Philip and Elizabeth : Portrait of a Marriage - Hardcover

Brandreth, Gyles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712661034 ISBN 13: 9780712661034

Publisher: Century, 2004

Synopsis

This is the story of two unusual people - both intelligent, both determined, but otherwise with very different natures - both royal from birth, but with wildly different upbringings - who have led quite extraordinary lives. It will be the story of those lives, of their relationship, of their attitude to one another, to their children, to the curios lot fate has thrown their way. It will be part history - part psychology - part drama and romance. Gyles Brandreth has spent many hours with Prince Philip - breakfast, lunch, dinner, trains, planes, cars - and talked to him, at length, on the record and off, in his study at Buckingham Palace. For his eightieth birthday celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall, he worked with him on his 'official biography', published privately, so that he knows precisely how he sees his story. He has talked with Philip about his role, his childhood, his parents, his sisters, his relationship with The Queen and his children and his children-in-law. He has also recently spent a lot of time with the Queen and Prince Philip together, and can write about them and the way they are together with unique familiarity.

About this title

About the Author

Gyles Brandreth's is a varied career, from his role as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major's government to Children's publisher with Andre Deutsch. Brandreth's Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries has been described as 'by far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clarke's' Times

From Publishers Weekly

Princess Elizabeth fell for Prince Philip in 1939, when she was 13 and he, 18. But though Philip was a direct descendent of Queen Victoria, some at court thought him an unsuitable match. But as longtime royal acquaintance Brandreth shows, Philip has been the perfect mate: dutiful, loyal, hard-working and deeply respectful. As Brandreth makes clear, the marriage has succeeded not only because Philip loves his wife, but because he understands the nature of royal life. Social and outgoing, Philip balances the queen's reserve. He's also likely the only person who has ever threatened her and gotten away with it: Brandreth relates how Philip grew so fed up with his wife's wordless but potent backseat driving that he told her to stop or he'd put her out of the car. She stopped. Brandreth goes to great and mostly convincing lengths to disprove rumors of the Prince's extramarital affairs and the queen's tendency to lavish more affection on her corgis and horses than on her family. But the biggest surprise here is the portrayal of the royal couple as typical married folks: the prince thinks the queen spends too much time on the telephone, and she has no qualms about telling him to shut up. 40 pages of illus.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Century
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0712661034
• ISBN 13: 9780712661034
• Binding: Hardcover