Young Elizabeth

August 24, 2015
Williams (Becoming Queen Victoria), British historian and biographer, dives into the life of the U.K.’s reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, zeroing in on her childhood and young adulthood and portraying those years as the most pivotal of Elizabeth’s life. As a young royal, Elizabeth was ”brought up to be a good aristocratic wife”; her uncle, David, the Prince of Wales, was to be king, and her father wasn’t expected to hold any particular influence on the crown. But when David abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson, Elizabeth’s father was named the new king, and she was suddenly thrust in line for the throne. Williams documents the ease with which Elizabeth, with her penchant for order and composure, fell into her new role. The author’s research is all-encompassing, but the life of Elizabeth herself is a bit muted. There is nothing particularly new or exciting in this biography; Williams writes a simple piece on an already very well documented royal life. Agency: Zoe Pagnamenta Literary Agency.

October 15, 2015

Elizabeth II (b. 1926) was never supposed to be queen. When her uncle abdicated, Elizabeth's father, George VI, became king and Elizabeth heir to the throne. Precocious, neat, and conscientious, Elizabeth seemed tailor-made for royalty and was the darling of the public. Though treated as a child well into her teens, the current queen exhibited an old soul at a young age, eager to do the right thing and always anxious to please. Her courtship with Prince Philip of Greece was a rare occasion when she insisted on her way. Williams (Ambition and Desire; Becoming Queen Victoria) traces the path of Elizabeth, from a girl playing pony in her nursery to the woman who accepted the throne at age 26. This biography, previously published in the UK, assumes a prior knowledge of the royal lineage. A family tree, starting with Queen Victoria, and a short glossary of royalty-related terms would have been a welcome addition. Offering a gracious yet honest viewpoint of the strengths and weaknesses of the longest-reigning monarch, Williams tours Elizabeth's beginning years and illuminates the often overlooked humanity of her personal life. VERDICT This eloquent and engaging account will appeal to those interested in British history and the early life of Queen Elizabeth II.--Stacy Shaw, Orange, CA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
Early-life biography of the queen, who "in one sense...is the twentieth century." As CNN's British royalty expert Williams (Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte, 2014, etc.) acknowledges, Queen Elizabeth II has not lacked biographers. While breaking no new ground, the author's lively, gossipy narrative offers a sympathetic portrait of a young woman whose path to the throne resulted from two unexpected events: the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, which made her father King George VI; and her father's early death, which elevated 25-year-old Elizabeth to queen of England. As princesses, Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret, grew up sheltered, doted upon, and happily carefree. Their parents saw education as irrelevant for girls who were destined to do nothing more than marry well. Their governess was charged with tutoring them for an hour and a half per day. When Elizabeth was 10, however, her prospects changed. As royal watchers well know, Edward VIII, much preferring a glittery social whirl to the tedium of kingship, claimed that he could not rule without the support of the woman he loved, the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. Like the royal family, Williams characterizes Edward and Wallis as spoiled, selfish, and irresponsible. Edward's threat to abdicate was, Williams writes, "a bluffing game." But the cabinet would not concede, he was forced to abdicate, and his brother was forced into a position for which he felt ill-prepared. As royal heiress, Elizabeth's education somewhat intensified: she was sent to Eton twice a week to learn constitutional history. Socially, though, she remained sheltered (she did not leave her nursery bedroom until she turned 18), which Williams believes explains her intense romantic crush, at the age of 13, on debonair Prince Philip of Greece; they married when she turned 21. The author sees Elizabeth as exemplary: although "not born for the role," she has fulfilled it "with grace and dignity." A celebratory and entertaining royal biography.

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Starred review from October 1, 2015
She was the elder daughter of the second son of the king of England, so during her early years, the possibility of her succeeding to the throne, although not implausible, certainly seemed to be a long shot. The years before Princess Elizabeth's actual accession as Queen Elizabeth II are the focus of this briskly written, admirably probing, and sympathetically voiced exploration of the elements that went into the formation of the woman we now know to be a very successful monarch. She was born in 1926, and a decade later, her rather predictable future as a second-tier royal changed dramatically when her uncle, King Edward VIII, tossed aside his crown to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson; then, with her father now King George VI, the princess found herself heiress to the throne. As we see at so many junctures in her young life, the princess exhibited traits of personality that would stand her in good stead as queen. She was conscientious, reserved, eager to please, and dutifulcharacteristics very much unlike those of her younger sister, Margaret, who would be the wild spirit of the two. Gradually, the tentative George VI grew into his exalted position, and Princess Elizabeth into her role as future queen. The king found his worth, and the nation found a king they actually loved during the long, dark, dangerous days of WWII. As Williams points out, despite the king's (and definitely his consort's) determination that the princess and her sister lead a relatively normal life, palace life was anything but usual. Regardless of the extraordinary environment in which she grew to adulthood, Elizabeth assumed the throne at age 25 with grace and composure, which is how she has reigned for more than six decades.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)