Elizabeth, The Queen Mother

by Hugo Vickers

An authoritative and affectionate biography of the Late Queen Mother.

Harold Nicolson called her “the greatest Queen since Cleopatra,” while Cecil Beaton called her “a marshmallow made on a welding machine.” Stephen Tennant “She looked everything that she was gentle, gullible, tenderness mingled with dispassionate serenity, cool, well-bred, remote. Behind this veil she schemed and vacillated, hard as nails.” Who was she?

The Queen Mother’s story has not yet been properly told. This was partly due to her long life, and the difficulty that always exists when a biography of a living person is attempted, partly because she was a queen — and the real person gets hidden behind the perceived image — and partly because she is hard to pin down. From her privileged aristocratic childhood, to the abdication and the problems with Diana, this book questions how she faced her challenges and crises, assesses her role, how powerful she was, and how she coped. This is a candid, personal portrait of one of Britain’s most loved national treasures

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Royalty

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Hugo Vickers is a writer and broadcaster, who has written biographies of many twentieth century figures, including the Queen Mother, Gladys, Duchess of Marlborough, Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh, a study of Greta Garbo, Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece, and his book, The Private World of The Duke and Duchess of Windsor was illustrated with pictures from their own collection. Mr Vickers’s book, The Kiss: The Story of an Obsession won the 1996 Stern Silver Pen Award for Non-Fiction.

Reviews

[Timothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What should have been a fascinating, easy read soon became a chore. Far too many footnotes, irrelevant detail (it seems the author felt obliged to provide extensive background information on everyone who came within a yard of QEQM and gleefully relished the opportunity to regurgitate decades old gossip) and utilises a timeline which, as Doctor Who would say, is "wibbly wobbly". Jumping backwards and forth through time isn't normally a problem but as royal titles are inherited and interchange it can irritate. Often I had to check the exhausting family tree at the back to see which Princess Royal he was talking about. Queen Mary also rises from the grave a couple of times. Terrifying.

I learnt precious little about Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and far too much about other, minor members of the aristocracy. Shame.

[Guusje · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chapter on Marion Crawford and her book was interesting, the rest of the book was TMI - the author went into great detail who married who, who attended the party and at times the book read like a rehash of the Queen's Engagement Diary. There was so much detail that I found myself doing a great deal of skimming and losing the thread of the story among all the name dropping.

It's a bit like reading a 400 page People magazine article.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hugo Vickers's "Elizabeth, The Queen Mother" is a well-written biography of one of the more intriguing figures of the twentieth-century. It is well-researched and doesn't veer much into hagiography. Much of the book, particularly the portions about her childhood, marriage, and the abdication of Edward VIII is well-trodden ground. Here Vickers doesn't uncover much that is new. He gets better and more original in the post-1952 portion. Vickers isn't afraid to point out the Queen Mother's foibles and human weaknesses, of which there were many. He also effectively makes the case about the important role that Elizabeth played in supporting her husband, her devotion to duty for more than 65 years, and the stability she provided in the Royal Family. Unfortunately, the book only scratches the surface about Elizabeth's relationships with her daughter (the Queen), Prince Philip, and her grandchildren. The worst parts of the book are lengthy lists of friends and staff, most of whom are from the nobility. Reading these rather useless lists of names is tedious. That said, the biography overall was enjoyable, although I would only recommend for those who are students of the Royal Family.

[Piper Winchester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nicely written and detailed.
The pictures are also nice and it was nice to see photos taken from the author and his family of The Queen Mother.
She was a remarkable woman. Didn't go down without a fight.

[Matthew Buckley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hugo Vickers stays just on the right side of the line between biography and hagiography in his book - but only by a whisker. It is a fact-dense, meticulous and highly structured look in to the life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. What is interesting to me about the book is that the first half is a very flattering portrait indeed (flattering perhaps by omission, rather than any attempt to airbrush or create opacity). However in the book’s second half (and the latter years of her life), in his scrutiny he seems less wary of directing criticism towards his subject, and consequently the book becomes much more engaging and honest.

These critical glances become quite delicious and they reveal a far more complex character in Queen Elizabeth than the sugary, even saccharine, creation wrought from the pen of more sycophantic biographers. Biographers who would have had us believe that the Queen Mother never entertained dark thoughts such as self-promotion, falseness or self-interest. What we seen, then, in her later years, is a much more brittle and canny woman who was eminently aware of the power she could wield in order to get exactly what she wanted, when she wanted. Vickers alludes to the phrase “the steel hand in the velvet glove” and this is a very good metaphor for how she conducted herself - able to turn the screws whilst smiling her winsome smile. He addresses this iron in her spine very well, by lightly touching on it.

This is one of the best royal biographies I’ve read. Were it the case that I was judging the book only when placed next to other royal biographies I would have scored it a four, or, even possibly, a five. I’m scoring it a three simply because when placed in a biographical canon I’ve read even more engaging books. But all told, Vickers does a wonderful and complete service to the Queen Mother’s life.

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most remarkable women to have ever been Queen Consort. Far smarter than anyone thought she looked, tough as nails, she was precisely the right woman in the right place when her husband became King George VI. Hitler called her the most dangerous woman in Europe. It's pretty clear to see that England's current Queen inherited a lot of her mother's steely determination and smarts.

[Teresa Vines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed, another reread.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really amazing life - the times she lived through! She was very sympbolically important during the Second World War and a motherly figure to the British people for many decades. But, I can't say it was a good book. The author seemed to be really impressed by titles, awards and who people's great-great-grandfather's were. I know that's inherent to any royal biography, but he was obsessed. It left the impression that the Queen Mother liked to have superficial interactoins with the common people in public, but in private really was herself only with "her kind" of people. No title - no friendship. Maybe it was true, but I couldn't wonder how much of this impression was just because of the author's own bias.

[LaDawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense. Packed with every detail you could ever wish or need to know about the most incredible royal consort who always happened to be the most of them all given her incredible family tree. She was the picture of stiff upper lip but laced with Scottish grace and warmth. I loved this book and whilst some of the names sailed right over my head I was thrilled to see everything included. Even if you are not a royalist, I bet you'll find this a fascinating read.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Queen...

[Riann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only could read less than half this book before I had to put it down. This book reads like a report with nothing really to liven it up. It's uninteresting the way it is written. I wouldn't recommend this book at all.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far to difficult to read. Put it down so many times to read other books I finally had to force myself to finish it. I am without a doubt a true monarchist and was really looking forward to this book. Very disappointed. Gave it away so it no longer remains on my bookshelves.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book !!!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, and look into the 20th century in England. I think perhaps I'm done with this time period for a while...

[Dmknoell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible sweep of history! OMG did they really drink that much ALL the time?! The Queen Mum is painted as a saint, which feels a little fake, but this was a terrific read anyway.

[Migidis Thanasis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting Story!!