Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Told with a refreshing dose of humour and moving honesty from a totally unique viewpoint, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait is the must-have biography of the longest-serving monarch in English history, of a woman who has represented not only her people but stood as an emblem of fortitude and resilience worldwide, throughout her long life. This is Brandreth’s magical mystery tour, and he is a fine guide if you like your guides fully involved. A former Oxford Scholar, President of the Oxford Union and MP for the City of Chester, Gyles Brandreth’s career has ranged from being a Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major’s government to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London’s West End.

Lovely to read a new and detailed biography of the Queen; it would’ve been even better if the author wasn’t an old, snobbish tosser, constantly sneering about members of the royal family of whom he does not approve.When a crossbow-toting would-be assassin was arrested on the grounds at Sandringham in December 2021, the Queen had a deadpan reaction: “Well, that certainly would have put a damper on Christmas, wouldn’t it?

Her reaction to her health woes was that “she accepted this with all the good grace you’d expect”, Brandreth wrote. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. This is the first biography of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh - both royal, both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, but, in temperament and upbringing, two very different people. It feels as if you're sitting next to someone who is telling you stories from their own memories vs. With Susie Dent, the lexicographer from Countdown, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast, Something Rhymes with Purple.I also hate the slight digs at everyone who isn’t the queen, they just take away from the book and make me feel like I’m reading another tabloid article.