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The author notes that Queen Consort lived through World War I as a young woman, rose to the throne following the unexpected abdication of her brother-in-lawEdward VIIIand supported her husbandKing George VIthrough World War II. She was also a widow for almost 50 years, and guided her daughter as Queen through a changing 20th century— “the embodiment of keep calm and carry on.”
Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth, King George VI and Princess Margaret.Nixon & Greaves/Mirrorpix/Getty
Summing up her spirit, he quoted a well-wisher who saw Queen Mother during a royal stop in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1942 — where “a touch of the imp” shined through her steely exterior.
Later in the book, Russell breaks down why the Queen Mother was like a second mom to Charles, 73.
“In some ways, the Queen Mother was a mother figure to Charles just because the Queen became Queen when Charles was so young. There were a lot of tours of the Commonwealth and every time the Queen had to go away,Prince Charlesstayed with the Queen Mother,” Russell tells PEOPLE. “They had a great sense of humor, and she always encouraged him.”
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Today, Russell trusts that the royal matriarch would be proud of Charles as he steps up as sovereign.
“Apparently she always said, ‘Well done’ to people. I think she would say, ‘Well done’ to King Charles, because she absolutely adored him, and she believed in things being done in a certain traditional way. I think she would’ve been very approving of the way Elizabeth II was buried.”
As a new royal era begins, Russell says the Queen Mother would have argued against Charles' vision for a slimmer modern monarchy.
“She wasn’t a believer that things had to change. I don’t think she would necessarily support many of the changes that King Charles will be implementing, but she certainly would support him,” Russell adds.
Read on for two exclusive excerpts ofDo Let’s Have Another Drink!(out Nov. 1).
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“Is it just me or are the pensioners getting younger these days?” the Queen Mother asked as she sailed into her tenth decade.
“Only the kind of person who kicks kittens, snarls at babies and denies the existence of Santa Claus,” concluded one of her admirers, “can resist her jolly face, her utter femininity, her guileless way of steam-rollering through any situation.”
“The look she gave me could have frozen fire,” he recalls. A second later, she smiled coldly to tell him, very firmly, “Some things are best not discussed.”
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One of the pleasures of growing older can be found in nostalgic reunions of friends and animated conversations beginning “Do you remember . . .” By the 1990s, there were few to whom the Queen Mother could say this. Excepting her sister-in-law Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who died aged 102 in 2004, Elizabeth had outlasted nearly all her contemporaries.
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One of her favourite guests was Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. In 1996, President Mandela visited London and came to Clarence House for tea with the Queen Mother, where they chatted for hours longer than scheduled, before she attended a state banquet in his honour.
Her appetite and her sense of humour remained strong to the end. (“People say it’s not good to eat butter. People say butter is bad for your heart. Well, I have eaten butter all my life and look at me.")
When a group of children were throwing rocks at cars on the Mall, the Queen Mother had her driver stop as she rolled down the window to chide the culprits. “Whatever will the American tourists think?” she asked them, before waving as she drove on.
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Prince William’s favourite photograph of himself and his great-grandmother “is a picture of me aged about nine or ten, helping the Queen Mother up the steps of Windsor Castle. I remember the moment because she said to me, ‘Keep doing that for people and you will go a long way in life.'” There are also adorable photographs of a youngPrince Harry, in his suit and coat, holding an umbrella over his great-grandmother as they left church together.
In 2001, she threw a farewell lunch at Birkhall forPrince Williambefore he started at St. Andrew’s, the oldest university in Scotland. As the 101-year-old waved him off, she said, “Any good parties, invite me!”
“There was no way,“Prince Williamsaid later. “I knew full well that if I invited her down, she would dance me under the table.”
source: people.com
