Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on August 4th, 1900. It might reasonably have been expected that she would live a life of ease and privilege but few could have imagined the profound effect she would have on Britain and its people.

Queen Elizabeth's long life spanned the whole of the twentieth century. She first came to prominence after the announcement of her engagement to Prince Albert and she brought a sense of ease and informality to the Royal Family, both privately and in public. Becoming Queen Consort in 1936, after the crisis of Edward VIII's abdication, she was unstinting in her support of her husband, now King George VI, and would continue to be so throughout the turbulent years ahead. Indeed, during the Second World War, Queen Elizabeth, the King and the Princesses came to embody Britain's resistance against her enemies.

But her greatest challenge was to come.

In 1952, George VI died, leaving Queen Elizabeth a widow at only fifty-one. And through her support of him is often noted, his of her is often overlooked. She was devastated but, true to her nature, determined to carve out a new role for herself as Queen Mother, which she did… for the next fifty years.

Written with complete access to the Queen Mother's personal letters and diaries, William Shawcross' riveting biography is the truly definitive account of this remarkable woman, whose life spanned the twentieth century.

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August 1900. Drawing on her private correspondence and other unpublished material from the Royal Archives, William Shawcross vividly reveals the witty girl who endeared herself to soldiers convalescing at Glamis in the First World War; the assured young Duchess of York; the Queen, at last feeling able to look the East End in the face at the height of the Blitz; the Queen Mother, representing the nation at home and abroad throughout her long widowhood.

William Shawcross is a widely renowned writer and broadcaster. His articles have appeared in the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph (UK), the Washington Post and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is the author of four previous books, and he has written and presented two BBC television series' on the changing face of monarchy.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Pan Macmillian Australia
Author: William Shawcross
ISBN: 9780330434300
Price: $26.90