20 books about Queen Elizabeth II for all ages.
Following the sad news that our beloved Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8th September 2022 at the age of 96, the media has been showing so many incredible documentaries and programmes about her extraordinary life. Much of this has fascinated me and so I researched the types of books about Queen Elizabeth to find out more about her early years, her empathic speeches, and anecdotes about what she was like behind closed doors.
Here are 20 books about Queen Elizabeth II that piqued my interest. I hope you find them interesting if you’re searching for biographies, paperbacks and photobooks for readers of all interests and ages.
The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe by Angela Kelly
When Angela Kelly and The Queen are together, laughter echoes through the corridors of Buckingham Palace. Angela has worked with The Queen and walked the corridors of the Royal Household for twenty-five years, initially as Her Majesty’s Senior Dresser and then latterly as Her Majesty’s Personal Advisor, Curator, Wardrobe and In-house Designer. As the first person in history to hold this title, she shares a uniquely close working relationship with The Queen.
In The Other Side of the Coin, The Queen has personally given Angela her blessing to share their extraordinary bond with the world. Whether it’s preparing for a formal occasion or brightening Her Majesty’s day with a playful joke, Angela’s priority is to serve and support. Sharing never-before-seen photographs – many from Angela’s own private collection – and charming anecdotes of their time spent together, this revealing book provides memorable insights into what it’s like to work closely with The Queen, to curate her wardrobe and to discover a true and lasting connection along the way.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family: A Glorious Illustrated History by DK
A stunning pictorial biography of Queen Elizabeth II, recounting her childhood, succession to the throne, and her dutiful service as the reigning monarch of Britain. This biography of the Queen also includes the history of the Royal family and the house of Windsor. Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family 3rd Edition features accounts of most of the royal household including the Queen and Prince Philip’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
For 70 years the Queen was beloved and admired by the British public, the commonwealth, heads of states and many others. Following her ascent to the throne at the age of 27, she’s spent her entire life in service of the public and state. This biography celebrates her life through photographs and profiles and provides the reader with insight into the world’s most famous royal family members. Teaming with dazzling galleries of royal artefacts, photographic tours, royal residences, and the Royals up close makes this the perfect book for fans of the royal family.
Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II Hardcover by Robert Hardman
The definitive biography of Her Majesty The Queen by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities. With original insights from those who knew her best, new interviews with world leaders and access to unseen papers, bestselling author Robert Hardman explores the full, astonishing life of our longest reigning monarch in this compellingly authoritative yet intimate biography. Elizabeth II was not born to be queen. Yet from her accession as a young mother of two in 1952 to the age of Covid-19, she proved an astute and quietly determined figure, leading her family and her people through more than seventy years of unprecedented social change. She faced constitutional crises, confronted threats against her life, rescued the Commonwealth, saw her prime ministers come and go, charmed world leaders, was criticised as well as feted by the media, and steered her family through a lifetime in the public eye.
Queen of Our Times is a must-read study of dynastic survival and renewal, spanning abdication, war, romance, danger and tragedy. It is a compelling portrait of a leader who will remain an icon for generations to come.
Queen Elizabeth II: The Queen Who Chose To Serve by Alison Mitchell
Princess Elizabeth never expected to be Queen. But when she was ten, her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated and everything changed…
Her father took over as King, but after 15 years on the throne, he died. So when she was just 25 years old, Elizabeth was crowned Queen and has become the longest-serving monarch in British history. This inspiring children’s biography of Queen Elizabeth II chronicles key moments in her life. It also highlights her Christian faith, in particular what she has said in her Christmas Day speeches. Young children will learn more about the incredible life and faith of Britain’s longest-serving monarch and they will be inspired about the great things they can do for God. Suitable for children aged 4-7, whether for outreach or discipleship.
Queen Elizabeth: A Platinum Jubilee Celebration by DK
In honour of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee 2022, this once in a lifetime history book for kids tells the story of a young princess who grew up to become our longest reigning monarch, and celebrates the achievements, people and places that have become part of her remarkable legacy.
There is a treasure box hidden away in Great Granny Joyce’s home, bursting with all kinds of things… A photo of a young woman wearing a crown, a map of the world, newspaper clippings, and so much more that reveal the great wonders of the last 70 years. There is so much to look at that little Isabella doesn’t even know where to begin! Did you know that Princess Elizabeth was only 27 when she became Queen? Or that she made an appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2010 London Olympics alongside James Bond? And that the most astonishing inventions like the World Wide Web, as well as historic milestones like the first female Prime Minister of the UK happened under our Queen’s watch? Delightfully playful illustrations, exciting facts, and information sidebars fill every page to tell the full story of the world’s most beloved and inspiring monarch. Embark on this royal journey and show what you know with a surprise quiz at the end!
