Do Let’s Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

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The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother presents a refreshing and intimate portrayal of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, going beyond the typical formalities and royal protocol.

A particularly poignant scene describes how she was interviewed by a historian about her recollections of Tsar Nicholas II's mother Marie, since Elizabeth was "the only person left alive who remembered her. I'm not a royal biography reader but I did enjoy Craig Brown's entertaining Ma'am Darling about Princess Margaret so I hoped that this would be a less obsequious and fun look at the Queen Mother's life or as a blurb stated,a biography without the boring bits. There are some fascinating bits about her ancestral home, the much-haunted Glamis Castle in Scotland. The King, George V, disliked Ann Margaret for her second daughter's name and suggested that Margaret Rose was more in keeping with Scottish princesses. Throughout this book, you will laugh at her wit, and at times, feel saddened by the inevitable passing of time.As Queen of England and later the Queen Mother, we see her tenacity and humorous side emerge as Elizabeth could be herself. She was a complex woman, often loved or despised, who, for better or worse, would guide the British Royal Family for much of the 20th Century. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. But when I first delved into the book my expectations were upended, for this was an actual biography. I think if you knew who and when the author was talking about you would be fine, for example the Abdication Crisis, Princess Margaret’s affair with Group Captain Townsend, her husbands early death, if you didn’t, then you would be floundering a bit.

The Duke of Windsor was a terrible spoiled man, who, when he got what he wanted, still winged and wined. Elizabeth supported her husband through his stammer that made it difficult for him to give public speeches. It is clear that she really enjoyed an intense drink quite regularly and the way that she forced guests to imbibe was also quite entertaining to read about. I appreciate that he did go out of his way to find new materials, because reading royal biographies gets repetitive very quickly and DLHAD is a breath of fresh air. The House of Windsor has been attracting worldwide attention in recent decades with scandals, deaths, weddings, and the birth of royal children.Princess Fuzzypants here: The lady who advised never to turn down an opportunity to sit or to use the lady’s room was clearly someone highly sensible with a wicked sense of humour. Featuring new revelations and colorful anecdotes about the woman Cecil Beaton, the high society photographer, once summarized as “a marshmallow made on a welding machine,” Do Let’s Have Another Drink is a delightful celebration of one of the most consistently popular members of the royal family. Elizabeth never forgave either of them as it meant her shy, anxious husband with the speech impediment was suddenly thrust into a role he had not really been prepared for. Cecil Beaton, the photographer, once described Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as a marshmallow made on a welding machine. Through the lens of her dry wit and charismatic personality, readers are treated to a deeper understanding of the woman behind the public figure.