Vickers Hugo

THE MAJOR NEW BIOGRAPHY OF THE LATE QUEEN: AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. 'Impeccably researched . . . Hugo Vickers offers us his piercing insights into the innermost workings of the Royal family' - DAILY MAIL'His knowledge of royalty and aristocracy is encyclopaedic . . . and his deep emotional connection with Elizabeth II and certain members of her family is given full throttle. The detail about a very public woman who, at the same time, was very private, is so remarkable' - TELEGRAPH 5-STAR REVIEW'The closest thing to an authorised life one is likely to read. Intelligent, intuitive and scrupulously researched' - QUADRANT MAGAZINE'A perfect match between subject and writer . . . The level of detail in Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History is unequalled' - THE TIMES'Vickers is the Tolstoy of royal biography, creating a vast and detailed panorama, the eccentric footnotes a glorious satire of scholarship.' - SPECTATORQueen Elizabeth II occupies a unique place in the hearts of her people, and in this major biography marking the Centenary of her birth, acclaimed royal historian Hugo Vickers sheds new light on the woman behind the greatest reign in British history. Based on six decades of close research into her life and reign, this master work contains not only archival research and close personal observation but many hours of conversation with those who knew and worked with The Queen. After a supremely happy decade of early childhood, a certain gravitas descended with the death of her beloved grandfather, George V, and the Abdication of her uncle Edward VIII. As Vickers reveals in impeccable prose, she accepted her destiny and worked steadfastly to prepare for what was to come, dedicating her life to the service of the Commonwealth. On her twenty-first birthday in 1947, she made a promise to serve and kept it for a remarkable seventy-five years. She was steadfast and conciliatory and presided calmly over decades of change, political upheaval and family tragedy. Described by the Financial Times as 'the most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet', Vickers is completely at home in the world of Queen Elizabeth II. He has worked with members of her family on various projects and also met with members of her Household. He first met The Queen in 1968 and had his last conversation with her in June 2022. This is his most incisive book yet, decoding hidden patterns in our most iconic monarch's behaviour to illuminate her as never before. -----Queen Elizabeth II was an instant Top 10 Sunday Times bestseller in the w/c 13.04.2026.

The remarkable, moving story of Prince Philip''s mother by eminent biographer Hugo Vickers, updated in this new edition - for fans of Kingmaker and The Lives and Deaths of the Princesses of Hesse''Gripping. Hugo Vickers has pulled off an extraordinary feat in describing the life - in many ways tragic - of Princess Andrew of Greece. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a masterpiece.'' - A. N. Wilson''Vickers tells this story with a sure touch and an expertise that only he can command'' SUNDAY TIMES''A sympathetic, piquant and well-defined portrait of a spirited woman'' LITERARY REVIEW''Sympathetic yet free of pathos, Vickers''s life celebrates an unusual and fascinating woman'' KIRKUS-------- Princess Alice, mother of Prince Phillip, was something of a mystery figure even within her own family. Profoundly deaf, she was born at Windsor Castle in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, and brought up in England, Darmstadt, and Malta. In 1903 she married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and from then on her life was overshadowed by wars, revolutions, enforced periods of exile. Further crisis hit when, at the age of forty-five, she was removed from her family and placed in a sanatorium in Switzerland, where she was pronounced a paranoid schizophrenic. As her stay in the clinic became prolonged, there was a time where it seemed she might never walk free again. Yet she recovered. Illuminating and enthralling, eminent biographer Hugo Vickers''s account of her life is as tumultuous and extraordinary as the times she lived through.

 SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION - & NOW INCLUDING SEASON 5 (RELEASED NOVEMBER 2022)'The most knowledgeable royal biographer on the planet' The Financial Times.Hugo Vickers is an acknowledged authority on the British Royal Family. He has commented on royal matters on television and radio since 1973 and worked as historical adviser on a number of films. He is the author of books on the Queen Mother, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Andrew of Greece (Prince Philip's mother) and Queen Mary all of whom are featured in the popular Netflix show, The Crown.In The Crown Dissected Vickers separates fact from fiction in all the episodes of this television series. Episode-by-episode analysis dissects the plots, characterisation and historical detail in each storyline. Vickers tells us what really happened and what certainly did not happen.