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Celebration: 70 Years: 1952–2022 by Brian Hoey
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has carried out her role as Sovereign with flawless professionalism. Her demeanour has been perfect, and in the seventy years she has reigned she has epitomised all the hallmarks of an iconic sovereign beloved of her people.As Heir Presumptive, the young Princess Elizabeth received special tuition in law and constitutional history to prepare her for her future role as Sovereign. When she succeeded her father, King George VI, on 6th February 1952, Elizabeth was only twenty-five years old. Married for just five years with two young children, her life changed irrevocably. The responsibilities of monarchy have taken precedence over all else, and the public duties invariably have first call on the Queen’s time and energy.
This book celebrates the highlights and challenges of the Queen’s reign over the past seven decades: ·Recalls Princess Elizabeth’s childhood and the war years ·Includes accounts of the Accession and Coronation when she was still a young woman ·Details each decade of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, focussing on both her working life and her family ·Describes in detail a typical working day for the sovereign ·A special focus on the enduring contribution Her Majesty has made to life in the UK and the Commonwealth, as well as her enviable reputation worldwide ·A true celebration in honour of our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
20 books about Queen Elizabeth II for all ages.
At Home with the Queen: Life Through the Keyhole of the Royal Household by Brian Hoey
Behind the scenes of the private world at the heart of royalty, as revealed by a distinguished royal commentator. This is the real story of what goes on inside the royal palaces, as witnessed by members of the royal staff and household past and present. Buckingham Palace is effectively an independent kingdom with its own rules and customs, now explained by Brian Hoey. Hundreds of anecdotes reveal the conditions in which the staff live and work and also their relationship with the Royals they serve.
How does one get a job as personal footman to the Queen? Why does Prince Charles still have to send a note to her Page of the Backstairs requesting a meeting with his mother? How much do members of the household earn? Why does the Queen hate men in three-piece suits? Why are the Queen’s bedsheets six inches longer than Prince Philip’s? Why do her maids have to vacuum walking backwards? Why doesn’t the Queen allow square ice-cubes to be put in her drinks?
Young Elizabeth: The Making of our Queen by Kate Williams
The story of how Elizabeth II became queen.
We can hardly imagine a Britain without Elizabeth II on the throne. It seems to be the job she was born for. And yet for much of her early life the young princess did not know the role that her future would hold. She was our accidental Queen. As a young girl, Elizabeth was among the guests in Westminster Abbey watching her father being crowned, making her the only monarch to have attended a parent’s coronation. Kate Williams explores the sheltered upbringing of the young princess with a gentle father and domineering mother, her complicated relationship with her sister, Princess Margaret, and her dependence on her nanny, Marion ‘Crawfie’ Crawford. She details the profound and devastating impact of the abdication crisis when, at the impressionable age of 11, Elizabeth found her position changed overnight: no longer a minor princess she was now heiress to the throne.
Elizabeth’s determination to share in the struggles of her people marked her out from a young age. Her father initially refused to let her volunteer as a nurse during the Blitz, but relented when she was 18 and allowed her to work as a mechanic and truck driver for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service. It was her forward-thinking approach that ensured that her coronation was televised, against the advice of politicians at the time. Kate Williams reveals how the 25-year-old young queen carved out a lasting role for herself amid the changes of the 20th century. Her monarchy would be a very different one to that of her parents and grandparents, and its continuing popularity in the 21st century owes much to the intelligence and elusive personality of this remarkable woman.
Queen Elizabeth II: A Little Golden Book Biography by Jen Arena, Monique Dong
Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about Queen Elizabeth II! The perfect introduction to nonfiction for preschoolers! This Little Golden Book about Queen Elizabeth II–the longest ruling monarch of the United Kingdom and mother to the future King–is an inspiring read-aloud for young girls and boys.
20 books about Queen Elizabeth II for all ages.
The Times Queen Elizabeth II: A portrait of her 70-year reign in this Platinum Jubilee book by James Owen, Times Books
The ideal gift for royal fans. This is the story of a life dedicated to public service, reported by The Times as it unfolded. From her time as a young princess to that as an internationally admired head of state, Queen Elizabeth has always fascinated and intrigued. Discover insights and memories, and see a changing society reflected in reporting from throughout the 70-year reign of Britain’s longest serving monarch.
Published to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, this detailed profile features essays, articles and full-colour images drawn from The Times archives.
