Queen of Our Times - The Life of Elizabeth II

The definitive new biography of Her Majesty the Queen by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities. With original insights from family, friends and staff, new interviews with world leaders, new photographs and papers, including diaries and letters from the Royal Archives, bestselling author Robert Hardman explores the full, astonishing life of our longest-reigning monarch in this compelling authoritative yet intimate biography. Elizabeth II was not born to be a queen. Yet from her accession as a young mother of two in 1952 to the era of Covid-19, she has proved an astute, pragmatic and quietly determined stateswoman, leading her people through seventy years of unprecedented social change. She has faced constitutional crises, confronted threats against her life, rescued the Commonwealth, charmed (and chastened) fellow heads of state, been criticized as well as feted by the media, and steered her family through the turbulence of life in the public eye. Queen of Our Times is a must-read study of dynastic survival and renewal, spanning abdication, war, romance, danger, tragedy and triumph. It is an enthralling portrait of a leader who remains as intriguing today as the day she came to the throne aged twenty-five.