Customer Reviews

The Queen Mother: The Official Biography

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Its important to understand that William Shawcross has written an authorized or official biography of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. That means, as Shawcross states in his Introduction, that he was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to write her mother's life. Shawcross was given access to the Royal Archives and other private collections as well as tape recorded reminiscences made by the Queen Mother herself in her final years. He also interviewed hundreds of former servants and friends. In the Introduction, Shawcross emphasizes that he was given "absolute freedom to write as I wished." There is no doubt in my mind that The Queen and Royal Family did indeed allow him to write freely, knowing that he would craft a truthful but respectful chronicle. This is by way of saying that one should not read this work expecting sensational gossip or shocking "revelations". Others have written about such things, and no doubt many more will be written in coming years. This book portrays the Queen Mother much as she herself would wish to be portrayed.

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born in August, 1900, the daughter of a wealthy family of Scots and English nobility. The ninth of ten children, she had a happy childhood unburdened by too much education, did nursing in World War I, and eventually made her debut with the prospect of making a brilliant match. She attracted one of the most brilliant names available, Prince Albert Duke of York, second son of King George V. After refusing him several times she agreed to marry him in 1923. She became an early royal superstar, beloved by the British for her charm and good humor. Her awkward, stammering husband gained new confidence with her help, and when his older brother abdicated in 1936, he was able, with the support of his wife, to ascend the throne and perform admirably as King George VI through World War II. After the King's death in 1952 the Queen Mother lived another fifty years, becoming an ever more greatly beloved matriarch with her bright smile, sparkling jewels, and elegant and befeathered wardrobe.

Shawcross does an admirable job detailing the Queen Mother's life, producing a detailed, almost day to day chronicle. In so doing he also provides a fairly good political history of Britain during the twentieth century albeit through the eyes of a woman whose upper class antecedents and milieu hardly made her sympathetic to many of the social reforms enacted during her lifetime. Her personal relationships with her husband, daughters, and grandchildren are also well but respectfully covered.

This is a well written biography with impeccable scholarship. If it does not satisfy the appetites of those who wish only to read scandal, it nevertheless will please those who remember the Queen Mother as a strong personality who helped guide her country and her family through some of their greatest and darkest hours.

I was very excited to see this book come out, because there hasn't been a recent book on the Queen Mother. Mr. Shawcross' work is indeed comprehensive, filled with detail and quite well researched. That said, however, it wasn't an enjoyable read. It was almost sterile in its portrayal of a remarkable woman who lived an entire century, almost like reading a pedantic Victorian diary. Yes, she was noble, yes, she had great dignity and preserved the integrity of the British monarchy, but that said, it was tiresome. She's portrayed as a noble saint (was there no one, save the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who disliked her?) who does no wrong. It's almost as if Mr. Shawcross, who was given extensive access to the palace resources, was afraid of offending her daughter (the present Queen). I've read references to the Queen Mother in other royal books, some not so flattering accounts, including her denials that she ever refused Bertie's proposal, and she comes across to me in this book as disingenuous and remote. I wasn't looking for any kind of scandal or even anything NEW about her, but the account was dry and in the end unsatisfying. I wanted to like this book, but it just seemed to me a waste of time when I was finished with it.

How can a book so carefully compiled, so exhaustively footnoted, so completely researched be lacking? One expects an official biography to present a carefully shaded version of a life, the problem with TQM:TOB is that there is no shading at all. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon is never reflected against her peers, she exists in a bubble of her own life without much to contrast her with. While the resurfacing of the tennis courts is covered in exhaustive detail, the true information about who she was is detailed without being defined. Context is sketchy at best, with personalities left unrevealed. Just taking the section of her engagement to Prince Albert - he goes from interest in a married woman to a three year obsession with Elizabeth seemingly overnight. No other person in their lives had an opinion on this, it seems, except for glancing references to their parents being vexed over the push/pull dynamic between the two. A major suitor who would obviously be in competition is mentioned, but Elizabeth's view on him is silent. When she writes that she never thought she would say yes the reader has no idea to what she is referring. Did she think she would never marry at all? (She does state she thinks marriage is a sad day) That she would never marry Albert? What has changed her mind? Why did it need changing?

