to obey. With keen insight and the discovery of unexpected new details, Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic, and compelling than we knew, until now.
A magnificent tribute to the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and a celebration of the British royal family. This book is a stunning visual guide to the world's most famous royals, from the Queen's Norman predecessors to her great-grandchildren. It features events such as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and profiles on key people such as Princess Diana and Prince Harry. This new edition is revised to include the most recent events and milestones, such as the retirement of the Duke of Edinburgh, the birth of Charlotte, Louis, Archie, and other new family members, Harry and Meghan's wedding, and their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family. Including rare, restricted, and exclusive photos, this book examines the Queen's life in detail from her childhood to today, but also goes back through more than 1,000 years of history to tell the story of the House of Windsor and the entire succession of kings and queens of England and Scotland. With dazzling galleries of royal artefacts and photographic tours of sumptuous royal residences, this is the perfect book for fans of the Queen and royal family, fans of the Netflix series The Crown, or anyone interested in the history of the British monarchy.
William Shawcross's official biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, published in September 2009, was a huge critical and commercial success.One of the great revelations of the book was Queen Elizabeth's insightful, witty private correspondence. Indeed, The Sunday Times described her letters as "wonderful . . . brimful of liveliness and irreverence, steeliness and sweetness." Now, in Counting One's Blessings, Shawcross has put together a selection of her letters, drawing on the vast wealth of material in the Royal Archives and at Glamis Castle. Queen Elizabeth was a prolific correspondent, from her early childhood before World War I to the very end of her long life at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and her letters offer readers a vivid insight into the real person behind the public face.
Relates the story of an elephant seal named Elizabeth that was transferred from the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, to the ocean, but found her way back to the city.
"In this drama we see Elizabeth and Essex, a royal favorite and popular general, in love. He is barely thirty and Elizabeth is an aging woman; their love is an extraordinary paradox. Elizabeth delights in Essex the courtier and lover, but is jealous of Essex the military leader and hero. Her constant effort is to keep him quietly at Court under her control. Essex, the last of a proud family, loves the queen but longs for action, glory, and power. He longs to over throw Elizabeth's crafty, cautious statesmanship with his own heroic endeavors. Cecil and Raleigh plot to send Essex to Ireland, juggle him out of favor, and insultingly summon him home. He arrives with an army and the situation is resolved with extraordinary poignancy and power."--Publisher's description
