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

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I hadn't been sure what I would learn from this book. Like so many others of my generation, who can just about remember the coronation of Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother had always been there as a benign if floaty presence, always smiling, always delicately waving, not saying very much, and to all intents a largely decorative member of the royal family. During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations, and dry-as-a-martini delivery style as she was for being a beloved royal. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 (one for each year of her remarkable life) amusing and astonishing vignettes from across her long life, including her coming of age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law and her unexpected ascendance to the throne, and her half-century of widowhood as her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. Featuring new revelations and colorful anecdotes about the woman Cecil Beaton, the high society photographer, once summarised 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.

A warm, funny, and above all, sympathetic picture of a remarkable woman… Russell’s ‘skimming-stone’ biography has managed to capture both the laughter and the wisdom – I raise a glass to him’ Daily Telegraph, Four star review I really enjoyed Russell's weaving of Elizabeth's enjoyment of drinking throughout the book. 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. Also, my favourite story had to be the tour where she walked in on a guest in the bathroom. During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations, and dry-as-a-martini delivery style as she was for being a beloved royal. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 (one for each year of her remarkable life) amusing and astonishing vignettes from across her long life, including her coming of age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law and her unexpected ascendance to the throne, and her half century of widowhood as her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. 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.So much is written about Elizabeth II but not as much about her formidable mother. She lived through tough times and was pushed into the role of queen by the abdication of her brother-in-law, Edward VIII. But even with this huge change in her life she took it on with dignity and strength. Even Hitler considered her to be the most dangerous woman in Europe. She kept her husband and her country steadfast during the long years of the Second World War. Her humor was well-known. She loved meeting people and always showed a genuine interest in them. Singing and dining with friends was such a pleasure for her. However, after the war and the death of her husband she continued her years of service to the crown and her daughter, the Queen. My favorite parts were hearing about her personality. She smiled, teased and enjoyed a smart joke with the people around her regardless of their status. It seems that until the very end she took care of those around her and kept on smiling through all the tough times.

The Queen Mother was 101 when she died, having been born in 1900. She grew up in Glamis Castle, Scotland, and married Prince Albert (Bertie), in 1923. Following the Abdication crisis of 1936, Prince Albert was crowned King George VI, and Elizabeth was crowned as Queen Consort. King George VI died fifteen years later, at which point his daughter Elizabeth, became Queen Elizabeth II, and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. 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. However Queen Elizabeth was able to use the name when her daughter was born. Diana Mitford Mosley and the QM did NOT get along, not only because of their politics but because Diana was great friends with Wallis, "that woman".Wonderful prose, telling stories that are hilarious and moving by turns. Immensely enjoyable’ Suzannah Lipscomb Do Let’s Have Another Drink is a joyful corrective. A triumph’ Owen Emmerson, co-author of The Boleyns of Hever Castle NB: This book is released as “ Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother” in the United States. Russell’s “skimming-stone biography” has managed to capture both – the laughter and the wisdom. I raise a glass to him. There are a few typos in this book, including this quote by Churchill: “ Battle of Britain during the worst days of the Blitz, when the RAF’s victory prompted Churchill’s famous remark, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed to so many by so few.”

This is not my usual area of interest, especially for my blog, but I have always wanted to learn more about the House of Windsor. A few years ago, I read “The King’s Speech” about King George VI, and I wanted to learn more about his wife, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. When Gareth Russell announced that he was writing this biography about the Queen Mother, it sounded enchanting, and I wanted to read it. For fans of The Crown and Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret , a deliciously entertaining collection of 101 fascinating and funny anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—one for each year of her life. Any author who sets out to write a biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother has to tread a fine line between tell-all vulgarity and the kind of doorstop biography which meticulously records every utterance, every obscure footnote to a life, until one longs for death – either the subject’s or one’s own. When told that Lady Mountbatten was being buried at sea, the Queen Mother replied cheerfully. ‘Dear old Edwina, she always did like to make a splash!’ 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 lover of life, and even though she had feuds with members of her family, such as Wallis Simpson and Princess Diana, she truly loved and fought for her family until the very end of her long life.I thought from the somewhat comical cover, that the book might be less substantial and focus more on the quips and (perhaps) public gaffs that the Queen Mother was known for. Instead, the book was a very in-depth look at the life of the woman who was born while Queen Victoria was still on the throne and died a century later. Not only are well-known sources quoted, but also people who knew or met the Queen Mother and also private letters and diaries were consulted to form a more rounded picture of the QEII's mum -- warts and all. 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 book’s title – Do Let’s Have Another Drink– comes, of course, from the Queen Mother’s legendary drinking habits. Russell recounts a boozy lunch she shared with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster – and, according to the Queen Mother, a very good pianist. When her equerry came to retrieve her late in the afternoon, he found the worse-for-wear pair belting out a rendition of Lonnie Donegan’s My Old Man’s a Dustman. “I think my drink was spiked,” she later claimed. Russell sets the tone at the start, laughing gently at the stories surrounding Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s birth at St Paul’s Walden Bury on August 4 1900. The fact that Elizabeth’s father, Lord Strathmore, couldn’t be bothered to register her birth until six weeks after the event led to the fabulously bonkers suggestion that she was in fact a changeling, the offspring of a French cook or a Welsh servant who was smuggled into Lady Strathmore’s bed like a latter-day warming-pan baby. In support of this, conspiracy theorists pointed to the fact that later in life she gained weight. “She did look like the daughter of a cook,” claimed one (uncredited) source. “You could hardly say she looked aristocratic.”

Like all large families, Royals too have family problems and complications. It appears she attempted to be the peacemaker for her grands. Reference is made to her habit of drinking a little too frequently and loving to shop. It doesn’t sound like an enjoyable life to me, but Elizabeth the Queen Mother appeared to have a grand life. The Queen Mother’s life spanned over a century and thus can be an overwhelming topic. (William Shawcross’ biography is a time investment for sure…) However, Russell chose 101 different anecdotes from Elizabeth’s life to highlight her wit and levity. She was known by those around her to be charming and lively, but many of her most-defining moments are from the most serious points in her life. For fans of The Crown and Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, a deliciously entertaining collection of 101 fascinating and funny anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—one for each year of her life.

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During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations and dry-as-a-Martini delivery style as she was for being a member of the Royal Family. She was also famed for her fondness for ‘drinky-poos’ – usually a gin and Dubonnet or three. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 biographical vignettes – one for each year of her long, remarkable life, including her coming-of-age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law, the truth about her tragic nieces and her relationship with her two daughters over half a century of widowhood. Elizabeth supported her husband through his stammer that made it difficult for him to give public speeches. His ill health also made it necessary for her to be close by his side. She was unfailing during World War I refusing to leave London to be safe in the countryside. She and their children stayed put to brave the war just as the other people of England did. She believed in solidarity with the people. The Queen Mother was keen on a sing-song. Noël Coward was an occasional weekend guest at Sandringham, and the two of them duetted to Coward’s greatest hits. “I do love her,” he confided to his diary, after she agreed to come to lunch at Firefly, his Jamaican villa. She liked gay men around her – Cecil Beaton was another friend, although he fell from favour after the publication of his diaries revealed snide remarks about her weight – and she was known for having a preponderance of homosexuals on her household staff. During the debates over decriminalising homosexuality in the 1960s, one crusader asked her to send a moral message to the nation by firing her gay servants. She replied that if she did that, she would end up having to go self-service. Russell wasted a great opportunity to compare Diana and the QM’s similarities. They both had a high EQ and could put people at ease. Perhaps a vignette could have features their mutual dislike despite their mutual similarities.