Queen
The Selected Letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Part 3
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- £0.99
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
‘Enchanting, often moving and sometimes hilarious’ –Daily Mail
Full of wit, hilarity, acute observation and a deeply held sense of duty, the Queen Mother’s letters give readers a vivid insight into the person behind the public face.
Edited by William Shawcross, Queen: Counting One's Blessings Part 3 reveals, in the Queen Mother's own words, the woman who brought a sense of ease and fun into the public and private lives of the Royal Family. We see her delight in her beloved daughters and her real anguish when she and her husband realized that he would become King because his brother Edward VIII was determined to abdicate. We read of her work during the Second World War, and her horror at the suffering it caused, her joy in the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth, and her grief at the tragically early death of the King in 1952.
‘The warm personality and humour of the late, much-loved Queen Mother shines through in her letters, as does her affection for all, whether below or above stairs’ – Scotsman
‘Recaptures her effervescent charm, and the simple fact that she was a good egg’ – Spectator
‘How one warms to her!’ – Evening Standard
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
On the eve of WWII, Queen Elizabeth, consort to King George VI, famously declared that she would not leave London: "The children could not go without me, I could not possibly leave the King, and the King would never go." Her stalwart devotion to family and country were why her country loved her, and form the most notable aspect of this collection of many of the letters she composed throughout her long life. (She died at 101 in 2002). Royal watchers will enjoy reading about the Windsors through the Queen Mother's comforting and intimate, although not revealing, voice, such as this observation about her scandal-plagued brother-in-law, the one-time King Edward VIII (David to the family): "David does not seem to possess the faculty for making others feel wanted." Insights into the Queen Mother's character include some surprising glimmers of humor and a deep compassion for the English people but are not enough to mitigate excessive length and the lack of a strong editorial hand. Shawcross covers this material more efficiently in his own biography of the Queen Mother.
