Gareth Russell •
Do Let’s Have Another Drink! •

Who was the Queen Mother? Photographer Cecil Beaton described her as “a marshmallow forged on a welding machine.” To King Charles, she was “the most magical grandmother you could possibly have.” Aristocrats and commoners alike praised her “divine manners,” kind heart, and “irrepressible” sense of humor. Hitler considered her ”the most dangerous woman in Europe.”

Born the daughter of an earl in 1900, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon subsequently became the Duchess of York, then Queen Elizabeth, and finally the Queen Mother when the throne passed to her daughter in 1952.

But you don’t need to be versed in the intricacies of royal lineage to relish these 101 vignettes, roughly one for each year of her long, eventful life. The book is less a biography than a series of glimpses through the keyhole at telling moments.

There are stories about her relations with Wallis Simpson (frosty), her treatment of hecklers (gracious but masterful), and her fondness for practical jokes (legendary). We learn that the Queen Mum adored The Golden Girls and never said no to another gin and Dubonnet, her favorite tipple. “Perhaps we could have a little more gin next time?”

Russell supplies enough luscious detail to satisfy even the most ardent Windsor watcher. On occasions when the media prematurely reported her death, the Queen Mother would ask, “Have I died again?” Learning that Countess Mountbatten was to be buried at sea, she deadpanned, “Dear old Edwina, she  always did like to make a splash.” Nudists near her beach hut? “I’m longing to see them. Perhaps the corgis will nip their bottoms.”

She delivered her most famous quip when playwright Noel Coward was ogling a line of cavalry guards in full regalia. “I wouldn’t if I were you, Noel,” the Queen Mum whispered mischievously. “They count them before they put them out.”