Biography, at it's strongest, lets you feel as though you have glimpsed into the heart of a person. An interested reader will study original papers (of course) and peruse many books on the same subject for a variety of perspectives on the historical figure in question. The frustrating thing about TQM:TOB is that is reads more like a compilation of source material than a portrait of a life. Elizabeth is capable. Elizabeth is sickly. Elizabeth is beloved. Elizabeth is bereaved. Elizabeth is many things, but she is never defined. She never steps out from under the crown to reveal what is unique about her person. Perhaps the fault lies in this reader - with such a wealth of source material the answers may all be contained in the book. And yet on simple questions, her voice is silent. And without context or conjecture, Mr Shawcross is silent as well. This is an exceptionally detailed book, worth reading, but not a particularly rewarding one.

First off I need to tell you that I LOVE the woman - The Queen Mother! I wish I could say the same about this book. It is by far one of the most tedious books I have ever picked up. I, like Agatha the previous reviewer, found myself skipping entire sections of the book only to find I had not gone but a few years further into the story of her life and not missed a beat. Other parts of the book were surprisingly slim as to the importance of the matter being discussed. The author actually spent numerous pages on the 'controversy' of whether she was born in London or St Paul's Walden Bury(!).
The Author obviously intended this book to be the definitive Biography of a great woman but I'm sure her life was more interesting than he has portrayed. Too much attention and details, details, and even more details were given to the history of the world during her life than to her life itself. It would have been fun to get some juicy tidbits here and there but none were forthcoming. I so hoped to read what she really thought of the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Diana. Only one full page was devoted to the car crash that killed the Princess of Wales with an almost laughable emphasis that a "Drunken driver caused the crash". We all know Princess Margaret was a thorn in her mother's side at times and unfortunately nothing enlightening was given us as to their rocky relationship.
Also, surprising was the three paragraphs devoted to The Queen Mother's colon cancer (!). She obviously did not want any mention of the colostomy she HAD to have received in order to heal from the surgery. The author says she did not have one even temporarily. No mention was made of the letter she wrote to the World Ostomy Association in 1968 either. Many other things left out or thrown out by Prince Charles and QE2 as they were given advance copies to edit as they chose. Shades of Princess Beatrice throwing her mother Queen Victoria's letters and portions of her diaries into the fire.
I was anxiously looking forward to the date of release for this book after hearing that The Queen Mother had sat down, with tape recorder in hand, over the years to get the story right when it would be written.

This book was exhaustively researched and it is quite obvious. It will be considered a gem for historians years from now due to the listing of dates and daily activities (ad nauseum) but for the average reader it is quite boring.
Such a disappointment to read but it will be a valuable reference tool if I ever get caught in a game of Trivial Pursuit...

This book is well researched and well written. It is over 900 pages in length. It is also filled with footnotes that once you read them adds little to the content of the book.

There is really nothing new in this book. If you, like me, are a student of The Queen Mother's life and times it is really just the retelling of the same old story.

The photos are good and some of them have not been seen before.

If true be told the book is a tad too long! I found myself skipping pages that I found very uninteresting.

I did enjoy when Princess Elizabeth wrote to her mother and encouraged both her parents to stop using "We Four". She pointed out to them they now had a son-in-law and he needed to be included in the family unit!

Biography is good, although too long considering the amount of writing already in existence about the QM. Her personal thoughts and feelings as expressed through her letters are nice to read, but they seem to run together after a few chapters. I haven't learned much that I didn't already know about the QM from this work.

Eventhough with the majority of biographies you always know the ending, I still cried a little at William Shawcross's description of the Queen Mother's funeral in the final pages of his fascinating book on her life.

I am British and have lived in the US for 10 years. When the Queen Mother died in 2002 I was already here and paid little attention to what was going on back home at the time, only now realizing that both she and her younger daughter died within weeks of each other. What I had also never realized (given that she was already in her late 60's when I was born) was how much she did during the first and especially the second world wars to motivate, inspire and generally cheer up the people around her. Mr. Shawcross's description of the King and Queen during WWII gave me a far better understanding of that time than any lessons I took at school. This account also explained the relationship between Britain and the USA, the friendships between the King & Queen and the Roosevelts and the impetus that caused the USA to at last ally with Britain during WWII.

