The Sun: The Queen Mum: The Queen Mum - Her First Hundred Years - Hardcover

Rae, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007103840 ISBN 13: 9780007103843

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

As she approaches her 100th birthday, the Sun Book of the Queen Mum takes a lively and affectionate look at the life and times of the best-loved of all Britain’s royals. The book’ s authors have, between them, over 40 years experience covering her achievements.

From her birth in Scotland at the dawn of the last century, through her roles as Queen, mother and finally royal great grand-mother, the Queen Mum has experienced all the dramas both of her own family and of the country at large. The Sun Book of the Queen Mum follows all the key moments of this extraordinary life. She was catapulted from the quiet confines of her domestic circle by her marriage to the Duke of York. Her husband’s unexpected elevation to the crown in 1936 following the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII caused her to become the cornerstone of the monarchy. Cutting a surprisingly modern figure at variance with her later image of genial conservatism, the Queen Mum was almost the ‘Princess Di’ of her day. A tower of strength for the nation through the Second World War, she overcame the sorrow of the death of her husband to carve a new role as, simply, the Queen Mum. Through all the changes which have occurred around her, she has become a tireless and unchanging emblem of all that is most cherished about the Royal Family.

With striking images of the her early life and unique photography by the Sun’s Arthur Edwards of the Queen Mum over the past 30 years, the Sun Book of the Queen Mum is a rich visual tribute to the royal matriarch. The text, by Sun royal reporter Charles Rae, reveals the Queen Mother in all her strength, warmth, dignity and humour.

About this title

Product Description:

144 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout. A Unique Account Of Britain's Most Loved Royal. Photographs By Arthur Edwards, Royal Photographer For The Sun

Review:

This proudly populist book written by two Sun journalists promises to lift the veil of mystery surrounding Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Ultimately, this promise is not fulfilled--the Queen Mum has never done an interview since she received a stern ticking-off for giving a brief and innocent interview to a newspaper around the time of her engagement. But the fun in this celebration of her life is that there is plenty in the public domain to enthral and delight those familiar with the facts of her dedication to Royal duty and the anecdotes of her famous wit, as well as much to intrigue those to whom she has always been an elegant gran beneficently beaming on television. Those in the latter group cannot fail to view her in a new light at reading Hitler's opinion of her being "the most dangerous woman in Europe".

Perhaps to give the turnarounds of her dramatic life a point of reference to our more recent experiences of the Royal family, several shadows are thrown against the image of the Queen Elizabeth and her relationship to her husband, King George VI: namely their contemporaries the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and the more recent figures of Prince Charles, Princess Diana (whose common touch she shared), and Camilla Parker-Bowles. The relationship between the Queen and Wallis Simpson was famously cold: Elizabeth never forgave Wallis for being the cause of Edward VIII's abdication and blamed her for the early death of her beloved husband who was devastated by the pressures of a crown he never expected. Elizabeth's repulsion at the behaviour of her favourite grandson and his wife is also a worthy subject for coverage, telling us as it does so much about the huge shift in mutual attitudes between the media and a new generation of royals, as well as changes in our society. Less intriguing perhaps is the labouring of tenuous comparisons and trivialities that tend to uselessly encumber a narrative of a life fascinating enough without them. The jewels in the crown though are undoubtedly the photographs recording a life spent in the service of her country and her family. The Sun: The Queen Mum will not be the only book published to celebrate her 100 years, but is a great addition to your collection next to the mugs, plates and specially minted coins. But this is one old lady who's worth every penny.--Christine Buttery

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0007103840
• ISBN 13: 9780007103843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Edwards Arthur