Young Elizabeth: The Making of Our Queen

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Manufacturer: Kate Williams
Brand: Non-Fiction, Biography
Brew: Paperback
Steeping Time: 303 pages
Tea Service: Personal Choice
Strength:

Synopsis: We can hardly imagine a Britain without Elizabeth II on the throne. It seems to be the job she was born for. And yet for much of her early life the young princess did not know the role that her future would hold. She was our accidental Queen. Elizabeth’s determination to share in the struggles of her people marked her out from a young age. Her father initially refused to let her volunteer as a nurse during the Blitz, but relented when she was 18 and allowed her to work as a mechanic and truck driver for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service.

It was her forward-thinking approach that ensured that her coronation was televised, against the advice of politicians at the time. Kate Williams reveals how the 25-year-old young queen carved out a lasting role for herself amid the changes of the 20th century. Her monarchy would be a very different one to that of her parents and grandparents, and its continuing popularity in the 21st century owes much to the intelligence and elusive personality of this remarkable woman.

When Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8 September 2022, it only seemed fitting that this book was my next read.

I picked up Young Elizabeth: The Making of Our Queen while traveling in the UK quite a few years ago. It saddens me that her death was the reason I finally chose to read this book, but I’m happy to have read it while so many other stories were being shared about her. It brought her story closer to home than I think this book could have done on its own.

To be honest, I probably needed all of that external drive to stick with Young Elizabeth. The beginning was hard to follow, even with my light knowledge of the royal family. If you have little to no knowledge of the royal family and their immediate lineage, buckle up. Take notes. You’ll need them if you want to follow along.

To learn about what shaped Elizabeth as a young child, we first start with what shaped her parents and grandparents. In turn, the first quarter of the book is mainly a history of those people. With so many repetitive names and interchangeable nicknames, it was hard to keep track of who was who. Kate Williams switches back and forth between nicknames and given names frequently and doesn’t do a great job of specifying when she does so. There were definitely sections that I read without a smidge of knowledge as to who she was referencing. I gave up trying to figure it out and just pressed on, knowing I’d eventually get to Elizabeth and Margaret. In the end, it didn’t affect the outcome of Elizabeth’s story for me. But if I reread it, I’d be skipping this entire section.

Once we did get to Elizabeth’s birth and childhood, I was hooked.

And the second we reached the WWII stretch of her life, I couldn’t put the book down! There were so many wonderful details about her life, and little stories that gave so much insight into who she was. It’s so hard to imagine the changes in her life. From being a somewhat regular child (as much as she could be) to suddenly being heir apparent must have been such a hard shift. I can’t imagine my life instantly changing like that. To have all of your dreams become null and void in a moment is something I can’t begin to fathom, let alone the mountain of responsibility that followed.

From her birth forward, Young Elizabeth shares many details that I didn’t know about Elizabeth, and they were a joy to learn. Kate Williams greatly details the intricacies of her schooling, courtship with Philip, and early married life, as well as her ascension to the throne. I’d say that the majority of the book focuses on Elizabeth’s early life. Her later years, after ascending the throne, are touched on, but not quite as deeply.

There is also a good deal of information about Edward VIII and his abdication, which I found fascinating. I knew quite a bit about that time in English history and many of the main details pertaining to the abdication and surrounding circumstances, but I learned a good deal more from Young Elizabeth: The Making of Our Queen.

I gave Young Elizabeth four cuppas because I truly loved the book and the information it provided.

Perhaps I was swayed by nostalgia or was wrapped up in the flow of the moment as I woke at 1:45 AM to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral proceedings, but I’m sticking with that rating. There were quite a few typos, the author has a tendency to ramble, and I’d have given a limb for a few more commas to break up some of those longer sentences, but in the end, the story of Queen Elizabeth’s life is what sold me. I find her life captivating, and I hope to read more about her in the future. If you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments below!

Have you read it? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia