Guest Post: Review of The Real Elizabeth by Andrew Marr
After reading The Real Elizabeth by Andrew Marr I realized as an American we know so little about the Queen. The Queen has been there, in the background tending to her duties day after day. For most of us, Queen Elizabeth has reigned our whole lives. And we have little understanding of her duties or daily schedule.
Andrew Marr takes us behind the scenes into her world. Marr gives us her history as a royal, he lets us know her schedule and with great detail tells us of her relationships with the Prime Ministers. As an American I found the latter a bit tedious but necessary. One bit of information I learned from the book is that the Prime MInister is the head of state, the Queen is the state.
Marr spends a great bit of time detailing the Queen’s coronation which took place some 16 months after she took the throne. One way in which her coronation was unique is that it was televised live. No other coronation had been seen by a monarch’s subjects before much less the whole world. Thus began the Queen’s relationship with the ever present media.
If you’re fascinated by royalty or consider yourself an Anglophile, I think you’ll find Andrew Marr’s book an easy and delightful read.
-Lucinda
Lucinda Callaway is an Anglophile living in the DC suburbs and can usually be found watching Eastenders. You can follow her on Twitter at @lucindalc
