About the Book:

Queen Elizabeth II occupies a unique place in the hearts of her people, and in this major biography marking the Centenary of her birth, acclaimed royal historian Hugo Vickers sheds new light on the woman behind the greatest reign in British history. Based on six decades of close research into her life and reign, this master work contains not only archival research and close personal observation but many hours of conversation with those who knew and worked with The Queen.

After a supremely happy decade of early childhood, a certain gravitas descended with the death of her beloved grandfather, George V, and the Abdication of her uncle Edward VIII. As Vickers reveals in impeccable prose, she accepted her destiny and worked steadfastly to prepare for what was to come, dedicating her life to the service of the Commonwealth. On her twenty-first birthday in 1947, she made a promise to serve and kept it for a remarkable seventy-five years. She was steadfast and conciliatory and presided calmly over decades of change, political upheaval and family tragedy.

Described by the Financial Times as 'the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet', Vickers is completely at home in the world of Queen Elizabeth II. He has worked with members of her family on various projects and also met with members of her Household. He first met The Queen in 1968 and had his last conversation with her in June 2022. This is his most incisive book yet, decoding hidden patterns in our most iconic monarch's behaviour to illuminate her as never before.

About the Author: 

Hugo Vickers is a writer, lecturer and broadcaster and an acknowledged expert on the Royal Family, appearing regularly on television. He has written biographies of the Queen Mother, Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece; Gladys, Duchess of Marlborough (The Sphinx), Cecil Beaton, Vivien Leigh and others. He explored the Duchess of Windsor’s house when writing The Private World of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (1995). He collaborated with HRH The Duke of Kent on A Royal Life. His book, The Kiss, won the 1996 Stern Silver Pen for non-fiction.

Hugo Vickers lives between London and Wiltshire and has two sons and a daughter.