First published 2012
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lived 101 years and became one of history's most beloved royals. The public knew her as the charming woman with pastel hats who supported King George VI through his struggles with stuttering. Wallis Simpson called her charm legendary. The world saw her as a devoted wife and smiling grandmother when she died in 2002. Colin Campbell uncovers a different story. He draws on sources within the Royal Family, aristocrats, and Elizabeth's own friends and relatives to expose what really happened behind palace doors. The official version of her life, carefully crafted since she joined the royal family in 1923, hides more complex truths. Campbell traces her journey from her early royal years through decades of public service, revealing the woman beneath the carefully maintained image. The Queen Mother who emerges is more fascinating and human than the sanitized figure the public thought they knew.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: United Kingdom, Royal Family
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
512 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press