Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

1977, Avon edition from later that year
Robert Lacey
Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor
Original price $2.25, purchase price unknown
Very worn paperback
C+

"Elizabeth II is made to be an inspiring old Queen," begins the last chapter of this biography that was released during her Silver Jubilee, although I think Lacey would've been surprised to see her still alive and on the throne thirty-five years later.  It's ironic to read of concern over an "Edward VII situation," in which the elderly queen kept going until her successor son was almost sixty.  Elizabeth is now 86, the Prince of Wales almost 64, and she still shows no signs of abdicating.  Further irony comes from the discussion of changing attitudes towards divorce, from future aunt Wallis Simpson's second in 1937, to the beginnings of Elizabeth's sister's in 1976 (finalized the year after this book came out).  All of Elizabeth's children were single at the time of this biography, but three of the four would go on to get divorced.

Lacey's style isn't great, sometimes redundant, and sometimes too uncritical.  Some of the material is interesting, although I actually prefer the first half, before Elizabeth succeeds her father.  Not only is she more interesting in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, but I liked reading about her colorful relatives.  One of Lacey's points is that the modern success of the British monarchy is that George V, his son George VI, and granddaughter Elizabeth were deliberately "average," albeit with common sense, while the flightier members-- Edward VIII and Princess Margaret in particular-- were threats to the stability of the British crown.  But sometimes he goes overboard in celebrating the "ordinariness" of what is still an extraordinary family. 

Overall, not the best book possible on the subject, but a good example of how some saw Her Majesty over a third-of-a-century ago.  And it does have a good if too small-fonted family tree, and many photos.