Robert Hardman - Queen of Our Times : The Life of Queen Elizabeth II

The Life of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen of Our Times

A truly exceptional biography of an equally exceptional monarch.

Andrew Roberts

Queen of the World

Our Queen

Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work

QUEEN OF OUR TIMES

Pegasus Books, Ltd.

148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor

New York, NY 10018

Copyright 2022 by Robert Hardman

First Pegasus Books cloth edition April 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.

Author Photo: The Daily Mail

Cover Photo: Bridgeman Images

Cover Design: Faceout Studio, Amanda Hudson

ISBN: 978-1-64313-909-8

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-64313-910-4

Distributed by Simon & Schuster

www.pegasusbooks.com

To Hugo, Harriet and Victoria

By any measure of modern public life, seven decades of unbroken leadership is hard to comprehend. A study of any remotely comparable statesman or stateswoman would usually wait until the conclusion of a distinguished life and career. The reign of Elizabeth II remains a constant work in progress. In her tenth decade she has faced, and continues to face, some of the greatest challenges since she came to the throne seventy years ago. At the same time, she sets new records and her people begin to wonder what follows platinum on the jubilee colour chart. As former colleagues and contemporaries, many of them now long gone, start to feature in the history curriculum, she is still looking to the future.

Given the span of her achievement, the only way to put it all in context to appreciate it as future historians will come to appreciate it is to go back to the very start. In doing so, I have written an entirely fresh portrait not just of her reign but of her life. I have not sought to revise previous studies of the Queen and of the monarchy. With new material and insights throughout, including unpublished papers from the Royal Archives, this book begins from scratch.

I have talked to those who know the Queen now and those who knew her then (some of them going back to her days as a Princess). In several instances, I have returned to those who kindly spoke to me for previous books. In the case of those whom I can no longer ask, then I have reviewed past conversations and interviews. It has been particularly enjoyable and instructive to revisit my many encounters with the late Duke of Edinburgh, a reminder of his monu-mental contribution to this extraordinary story.

The Queen is the most famous and familiar figure in our national life and arguably in international life too; her face is among the most reproduced images in history. There is just one significant royal record which, at the time of writing, is not hers. That is due to change soon enough. In May 2024, she will have overtaken both King Bhumibol of Thailand and Frances boy king, Louis XIV, to become historys longest-reigning sovereign. Yet she has no interest in fame. Moreover, after all these years of familiarity, we are still left asking the question: What is she really like? It is the great paradox of Elizabeth II and it has served her well. This book, I hope, provides fresh answers.

Only those now beyond the age of seventy can remember another monarch. Most of us have known no other. I have been chronicling current affairs and royalty for three decades. Yet, that represents less than half of the Queens reign and only a fraction of her life. Her story informs our story. She has been a backdrop to all our lives. It is why, regardless of our views on monarchy in the modern world, she is indisputably the Queen of our times.

She doesnt take herself too seriously

Even for a Nobel Prize-winning leader of the free world, this had been one of the great nights of his life. Back in his suite at Buckingham Palace, Barack Obama simply wanted to savour the moment. He had just been honoured with a state banquet given by Queen Elizabeth II. It wasnt the Midas-like display of George IVs gold and silver tableware collection or the quality of the chzeaux Grand Cru 1990 Romane-Conti which had made this such an exceptional occasion. It was the rapport he had formed with a host who could talk with such authority about so many of his predecessors. Obama had been enjoying himself so much that the Queen had eventually taken the chancellor of the Exchequer to one side to ask if he might, very discreetly, let the president know that it was bedtime. I just said: Yes, Maam, George Osborne recalls. I could see Obama with a drink in hand, and I was thinking: What do I do? I couldnt just interrupt and say: Oh, the Queen wants you to go to bed. Fortunately, he was saved by the Queens private secretary, who gently nudged proceedings to a close.

Still buzzing, the president summoned his two closest aides for a modest after-party in the Belgian Suite, where the Queen accommodates her state visitors. There was work to do. The following day, Obama would become the first US president in history to address both Houses of Parliament in the exalted setting of Westminster Hall. While the first lady was getting ready for bed in the Orleans bedroom, the president and his advisers sat in the sitting room, known as the Eighteenth-Century Room, adding some final touches to the big speech.

Obama wanted to offer a broad defence of Western values, his senior aide and chief speech-writer, Ben Rhodes, recorded afterwards, but first he like anyone who has just had dinner at Buckingham Palace wanted to talk about his evening.

Above all, the president wanted to talk about his host. I really love the Queen, Obama mused. Shes just like Toot, my grandmother. Courteous. Straightforward. All about what she thinks. She doesnt suffer fools.

At which point, there was an interruption. It was a Palace butler bringing news of an intruder. Mr President, pardon me, whispered the man in the tailcoat. Theres a mouse. Without blinking, the president replied: Dont tell the first lady. The butler assured him that all would be done to catch the unwanted guest. Just dont tell the first lady, Obama repeated. As Rhodes recalls: He didnt care, except for the fact that Michelle Obama was terrified of mice.

In fact, the mouse hunt only added to the sumptuously surreal atmosphere. Maybe it really is a dying empire, Rhodes suggested. Obama disagreed: No, theyve still got a lot going on. Did you see the bling on the Queen? As he surveyed the walls of the Eighteenth-Century Room, taking in Gainsboroughs Diana and Actaeon, a couple of Canalettos and Zoffanys portrait of Americas old foe, George III, the permanence of monarchy versus the fleeting nature of twenty-first-century politics started to sink in. Im just a few years away from being in the state senate, the president joked, and living in a condo.

Looking back, a decade later, Rhodes remembers another amusing detail from the Obamas stay at Buckingham Palace. It was the only presidential guest quarters the couple ever encountered anywhere in the world without an en-suite bathroom (there was just an Edwardian toilet in a compartment off the bedroom). Thanks to the antiquated layout of the palace, state visitors were expected to nip across the corridor to clean their teeth in a bathroom which, owing to its vintage, contained a bath but no shower. It didnt bother him, says Rhodes, but he said: Its kind of weird. Its over there!