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Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters

Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters

by Andrew Morton

Grand Central Publishing ·2021 ·384 pages
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
30/99
Bottom of the Pile

10/99

Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

50/99

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About This Book

They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called 'Lillibet'. And bow to her wishes.Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister's antics with a kind of stoical amusement but Margaret's struggle to find a place and position inside the royal system – and her fraught relationship with its expectations – was often a source of tension. Famously, the Queen had to inform Margaret that the Church and government would not countenance her marrying a divorcee, Group Captain Peter Townsend, forcing Margaret to choose between keeping her title and royal allowances or her divorcee lover.From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden wartime lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father's death and Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. Andrew Morton, renowned bestselling author of Diana: Her True Story, offers unique insight into these two drastically different sisters – one resigned to duty and responsibility, the other resistant to it – and the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family and the way it has adapted to the changing mores of the twentieth century.


Reviews

"He also pinpoints some scenarios in The Crown, such as the handling of the Townsend affair, that were made to appear more dramatic than the reality ..."

Stacy Shaw· Library Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Andrew Morton's biography of the sisters Elizabeth and Margaret covers well-trodden ground but raises some interesting points along the way ..."

Moira Hodgson· The Wall Street Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Biographer Morton examines in this vibrant history the 'push-and-pull between..."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

"The result is less deliciously inspired ..."

Michelle Ruiz· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"What that purpose was and whether it was worth the sacrifice of these two limited and sometimes desperate individuals is a question that seldom floats into view ..."

Louis Bayard· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"It is hard not to keep thinking of The Crown reading this, but it is a corrective of the series too, especially when it comes to Margaret's relationship with Townsend ..."

Rosamund Urwin· The Times (UK) Read review ↗ Near the Top

"The clichéd assessment 'compulsively readable' seems the most appropriate response to Andrew Morton's 385-page book on the Windsor sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret."

Jane Haile· The New York Journal of Books Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Deliciously detailed, sometimes gossipy, often moving, this in-depth examination of royal siblings is sure to be in demand."

Kathleen McBroom· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

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