Elizabeth

Only those lucky enough to be given access to the famously discreet people around the Queen - family, friends and courtiers - have any chance of understanding her real nature. Graham Turner, who is a features writer for the Daily Telegraph, has had access to the Royal Family and their inner circle for almost a decade, giving him some revealing insights into this extraordinary lady. His recent articles on the Queen provoked much media debate.Drawing on those pieces and expanding them, he takes us behind the scenes to describe the sometimes raw reality of the Queen's relationship with Prince Philip and the influence of the Queen Mother. He analyses how she deals with her own children and asks how good a mother has she been? He gives us rare glimpses behind the formality, showing the Queen on holiday at Sandringham and Balmoral - where she might serve dinner and clear the table!With rare photographs throughout, and published to coincide with the Queen's Golden Jubilee, this is an intimate and surprising biography of the monarch. The Queen as head of state is a familiar figure to us all - but for the first time Graham Turner shows us the flesh and blood woman.