Also during this time, and until the King's death in 1952, the love story that was their marriage was a very rare thing to read about. His letters to her and hers to him, his wooing of her, her refusal of him and then the undying love, devotion and support that glued them together. This in itself gripped me and the description of the King's death again bought tears because you knew that she would not be able to cope without him. But she did (albeit with a deeply hidden sadness for her husband whom she remembered with a private mass every year on the anniversary of his death until she was too frail to go to chapel at the age of 101). For the next fifty years as the Queen Mother she remained a steadfast figure in British life fulfilling many national and international engagements supporting her regiments and charities along with official government and Royal duties. Her duty to her country and its people was paramount. Her dislike of change equally so but never expressed with unkindness. In some of her letters on life and religion she may have even been one of the very first "new agers" with her theories on what love really is, the use of homoeopathic medicine and life after death. She was a fascinating woman, filled with love, kindness, an unfailing sense of duty, stamina by the ton and an enjoyment of life, always remaining positive and willing to see the funny side of things which was to take her through almost 102 years.

William Shawcross's use of personal letters and interviews with those who knew and loved her and whom she loved in return gives the reader of this book a profound sense of who Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon really was, who she became and the legacy she leaves behind. It is a beautifully written tribute to a truly remarkable lady.

First off I need to tell you that I LOVE the woman - The Queen Mother! I wish I could say the same about this book. It is by far one of the most tedious books I have ever picked up. I, like Agatha the previous reviewer, found myself skipping entire sections of the book only to find I had not gone but a few years further into the story of her life and not missed a beat. Other parts of the book were surprisingly slim as to the importance of the matter being discussed. The author actually spent numerous pages on the 'controversy' of whether she was born in London or St Paul's Walden Bury(!).
The Author obviously intended this book to be the definitive Biography of a great woman but I'm sure her life was more interesting than he has portrayed. Too much attention and details, details, and even more details were given to the history of the world during her life than to her life itself. It would have been fun to get some juicy tidbits here and there but none were forthcoming. I so hoped to read what she really thought of the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Diana. Only one full page was devoted to the car crash that killed the Princess of Wales with an almost laughable emphasis that a "Drunken driver caused the crash". We all know Princess Margaret was a thorn in her mother's side at times and unfortunately nothing enlightening was given us as to their rocky relationship.
Also, surprising was the three paragraphs devoted to The Queen Mother's colon cancer (!). She obviously did not want any mention of the colostomy she HAD to have received in order to heal from the surgery. The author says she did not have one even temporarily. No mention was made of the letter she wrote to the World Ostomy Association in 1968 either. Many other things left out or thrown out by Prince Charles and QE2 as they were given advance copies to edit as they chose. Shades of Princess Beatrice throwing her mother Queen Victoria's letters and portions of her diaries into the fire.
I was anxiously looking forward to the date of release for this book after hearing that The Queen Mother had sat down, with tape recorder in hand, over the years to get the story right when it would be written.

This book was exhaustively researched and it is quite obvious. It will be considered a gem for historians years from now due to the listing of dates and daily activities (ad nauseum) but for the average reader it is quite boring.
Such a disappointment to read but it will be a valuable reference tool if I ever get caught in a game of Trivial Pursuit...

Seldom is a book so well written and holding interest from page 1. This one is. The 100 years she lived is a life filled with happiness. Her family raised her with warmth and love and it permeates the life she lived. Great history of the times witten in such a readable manner.

Parts of THE QUEEN MOTHER were fascinating and insightful, particularly the account of her youth up to the time of her marriage and through the war years. Shawcross does a good job of showing how Great Britain was affected by WWII and its political aftermath. He also makes a strong point for the continuation of the Queen Mother's inclusion in the Civil Lists. However, the last fifty years of her life are a snore. One simply can't engage in lists of appearances, troopings of the colors and the rest of her official calendar and he is too in awe of his subject to offer insight into her widowhood or the woman she became. Beyond the death of the King, I learned nothing at all about the complicated puzzle that is the Royal Family and the English/European aristocracy. Frankly, I think future readers would be better off with Kitty Kelley on the subject.