Philip and Elizabeth [Hardcover]

Gyles Brandreth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2004

This is the story of two unusual people - both intelligent, both determined, but otherwise with very different natures - both royal from birth, but with wildly different upbringings - who have led quite extraordinary lives. It will be the story of those lives, of their relationship, of their attitude to one another, to their children, to the curios lot fate has thrown their way. It will be part history - part psychology - part drama and romance. Gyles Brandreth has spent many hours with Prince Philip - breakfast, lunch, dinner, trains, planes, cars - and talked to him, at length, on the record and off, in his study at Buckingham Palace. For his eightieth birthday celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall, he worked with him on his 'official biography', published privately, so that he knows precisely how he sees his story. He has talked with Philip about his role, his childhood, his parents, his sisters, his relationship with The Queen and his children and his children-in-law. He has also recently spent a lot of time with the Queen and Prince Philip together, and can write about them and the way they are together with unique familiarity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Princess Elizabeth fell for Prince Philip in 1939, when she was 13 and he, 18. But though Philip was a direct descendent of Queen Victoria, some at court thought him an unsuitable match. But as longtime royal acquaintance Brandreth shows, Philip has been the perfect mate: dutiful, loyal, hard-working and deeply respectful. As Brandreth makes clear, the marriage has succeeded not only because Philip loves his wife, but because he understands the nature of royal life. Social and outgoing, Philip balances the queen's reserve. He's also likely the only person who has ever threatened her and gotten away with it: Brandreth relates how Philip grew so fed up with his wife's wordless but potent backseat driving that he told her to stop or he'd put her out of the car. She stopped. Brandreth goes to great and mostly convincing lengths to disprove rumors of the Prince's extramarital affairs and the queen's tendency to lavish more affection on her corgis and horses than on her family. But the biggest surprise here is the portrayal of the royal couple as typical married folks: the prince thinks the queen spends too much time on the telephone, and she has no qualms about telling him to shut up. 40 pages of illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

Thoughtful and outrageous . . . chirpy, energetic. . . . Intrusive, sympathetic, wholly original, often hilarious . . . unfailingly interesting. (Mail on Sunday ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Century Hutchinson (September 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0712661034
• ISBN-13: 978-0712661034
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,195,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Revealing look at the House of Windsor., December 12, 2005

By 

Rebecca Huston "telynor" (On the Banks of the Hudson) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage (Hardcover)

When I started this book, I thought that it was going to be yet another listing of scandals, rumors, and other tattletale journalism. Instead, what I got was a sensitive, objective look at England's Queen Elizabeth II and her consort, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. While the author takes the traditional approach -- reviewing the couple's separate childhoods, and their married life together -- he does what many biographers don't do. He went to the sources to help dispell some of the rumors that surround the more private aspects of this royal marriage. For years I had thought that the Duke was a handsome, rather decorative, ram-his-foot-in-his-mouth, inbred idiot. What I discovered was a tough, honorable man who has grown up in desperate situations (exiled from his country of birth, watching hs mother suffer from mental illness, the breakup of his parent's marriage, service under combat in WWII, and being the source of wild rumors) who took the route of being a stoic, and knowing that he was going to be the lesser member of a very public relationship. While most of the book focuses on Philip, there are also some insights into the Queen's own psyche and life, and this makes for one of the best biographies on modern monarchy that I've read in a long, long time. Definately recommended and a real eye opener for anyone wanting to see the reality rather than salacious gossip.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Informal And Positive Conversation About The Windsors, February 20, 2006

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage (Hardcover)

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.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Royal Book?, June 6, 2006

By 

Judith Noone (Rome, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage (Hardcover)

Having read a lot of books about the royals, I didn't know if I wanted to read another. I'm very glad I read this one. Enjoyed how it was written. Very witty remarks, a lot of them in parenthesis. Having the book notes at the bottom of the various pages was a great help. One can't help but read them. There was alot of info that I had read before, but Mr Brandreth gave a more balanced view. It was a fun read!