Anglophiles will recognize author Andrew Morton as the author of the biography Diana: Her True Story, the book posthumously announced to have been informed by Princess Diana herself through a series of secretly recorded tapes smuggled out of palace gates. Morton’s The Queen: Her Life, originally scheduled for release later in 2023, was expedited due to increased interest in the longest reigning female monarch in world history following her recent death.

Morton’s The Queen: Her Life explores the life of Elizabeth II from her birth through the death of her husband Prince Philip and the birth of Harry and Meghan’s baby daughter Lilibet. Morton aims to both humanize and contextualize the queen and to examine the relationships between the Queen and her parents, Prince Philip, her sister, and her children and grandchildren. Historical events and personal events, such as the weddings of Charles and Diana, William and Catherine, Harry and Meghan and Charles and Camilla are examined through the lens of their effect on the Queen and the monarchy and how the Queen’s actions and reactions changed as a result of her experiences over her lifetime.

Morton is a fantastic storyteller, and The Queen: Her Life reads as a believable peek at the woman behind the coronation robes. Morton tells both the story of the Elizabeth the world sees, a young woman carrying out her solemn duty on the world stage, and the story of the private Elizabeth, who delights in her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her horses, and dogs and has a fantastic sense of humor. Morton’s book is detailed, extensive, and well-researched; sources include first-hand accounts, interviews, books and news articles, and off-record interviews of anonymous sources including members of the royal family, their managerial staff, and their “Downstairs employees.” Morton’s The Queen: Her Life will be a supremely enjoyable read for fans of the Netflix series “The Crown,” readers interested in British history, and readers interested in the human story beneath the crown.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an advance reader copy for purpose of unbiased review.

Royal followers know Andrew Morton. He wrote a book on Princess Diana that rocked the monarchy. He has also written books on Elizabeth and Margaret, as well as one on Wallis Simpson. In addition to writing popular biographies, Morton is an academic historian.

The timing of this book will surely lend it attention as it comes out not long after Elizabeth’s death. It is what I would call a popular biography. It is easy to read and engagingly written. A full biography of the queen is here, from her earliest days on.

It was poignant to read about some well-known aspects of the monarch’s life including her romance with Philip and her happy days as a young bride in Malta with their funerals still in mind. The abdication and her father’s death are also more sad in light of another heir taking to the throne now.

This book covers many years and episodes in Elizabeth’s life and the lives of those around her. While I don’t think that this book breaks new ground, it is a very good biography and one that I think readers will enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing. All opinions are my own.

This is a well-researched biography of Queen Elizabeth II that doesn't actually reveal very much new information; anyone who's watched The Crown will find the first two thirds of the book to be very familiar, and much of the rest of the book will be old news for anyone who follows royal gossip even halfheartedly. I was impressed by the depth of the bibliography, but underwhelmed by the overall product.

There have been, and will continue to be, many biographies of Queen Elizabeth II. Due to her incredibly long reign, that oversaw a tremendous amount of change, both within England and abroad, there is a wealth of information for biographers, historians, journalists, and casual researchers to utilize. Writing a biography therefore, is no easy task, yet Morton successfully creates both an engaging and readable book that deftly navigates you through the years of her reign. While not going into every detail of every event, Morton manages to provide an excellent foundation for anyone interested in exploring more about a single topic. The bibliography at the end of the book is itself a treasure trove of books and articles for further reading. This will be 'the' biography of Queen Elizabeth II that I recommend to people, and is one of few books I've given a well deserved 5/5 stars to.

This is a good biography of Queen Elizabeth II. It is thorough and seems to be well researched. It is not sensational and I didn’t find any startling revelations. It is much like the subject - steady and dependable with flashes of humor.

Interesting nonfiction at its best meaning it feels like fiction in that it is exciting and incredibly fascinating to read. I absolutely enjoyed, can’t wait to read more from this author!

very interesting biography of Queen Elizabeth. You learn a lot of things about her that you didn't know. enjoyed the book very much.

The first part of this book was well worth reading. The writing was beautiful, and the author told stories of the early life of Queen Elizabeth I had not read before. I looked forward to reading more such stories of her middle and later years. I also hoped to read of her final year.

However, these fresh, lovely stories ended about a third of the way through the book. The narrative then turned to the same old, same old re-hashing of all the Diana dramas. I kept reading because Andrew Morton's first book on Diana was so ground breaking.

I really, really wish this book had more on the Queen's life and what she did and thought about on a day to day basis. I also really wish the publisher had held off on this book to include information and stories about the Queen's death. I know they want to jump on all the interest in the Queen right now, but without stories about her last months and her death, this book flat out failed to include what the reader wants to hear about.

