Elizabeth II (post 6)

The final 50 pages of Monarch: The Life and Reign of Elizabeth II are disappointingly uninteresting. For the most part the focus extensively on common knowledge. Lacey spends about 40 pages detailing the preparations for Diana's funeral. These 35 pages pretty boring... if you wanted to learn about the Queen's reaction to Diana's death, watching The Queen is a much more entertaining and equally informative way to learn about it. I was actually pretty surprised at how accurate the movie was. Unfortunately, Lacey only spends about ten pages detailing the Queen's life from the aftermath of Diana's death to the end of 2001 (the book was published in 2002). These 10 pages can be summed up in a single sentence: the Queen became increasingly comfortable showing emotion and more ready to take risks. Of the Queen's reaction to the ceremony honoring the victims of September 11, Lacey writes, "She bit hard on her lower lip, and as she came out of the cathedral, there were tears in her eyes... tears for America..." (403). This is a stark contrast to even the church service the day after Diana's death, when the entire royal family was reported to have "concealed their feelings with such grim success that all of them-- from the normally outgoing queen mother down to the two princes, William and Harry

-- might have been been taken for wooden and uncaring" (361). Clearly, the Queen's attitude had shifted. In some ways, it is a good thing, because it reflects what the country wants. In other ways, it also symbolizes a tearing apart of ancient traditions, when the monarch was aloof and separated from their people. Overall, this was an excellent book about the modern royal family but a half-hearted book about Elizabeth II.

Elizabeth II (post 5)

The next section of this biography of Queen Elizabeth II focuses on the time between Prince Charles' marriage and Diana's death. Once again, it follows mainly Charles and Diana's relationship and the queen's reaction to their problems. Lacey's book gives a vary detailed description of Charles' and Diana's marriage problems, their separation and divorce and Diana's death. However, on interesting story about the queen involves a man, Michael Fagan, who broke into Buckingham palace, entered the Queen's bedroom, sat down on her bed and started to talk to her. The Queen pressed her alarm button several times, but got no response. It took two phone calls to get the police to come and arrest the intruder. During all this, the Queen kept Fagan talking and remained calm. This section also talks about the Queen's parenting style-- she let her children make their own mistakes, and she would not block embarrassing press coverage when they get themselves into it (such as when Prince Edward agreed to appear on a game show on which people made themselves look stupid playing games). There is also a chapter about the "annus horriblis" (328). During 1992, Diana and Charles announced their formal separation and Winsdor palace burned down.
The Queen, during all this, did not hesitate to make changes that needed to be made in a new era. She surrendered the monarch's traditional tax exemption and authorized many changes in the way the palace and royal staff were run. According to Lacey, "'Fine, Let's go,' ran one account of her reaction. 'Stop mucking around'" (329). However, she remained stubbornly opinionated on the way she conducted herself in public. Lacey writes that, " her regal instincts revived when an over-officious producer tried to hurry the family out onto the balcolny to fit inside the BBC's scheduled time slot. Elizabeth II declined to be hurried, and the seconds ticked down to the deadline" (342). Clearly, Elizabeth still possessed the stubborness for which she is famous.

Elizabeth II (post 4)

The next section of Monarch: The Life and Reign of Elizabeth II focuses on the time between Elizabeth II's Coronation and a few years after her Silver Jubilee. Once again, there is a lot more information on Prince Margaret (the Queen's sister), Prince Philip (the Queen's husband) and Prince Charles (the Queen's eldest child) than there is about the Queen herself. Lacey recounts Princess Margaret's marital woes in greater detail than is relevant. The Queen's marriage was not entirely smooth either. Loud arguments were heard by staff from behind closed doors. The issue of the names of the royal children was a major point of tension. Prince Philip was angry that he was not allowed to give his name to his children (because of royal precedent, the Queen's children were expected to take the name of Winsdor), and this caused significant dissent not only between the Queen and Philip, but also between Philip and the government. Prince Charles went through several years of both less-than-serious girlfriends and potential wives (several of which he proposed to and was turned down) before his parent's encouragement prompted him to choose Diana Spencer as his bride. During this time, he met, fell in love with and had two affairs with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Underneath all the superfluous details, the Queen is constantly mentioned as being stoic, though more willing to show emotion in public, upright and regal. Her Coronation and Silver Jubilee both spurred revivals in public feelings for the monarchy, with huge crowds turning out to witness the events, both on television and in person. Lacey also discusses her reaction to the rising costs of keeping the monarchy afloat. When rising inflation and increased unemployment made it more and more difficult for the government to pay the costs of the monarchy, she is reported to have dipped into her own pocket to help shoulder the costs. Another issue that the Queen shows her willingness to compromise is the continued rising importance of the press. Lacey recounts how the Queen was "chief opponent of television," (183). However, she allowed most of the Coronation to be televised, though with restrictions on the types of shots and which moments could not be filmed (183). This shows her growing sense of the new era of media that she would rule in, and the increasing sense of ownership the people had over their monarch. Though sometimes Elizabeth would be reluctant to make the changes a new era demanded, her newly-created willingness to connect with the people shows her acceptance change. In the late 1960s, she even allowed the BBC to construct a documentary, called Royal Family, about (who would've guessed?) the royal family. However, she also demonstrated that she would not be pushed around or be afraid of the people if she did not want to be. When she was the victim of an assassination attempt on June 13, 1981, she "steadied her horse Burmese and rode on to arrive at her birthday parade on the stroke of eleven" (285). Britain was entering a new era where the Queen belonged to her people, and Elizabeth's challenge was to belong to her people while still being who she was.