Writers from The Times and leading royal historians – among them Ben Macintyre, Kate Williams and Hugo Vickers – salute her achievements and offer insights into what lies behind the public façade of the Crown.
The Queen: 70 years of Majestic Style by Bethan Holt
The past 70 years have seen a 25-year-old Princess transform into a nonagenarian monarch who is respected and loved the world over. A woman whose views are never heard, Queen Elizabeth II has deployed fashion as a means to communicate and signal her position to the crowds who gather to see her in public and the millions who watch her television broadcasts: ‘I must be seen to be believed,’ she has said.
The Queen’s evolving attitude to dress reflects a visual landscape that began as genteel reportage in mostly black and white and has over the years evolved into today’s technicolour 24/7 news cycle, flashed around the world in seconds and driven by social media. Incredibly, in her 70th year as monarch, the Queen feels as relevant as ever before – and she is, undoubtedly, a style icon. The Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style celebrates the fashion evolution of Elizabeth II in her unprecedented Platinum Jubilee year.
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Elizabeth the Queen: The most intimate biography of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Sally Bedell Smith
Queen. Mother. Servant. Friend. This is the most intimate portrait of our longest serving monarch, an inspiration to her country: Queen Elizabeth II. Get to know the real Elizabeth in the definitive biography from the bestselling British Royal Family writer.
We knew her as the Queen. But she was so much more. Playing with her children at the Palace, crawling on her stomach to stalk deer, donning yellow Marigolds to wash up after Balmoral cookouts; this was Queen Elizabeth going about her daily life. Performing a duty she cherished. Serving a nation she loved. In this, the first all-round, up-close picture of her remarkable life, readers finally get meet the real Queen. With exclusive access to her personal letters, close friends and associates, this intimate biography is a treasure trove of insights on her public persona and private life. In these pages we have the honour of meeting the leader, strategist, and diplomat; the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother – Elizabeth the Queen.
20 books about Queen Elizabeth II for all ages.
The Queen: An elegant new biography of Her Majesty Elizabeth II by Matthew Dennison
For millions of people, both in Britain and across the world, Elizabeth II is the embodiment of monarchy. Her long life spans nearly a century of national and global history, from a time before the Great Depression to the era of Covid-19. Her reign embraces all but seven years of Britain’s postwar history; she has been served by fifteen UK prime ministers from Churchill to Johnson, and witnessed the administrations of thirteen US presidents from Truman to Trump. The vast majority of Britons cannot remember a world without Elizabeth II as head of state and the Commonwealth.
In this brand-new biography of the longest-reigning sovereign in British history, Matthew Dennison traces her life and reign across an era of unprecedented and often seismic social change. Stylish in its writing and nuanced in its judgements, The Queen charts the joys and triumphs as well as the disappointments and vicissitudes of a remarkable royal life; it also assesses the achievement of a woman regarded as the champion of a handful of ‘British’ values endorsed – if no longer practised – by the bulk of the nation: service, duty, steadfastness, charity and stoicism.
Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen by Sarah Bradford
Sarah Bradford’s Elizabeth is the definitive biography of the Queen, revealing the real woman behind the public figure – now celebrating the Platinum Jubilee, her 70th year on the throne. The Queen has lived through nearly a century of immense change and upheaval.
Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors’: the Queen has remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How has she done it?
Princess: The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II by Jane Dismore
In November 2017 the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. As a 13-year-old Princess, she fell in love with Prince Philip of Greece, an ambitious naval cadet, and they married when she was 21; when she suddenly became Queen at 25, their lives changed forever. Philip has been her great support, but fortunately she also had a solid foundation that helped prepare her for a life dedicated to duty. With previously unpublished material and unique memories from friends and relatives who have known her since childhood, this book looks afresh and in richer depth at her life as Princess, glittering yet isolating.
Vivid detail and anecdotes reveal more about her, the era in which she grew up and the people who shaped her life. The archives of royal confidante Lady Desborough and Private Secretary Sir Alec Hardinge reveal unseen letters from the Princess and the royal family, giving intimate insights into their lives and minds. Here is her sadness at the death of her nanny, Alah; her joy in her children; her melancholy as a young wife when Philip returns to his ship; the sensitivities of her father. Here too is the Princess with the aristocratic Bowes Lyons, her mother’s family, who featured significantly in her life, yet rarely appear in books. The author sheds new light on anomalies surrounding the birth of her mother who, it has been asserted, was the daughter of the family’s cook. The strain of wartime on the royal family is highlighted in new material contrasting the stance of the Princess’s uncles, the Duke of Windsor and David Bowes Lyon. In contrast with her upbringing, Philip’s early life was turbulent, although their lives shared some interesting parallels. Lady Butter, a relation of Philip and friend of the Princess, recalls time spent with each of them; and unpublished documents show how intelligence agencies considered the socialist influence of the Mountbattens on Philip and thus on the royal court. More importantly, Princess traces how an “ordinary country girl” suddenly found herself in the line of succession to the crown at age ten when her Uncle, the Duke of Windsor, abdicated the throne to his brother Albert (“Bertie” to family and friends), the once and future King George VI. Breaking new ground for a future English monarch, she became the first female member of the royal family to serve on active duty during World War II, and broke tradition by sending her children away to school rather having them privately tutored. Indeed, by the time of her coronation in 1953, she had already achieved a “broad and solid background from which she could draw during the rapidly changing times of her long reign. Out of a little princess they made a Queen.”
