I quite liked this. Morton managed to give people a sense of who the Queen was, without ruining the mystique of a ruler who always showed herself as a figurehead and rarely as a person.

This is a bit dry and very fact-based - Morton takes great pains not to impress his own opinion on what the various people might have been thinking or feeling, except when sourced in their own words.

I received this a free e-ARC from NetGalley.

I love to read about the royal family and this was nothing short of a very good read. I enjoyed every minute of reading. I learned more things about The Queen and her family. The book and its information was nicely put together. It kept me wanting to read more and not put the book down. The characters were realistic, but factual. I like the fact that the author is just giving the facts vs adding their own opinion. I would definitely read this book again and anything by Andrew Morton.

I've always been fascinated with Queen Elizabeth II. Not because I'm all ga-ga about royality, but her story as a woman, a mom, a person, and a leader.
Andrew Morton takes us through HRH's entire reign and her life prior to her father suddenly passing away, leaving her to ascend to a throne she hadn't planned to occupy in her twenties.
As much as she navigated politically and proved many (men) wrong about her abilities to inspire and lead, she also faced chaos within the palace walls with her marriage, her children, her sister, and eventually in-laws. She juggled many things, some effectively, some not so much, but this made her a flawed human and aren't we all?
I can't imagine being in the public eye from the moment you enteredd the world, every second of your life, and right up to your death and beyond. The court of public opinion had to be soul crushing at times, but Morton shows us how resolute and focused Queen Elizabeth could be.
I enjoyed the read and appreciate the ARC from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I have always been interested in the monarchy so when I saw this book, I knew I had to request it.

I have read several books by this author in the past and I always find them well written and enjoyable to read. This book was no exception to that. I feel like he did a wonderful job of gathering a lot of information about Queen Elizabeth II and compiling them in one big book.

I really liked this one.

Thank you toAndrew Morton, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.I have always been interested in the life of Queen Elizabeth and this book did not disappoint. Well researched with lots of little known facts made it an interesting read. Highly recommend this book if the life of Elizabeth is something you’re interested in.

I loved Andrew Morton’s biographies of Princess Diana. I expected this book to be an intimate biography of Queen Elizabeth. However, it did not discuss the personoatk details of her life or the controversies surrounding. It was mostly a rehash of the events of we knew. I would have Andrew Morton to have dig a little deeper into the controversies for Queen Elizabeth was far from perfect. Nevertheless, this was a sentimental biography for fans of the queen, and she will be deeply missed!

I enjoy reading books about the royal family and have read many books about Queen Elizabeth that I fully enjoyed. I did struggle at first to get into this book simply because it is extremely detailed and heavy with information. This is great but did take just a little bit to get into it. As mentioned, there is quite a lot of information and details included so it might not be for everyone but those who enjoy learning more details will enjoy this book.


Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an ARC copy.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A well written book about the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth. I loved the pictures throughout.

Andrew Morton truly is a master at writing about the royal family. I have always been fascinated with the royal family. I read his book on Princess Diana when I was in high school so I have been familiar with his work for decades, and I was quite excited to see this book released. It was a beautiful portrayal of a woman that was often misunderstood and quite frankly could not be truly known by the majority of people who formed such strong opinions of her.
It was also interesting in the age of shows like The Crown to peak behind the curtain and see what of those shows and perceptions were true (and how true) verses fictionalized versions of the Queen and her family.
It is astonishing and fascinating to me how history repeats itself from generation to generation, but what a privilege it was to be alive when history was made with Queen Elizabeth. She was truly a stand-up leader, albeit being somewhat out of touch with her people, but also correctly it when it was brought to her attention. I mean, how can any leader be fully in touch with their people when they are not even allowed to live amongst them. I actually think it made her more naïve than unemotional. But whatever the case may be, I definitely think she was misunderstood.
It also brought up some interesting questions about the future of the monarchy with generations to come.
While I am American and the monarchy does not really have relevance in my life, it is still absolutely fascinating to me to read and learn about it.


**Thank you to the publisher for a review copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

The timing of this publication could not have been more appropriate for nostalgia driven circulation. While not groundbreaking, it does offer a well researched scope of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

The thing that I loved most about this book was the pace. It didn't start when Elizabeth was born, it didn't give a huge history on her family-- it gave you the facts. We didn't go through her entire life; we saw her as a little girl, when her father ascended the throne, and then when she became Queen.

There wasn't a ton of unnecessary details but Morton gave you really good snippets of personal anecdotes that almost made it feel like she wrote it herself. It read more like a novel, a short retelling of Queen Elizabeth's life, instead of a history book.

There were tidbits woven throughout that only those closest to the Queen would know and it added so much context to her life's story.

I didn't miss those big historical moments as I knew most of them and have watched The Crown, so I appreciated the smaller, more intimate details of her life.

Morton is a fantastic writer, that goes without saying, but there were two moments in the book where I got choked up. One of the chapters was called 'Then Along Came Diana', and then, when discussing The Gulf War, Morton says that miles away in California, a little girl lead her classmates in a March against the war. That girls' name was Rachel Meghan Markle. My entire body has chills right now.

History really does come full circle and everything is connected.

While Queen Elizabeth's life touched is more than her family, the Diana, William & Kate, and now of course, Harry & Meghan years tend to overshadow her but Andrew Morton did an excellent job at making sure Queen Elizabeth was front and center at all moments.

She lived a long, beautiful life with many ups and downs but she made history. In our lifetime, we will never see another Queen of England and honestly, that makes me so sad but so grateful we were witnessed her reign.

The book was beautiful, a love letter to Queen Elizabeth and I would like to add the physical book to my collection for safekeeping. It's a stunning cover and a really great book to have in your collection.

If you love the Royal Family you'll love this book. If you're wanting to get more into biographies or want to dive more into the Royal Family, I think you will really enjoy this.

I would consider myself to be someone who doesn't believe in the monarchy. With that being said, I absolutely love reading books about the royal family both current and past. I have ready many of Andrew Morton's books and have been pleased by all of them. Since I have read so many, this didn't have tons more information than I was already aware of, but I did thoroughly enjoy reading it all the same. Morton has a way of writing his biographies that makes you feel as if you are there experiencing history with them.

Overall, if you are a fan of the late Queen Elizabeth II or the royal family in general, this is the perfect read for you. We can always count on his books to give us accurate and fascinating information.

Andrew Morton is a great biographer, so I knew this would be amazing. And it was. So well researched, so through, just an amazing read of a long interesting life.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this advance copy in exchange for my review. The Queen is out now to pick up!

I should preface this review by saying that I live in the United States, and I'm not British and living in the UK under the royal family, so my review comes from an American looking in. I personally found this one to be fascinating, and very informative. I'm a huge fan of The Crown and learning about the royal family, and I thought this was a nice complement. I've seen various reviews saying that the late Queen held Andrew Morton in high regards as a biographer, and I thought this was very well done for a work of non-fiction. I enjoyed it, and definitely recommend for any person who's a fan of The Crown, or is interested in learning more about the Queen's historic reign.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Grand Central publishing for this advance copy review!

'The Queen: Her Life' by Andrew Morton is a beautiful homage to a powerful woman. As an American it enlightened on many aspects of the British Monarchy that are not well known here. Truly a lovely and informative book.

I find the royal family so interesting, mostly from the historical perspective in all that the monarchy has been through over the years. In particular, Queen Elizabeth II and her lengthy reign. Andrew Morton being no stranger to royal writing gives us yet another stunning portrayal of the royal history.

As this is all true history, it seems a bit unfair to rate from the story's perspective. It's reality, and it is quite interesting. But what really shines is Andrew Morton's writing style, research, and honest portrayal of royal life. Although looking glamorous from the outside, The Queen truly dedicated her life to serve the monarchy and there is a level of sacrifice and strength that is not always visible from the outside. Morton did an excellent job of showing all sides of the coin.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Queen by Andrew Morton was a particularly fascinating to read shortly after QEII's death.

Although I have not read the cited texts, the author appears to have done his research and notes from a multitude of sources of various degrees. While I tend to be critical of inside informants, it does seem genuine. He touches on both the public and the private, sharing various anecdotes of what it must be like to be a royal. The community of the Commonwealth and Country as well as the loneliness of duty. It is highly complementary of the Queen whilst humanizes her. Although Morton points out context as to why she may have acted in certain manners, the book mostly spares her from criticism. I would have hoped that as a work of history-proofing or commentary, that the author would write about characters through well-rounded lenses, rooted in their actions against context, despite the positions of the people of interest, i.e. Churchill.

I was also enthralled by the book due to the author's previous works regarding Lady Diana. The parrallels of her treatment to Harry's are profound when you look at them side-by-side. As a result, it felt as a commoner watching it all unfold, that my vantage point was that much more informed having been able to learn some of the big-picture themes of how the royal family condducts itself and those that they deem "other."

It also served as a resource right before the latest season of The Crown was released. Despite several attempts from the palace claiming this show is highly fiction, dialogue aside, the events were spot on and I felt like I was armed with a fair amount of context before watching with family-- some of whom don't know too much about the family.

The pacing, context and overall storytelling served as an interesting read in comparison to other biographies. I imagine this book was edited after the ARC release. It is riddled with typos, has an overwhelming use of repetition in consecutively placed word choices, diminishing the punch. However, these elements could easily be reconstructed.

Would definitely recommendd to anglophiles.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a fairly new royal fanatic - so was thrilled to read Andrew Morton's newest biography! There were so many details that were so fascinating to a royal lover - and lovely stories that were a wonderful tribute to QE2. A must for any fan of the royal family!

For someone that doesn't believe in the monarchy, I am obsessed with The Crown and read a lot of English history. Had I read this before Spare, I think I might have felt a little more sympathy.

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest reigning female monarch Great Britain has ever had. While I may have felt for her during her younger years, her first mistake was marrying the philandering Philip. Her second mistake was not disciplining Charles. Let's not get into Andrew.

Say what you will about Meghan, but the media treats her like Diana, and we all know how that ended. Yes, Harry is whiny, but you must first and foremost protect your partner. I did enjoy this in parts, but as I grow older, I find myself less sympathetic to the overtly privileged. It is what it is.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

What an incredible biography! Whenever I picked up "The Queen", I learned something new about Queen Elizabeth II, and about her life and times as well.

Andrew Morton is an author who makes history jump right off of the pages, whether further back in time or more recent.

This biography brilliantly weaves together the telling of many aspects of Queen Elizabeth II's life, starting from her younger years. She lived through so much history and change, and I found this non-fiction book to be so full of so much depth.

If you enjoy learning about the British Royal Family, I highly recommend this non-fiction read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC of this book, it is incredible. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.