On this election day ( primary and stuff) I am proud and happy to be in the USA, however, I have always been a bit of a royal nut.  Which is why I jumped at the chance when asked to review This book about the Queen, “The Real Elizabeth”.  As you know there was just a bit of a fuss over her achieving the milestone of having ruled for 60 years.  It’s unlikely that another woman will get the chance for quite sometime.

I have read tons of royal books over the years, but the first 1/4 of this book offered a good historical, non gossipy grounding in the modern monarchy.  How changes that George V    ( her grand dad known as the guy who looked identical to his cousins the Tsar of Russia and the Kaiser of Germany) put in place influence her rule.

It lags a bit for me in describing much of her own rule partly because it is NOT a gossipy book.  Though the author did shed some more light on Prince Phillip which was interesting.  But, the good part is it’s more comprehensive than other books I’ve read.  At that point it’s impossible not rush ahead to the part about Princess Diana. Though on the way, there is an entertaining passage about the Queen’s relationship with Margaret Thatcher.   In a nutshell, The Queen likes to be a normal person sometimes and Thatcher was always a bit reverential which bugged Elizabeth.

It’s a good book that you don’t need to be ashamed to be reading.