Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait

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Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait" is a biography of the late queen from the perspective of someone who interacted with her and her family frequently.

To Gyles’ merit, the comparisons of former members of the Royal family (David and Wallis, Meghan and Harry) provided new and interesting food for thought. I particularly enjoyed reading about HM’s interest in the Commonwealth. He kept a record of all those encounters, and his conversations with the Queen over the years, his meetings with her family and friends, and his observations of her at close quarters are what make this very personal account of her extraordinary life uniquely fascinating. Brilliant, totally inspiring . . . It's a joy to read a book that comes from a perspective of fondness' KIRSTIE ALLSOPP, THE TIMES This being an “intimate portrait”, most readers will enjoy that the author has impeccable access, as he recounts (mostly trivial) conversations he had with the Queen. He is admiring of his subject, even when remembering a discussion with the monarch at a drinks party in 1990, in which his small talk led her to comment that being a vegetarian, like his wife, “must be very dull”.Gyles Brandreth is one of Britain’s busiest after-dinner speakers and award ceremony hosts. He has won awards himself, and been nominated for awards, as a public speaker, novelist, children’s writer, broadcaster (Sony), political diarist (Channel Four), journalist (British Press Awards), theatre producer (Olivier), and businessman (British Tourist Authority Come to Britain Trophy). As a performer, Gyles Brandreth has been seen most recently in ZIPP! ONE HUNDRED MUSICALS FOR LESS THAN THE PRICE OF ONE at the Duchess Theatre and on tour throughout the UK, and as Malvolio and the Sea Captain in TWELFTH NIGHT THE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Delighted to welcome Meghan into the family, “the only concern the Queen let slip in the early days of the Sussexes’ marriage was to wonder to a friend if Harry wasn’t ‘perhaps a little over in love’”, according to Brandreth. She liked Meghan and told her: “You can carry on being an actress if you like – that’s your profession, after all.” She was more concerned about Harry’s wellbeing than “this television nonsense”, as she referred to the Oprah Winfrey interview and the Sussexes’ Netflix deal, he claimed. When Andrew “was harrumphing about Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey on American television in 2020, the Queen chipped in gently: ‘Didn’t Sarah [Andrew’s ex-wife] do something similar?’” he wrote. On the Duke of York This intimate, personal biography of Queen Elizabeth II tells the story of her remarkable life, reign and times, from a perspective unlike any other. Gyles Brandreth writes the Queen's tale candidly with grace and sensitivity from the view of someone who met her, talked with her and kept a record of those conversations. Brandreth knew the Queen's husband well and knows the new King and Queen Consort. Andrew told his mother the whole story of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “The first time he gave her the full account of the whole sorry saga, she listened carefully. Then the Queen, who never said more than was necessary, responded with just one word: ‘Intriguing,’” Brandreth wrote. She retained her “confidence” in Andrew, yet had no hesitation in stripping him of his role after the disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019. She allowed herself to be photographed riding with Andrew in Windsor Great Park the day after she relieved him of his royal duties to show her personal support, and was in favour of his appearance at her side at Philip’s memorial service. Grieving Philip Beautifully written book. I have read many other books about Philip but this is the best' DAILY EXPRESS

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Watching television dramas such as Line of Duty helped to “keep her spirits up”. But she sometimes struggled to keep up with the plot and disliked the constant “mumbling” on it and other programmes. Her master of the household, Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, told Brandreth: “My principal duty with HM has been to keep her spirits up – so I’ve been watching Line of Duty with her – I’m ‘the Explainer’. It’s very funny.” She told Brandreth she sometimes struggled to understand the plots and dialogue of the police drama. “It keeps me in touch – when I can understand what’s being said. There’s an awful lot of mumbling on television now. It’s not my hearing,” she told him. Her humour Nobody, other than the Queen’s family, knew her intimately. Therefore, there are bound to be limitations when it comes to any books written about her. What Brandreth does in this book is discuss how other people’s descriptions of the Queen and their experiences spent in her company tally with his own. That is interesting, I only wish there was more of it. But, as I say, she was immensely private - who could blame her - and so there isn’t a whole heap to go on. So readable and refreshing even after the millions of words that have been written about Prince Philip in the past couple of weeks' THE TIMES From her childhood in the 1920s to the era of Harry and Meghan in the 2020s, from her war years at Windsor Castle to her death at Balmoral, this is both a record of a tumultuous century of royal history and a truly intimate portrait of a remarkable woman.