20 books about Queen Elizabeth II for all ages.
Princess: The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II by Jane Dismore
As a 13-year-old girl, Princess Elizabeth fell in love with Prince Philip of Greece, an ambitious naval cadet, and they married when she was 21. When Elizabeth suddenly became Queen at 25, their lives changed forever.
With previously unpublished material and unique interviews with friends and relations, this book looks afresh at her life as princess, glittering yet isolating. Letters from Elizabeth and the royal family give an intimate insight into their lives and minds. Vivid detail and anecdotes reveal more about her, the era in which she grew up and the people who shaped her life. The love and stability her parents provided, and the presence of her mother’s family, Bowes Lyon, with their creativity and eccentricities, gave her a solid background from which to draw during the rapidly changing times of her long reign. This book tells the story of a young princess becoming a Queen.
The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II by Karen Dolby
The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II is a celebration of the Queen’s reign through some of her wittiest, most sarcastic and humorous observations, revealing a fascinating side of her personality that often remains hidden from the public.
When thinking of the Queen, our perception is often one of dignity and authority. She is seen as a serious figure: the British monarch, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the head of the Commonwealth. But as anyone who has ever met her will tell you, in person she has wicked sense of humour. Occasionally unintentional, like asking guitar legend Eric Clapton, ‘Have you been playing a long time?,’ sometimes sarcastic, and at other times downright silly, royal humour touches on every aspect of life, while always retaining a strong sense of dignity.
The Diamond Queen: Elizabeth II and her People by Andrew Marr
With the flair for narrative and the meticulous research that readers have come to expect, in The Diamond Queen Andrew Marr turns his attention to the monarch – and to the monarchy, chronicling the Queen’s pivotal role at the centre of the state, which is largely hidden from the public gaze, and making a strong case for the institution itself.
Arranged thematically, rather than chronologically, Marr dissects the Queen’s political relationships, crucially those with her Prime Ministers; he examines her role as Head of the Commonwealth, and her deep commitment to that Commonwealth of nations; he looks at the drastic changes in the media since her accession in 1952 and how the monarchy – and the monarch – have had to change and adapt as a result. Indeed he argues that under her watchful eye, the monarchy has been thoroughly modernized and made as fit for purpose in the twenty-first century as it was when she came to the throne and a ‘new Elizabethan age’ was ushered in.
The Queen: 70 Glorious Years by Royal Collection Trust
This official souvenir publication celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II through 70 photographs chosen to illustrate memorable events in the reign of Britain’s longest-serving monarch.
Delightfully informal family photographs of The Queen as a young girl, as a young wife and mother, on holiday and enjoying the company of her children and dogs are joined by more formal images illustrating the official life of the monarch, on grand state occasions, such as the Coronation, the State Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Colour – not to mention her memorable encounter with James Bond and her dramatic arrival at the ceremony marking the opening of the 2010 London Olympics. Each photograph is accompanied by resonant quotations from speeches given by The Queen over the years, from her wartime Children’s Hour radio broadcast at the age of 13 and her first televised Christmas Day broadcast in 1957 to her speeches welcoming Commonwealth leaders and US Presidents to Buckingham Palace or responding to the warm hospitality extended to her on state visits to India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean.
Love of family, fondness for animals, a keen sense of humour, staunch belief in the Commonwealth as a force for good in the world, and gratitude to all the people around the world who go out of their way to help their communities – these are among the themes that come across from this photographic journey through a remarkable life of duty and service.
The Queen’s Christmas Speeches (1952 – 2010) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II | Transcripts of The Queen’s Christmas Speeches (1952 – 2010).
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Have you read or do you plan to read any of these books about Queen Elizabeth II? Do you have any favourite books that you think should be added to this list? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy reading!
God bless, Your Majesty. Thank you for your service. You did us proud.