A competent but facile telling of the Queen’s life. One would hope for a little more detail and analysis. The book is hampered by timing—it apparently was finished in January 2022 snd thus seems anticlimactic. The contrast with Tina Brown’s latest superb book is striking

Obviously with the Queen dying people are going to want to read books about her. I enjoyed the book Elizabeth and Margaret by this author so when I was able to get an ARC for this book I was excited. I have read several books, fiction and nonfiction, about the Queen's early life so I did not really learn anything new in the first half of this book. When I finally made it to the 1980s and beyond I could not put it down because I was actually alive for the stuff that happened then and I remember it. I did tear up while reading the last chapter just because I know she died and reading about her being a grandmother and great-grandmother just put a smile on my face. She was raised to not show any emotions but in her older age she seemed to loosen up a little with the young kids at least.
I loved that she called her grandfather Grandpa England when he was King. One of the heartbreaking stories was when Charles and Diana were getting divorced Diana had to lose the appellation HRH (Her Royal Highness). William told her not to worry that when he became king he would give it back to her. When Diana died William and Harry were with the Queen at Balmoral and reading this book I understood a little better why she did not immediately return to London. She was trying to protect William and Harry and keep them busy. Let them grieve privately. After 9/11 in the Queen's speech she said "grief is the price we pay for love."

"There she goes, Elizabeth, poor lonely girl, she will be lonely all her life."

"The Queen was cautious rather than progressive, cleaving to the past and precedent, just like her father. It was her husband who was the agent for change in their partnership."

"She had been trained since the cradle by her father that duty came before everything, including family. She reluctantly had to abandon her children and they virtually didn't see their parents for months on end."

"Over the years dogs and horses helped keep her sane. They responded to her for who she was, not who she is."

"As numerous courtiers have since observed, perhaps with the certainty of hindsight, if the queen had shown as much diligence about the choice of royal brides, particularly the future queen, as she did about the breeding of her horses, the House of Windsor may not have been in such a mess."

"The queen was so controlled that when she did, very occasionally, lose her temper, those present remembered the moment for the rest of their lives."

"The Queen is tight in her own financial affairs but she has been very extravagant with her children, she has indulged them terribly financially."

"A horse wouldn't know she was queen; a horse would just treat her like any other human. She would have to earn a horse's love and respect, not expect it as a given. That must have been such a release for her."

"...always thinking of others before herself."



About Princess Diana dying:
"Once she was convinced that inaction was harmful to the monarchy, everything changed."

"Brought up not to show emotion in public, Margaret, like the queen, found the wailing and keening hard to understand."

"It was quickly pointed out by several media pundits that they never shed a tear for the princess though they cried over a floating piece of metal." (their yacht being sold)

About the Queen and Prince Philip:
"They are very good friends and that is their secret."

"In short Prince Philip was the only man in the world to treat her like a normal human being."

A lovely, detailed and heartfelt biography of Queen Elizabeth II.
Arriving in her Platinum Jubilee year and the year of her passing, Andrew Morton shares seventy years of the monarchy amidst a changing world.
Making a vow to her subjects and to the royal family at the age of twenty one, she lived her life as not only the Queen but as daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She led with steadfast devotion, she guided with will and reassurance. Britain as well as the rest of the world faced numerous challenges in her seventy year reign and throughout those often unknown times, Queen Elizabeth was there with her encouragement and wisdom. Behind closed doors she had her personal tribulations and trials that become public fodder, marriages, divorces, untimely death and sexual assault allegations. Andrew Morton shares these times with honesty and care bringing an identifiable side to Queen Elizabeth making the reader closer to not only what she was but who she was.
Heartfelt, well written and completely enjoyable,
Many thanks to NetGalley, Andrew Morton and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Grand Central Publishing and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Andrew Morton is tops when it comes to a gossipy biography showing the subjects true colors.

This book was very interesting! It gave me all the information I wanted on the queen. It was written respectfully as well. I would recommend this book to a friend!

One of my very favorite movies is "The Queen' with Helen Mirren which is the story of Queen Elizabeth and her reaction/non reaction to Princess Diana's death. With the most recent passing of Her Majesty I was thrilled to see that Andrew Morton had written a book about her life. Andrew Morton is a well known author who has written many books about Princess Diana and co-authored Monica Lewinsky autobiography. The amount of research and care that was put into telling the life of the Queen was incredible. The book was written with such detail about her upbringing and there was so much I didn't know. If anyone is looking for a more personal book about this incredible woman and her sacrifices then I highly suggest you pick up this book.

The Queen: Her Life by Andrew Morton is a wonderful biography at one of the most fascinating, steadfast, respected (and a personal hero of mine), and truly stunning women: Queen Elizabeth II.

I have read biographies by Mr. Morton in the past and enjoyed them, and I will forever be a huge advocate of the late Queen Elizabeth II, so of course I had to read this.

While there was not anything new that I learned while reading this, I have read several biographies in the past of not just Queen Elizabeth II, but of many of the royal family. So, there is not much that would surprise me. That is not to say that this isn’t a wonderful biography, because it is, and I am impressed with the pace, content, and appropriate level of detail presented. Heavily researched, engaging, and entertaining, I really enjoyed revisiting Her Majesty’s long and eventful life. She will forever be missed.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Grand Central Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 11/15/22.