Free The Queen Mother by William Shawcross

Praise for William Shawcross’s
THE QUEEN MOTHER
    “A portrait of a remarkable life lived in step with a century of sweeping change.”
    —
Bloomberg News
    “A colossal book about a colossal life, a spectacular journey across the entire twentieth century through the eyes of a thoughtful woman who took the hand of a shy royal understudy and was propelled through modern history.”
    —
Daily Mail
(London)
    “A behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Royal Family.… Fascinating reading.… Shawcross has written a remarkable book.”
    —
Tucson Citizen
    “A wonderful book, authoritative, frank and entertaining. It sets new standards for royal biography.… Anyone who finds royal biographies dull and dutiful is in for a surprise.”
    —
The Daily Telegraph
(London)
    “[Written] with unprecedented access to the private papers of the Queen Mother.… Her life is seen here as a mirror of the twentieth century.”
    —
New York Post
    “Shawcross has been given access to the Royal Archives and they have yielded a rich harvest.… [There is an] immense amount of new material here.… He is to be congratulated for selecting so many juicy tidbits.”
    —A. N. Wilson,
Daily Mail
    “Engaging.… Colorful.… Delightful as well as dignified.”
    —
The Washington Times
    “The correspondence in [The
Queen Mother
] is illuminating for both royal watchers and historians.… Divulges the Queen Mother’s opinions on topics ranging from feminism to homeopathy.”
    —Associated Press
    “Impressively researched.… Shawcross avoids the traps [of] hagiography.… He succeeds in the difficult task of keeping his subject resolutely centre stage in an elegant account.”
    —
The Independent
(London)
    “Shawcross’s journalistic skills are evident in the innumerable dabs of pointilliste detail.… There are many unexpected vignettes.… He serves his subject well.”
    —
The Sunday Telegraph
(London)
    “Offers new and fascinating insights into the woman behind the pearls and pastel dresses.”
    —
Mail on Sunday

WILLIAM SHAWCROSS
THE QUEEN MOTHER
    Born in 1946, William Shawcross is an internationally renowned writer and broadcaster who appears regularly on television and radio. His articles have appeared in leading newspapers and journals throughout the world. He lives in London.
    www.williamshawcross.com



FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, NOVEMBER 2010
    Copyright © 2009 by William Shawcross
    All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in Great Britain in slightly different form as
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The Official Biography
by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd., London, and subsequently published in hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2009.
    Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
    Extracts from the letters of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by courtesy of
The Royal Archives © Her Majesty The Queen.
    The Library of Congress has cataloged the Knopf edition as follows:
Shawcross, William.
The Queen Mother : the official biography / William Shawcross.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Elizabeth, Queen, consort of George VI, King of Great Britain, 1900–2002.   2. Queens—Great Britain—Biography.   I. Title.
DA585.A2 S46 2009
2009934986
    eISBN: 978-0-307-27331-4
    www.vintagebooks.com
    v3.1

She had all the royal makings of a Queen .
    Shakespeare,
King Henry VIII
, IV, i, 87

PREFACE
    H ER M AJESTY T HE Q UEEN did me the signal honour, in July 2003, of inviting me to write the official biography of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. I was given unrestricted access both to Queen Elizabeth’s papers and to members of her family, Household and staff. I am deeply grateful to The Queen for the help I have received, and I thank The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex, The Princess Royal, The Duke of Gloucester,