It’s been nearly four years since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and as Britain and the Commonwealth mark the centenary of her birth, there are reports that King Charles III has chosen a woman, historian Anna Keay, to write the official biography of his mother. Keay would be the first female biographer given unfettered access to royal diaries, archives and files to write such a biography. This choice highlights the tension inherent in the dual roles of the late monarch: the head of state, and a wife and mother. In 1952, when she came to the throne, that was a rare and challenging tightrope to walk.
While it will be years before an official biography – or even its first volume – is published, the analysis of Elizabeth’s legacy has already begun with two new biographies by veteran writers Hugo Vickers and Robert Hardman that are not only beautifully written but also packed with revelations – many about Elizabeth’s last years.
Patricia Treble has been writing and talking about the royals for more than two decades, including in her Write Royalty newsletter on Substack. She lives in Toronto.