Gyles Brandreth begins his book with the assurance that he knows and admires Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Ordinarily this would mean that the book will be more hagiography than biography: utterly reverent, careful to ignore any negative aspects of its subject, and completely useless. Fortunately, this is not the case with Philip and Elizabeth.
Brandreth writes to inform but also to entertain. He reveals the names of his informants (many of them cousins and/or other close friends of The Queen and Duke) and includes much of their interviews almost verbatim. This makes for a much more interesting read than the usual "those close to the palace maintain . . ." sort of thing. Brandreth also includes some of Prince Philip's own remarks and comments on the text (evidently The Duke read the manuscript well before publication), which adds an additional sparkle and means that this book is probably the closest we will ever get to an autobiography by The Prince himself.
Much of the book is standard biography, giving parallel lives of The Queen and The Duke before and after their marriage. The sections dealing with Prince Philip are the liveliest, since Brandreth had quite a bit of cooperation with his subject and also because The Prince has led a much more colorful and eventful life (war, revolution, etc.) than has The Queen. I've read quite a bit of twentieth century royal history, but Brandreth includes material, including some very funny anecdotes, that I've never seen before. The Queen, being far more reticent than her husband, doesn't seem to have read the manuscript or otherwise collaborated with Brandreth, so the chapters dealing specifically with her life don't sparkle quite as much, but they make worthwhile reading nevertheless. Much of the most interesting information is given in the footnotes. This enhances the feeling that the reader is having a conversation with Brandreth, and rather than interrupt the flow of the story the footnotes increase the pleasure.
Brandreth is particularly at pains to disprove the many unsavory rumors about Prince Philip's possible romantic affairs over the years. He does a good job of pointing out how obviously exagerrated and false some of the wilder stories are, but I can't help wondering whether Prince Philip's cousins, friends, and former servants/advisors were really as forthcoming about their knowledge of the Prince's activities as Brandreth claims they were. In the end, as Brandreth himself admits, there are still questions that only the Prince and The Queen themselves could answer completely. (Of course this applies to any married couple, and its unfortunate that interest in the lives of public figures extends so deeply into matters which are no one else's business.) The same thing applies to the various marital problems of the couple's four children, particularly those of The Prince of Wales and his late wife. Here Brandreth does a particularly good job of defending Princess Diana's in-laws against the many criticisms leveled against them by her supporters before and after her death.
As I mentioned above, the many new anecdotes Brandreth includes are among the chief pleasures of this book. Its also enjoyable that Brandreth makes himself a part of the story, mentioning when and where he first met various characters and poking fun at himself from time to time (I would so love to have been present to see Brandreth trying to flirt with The Queen and Princess Anne!)
Philip and Elizabeth will not please the Windsor-haters nor those who still idolize The Royal Family. Brandreth has given us a picture of a nice couple who have soldiered on through numerous public and private storms,dutiful to their country and loving and protective of each other. They've done their job with dignity and grace, and we are all the better for their labors. Gyles Brandreth's work helps us recognize that and feel duly appreciative.
