It’s a mess. And now it’s all yours to clear up.
Over time, too many hands tweaked this thing, dropped the ball, subtracted important aspects, added pet projects and then they dumped it in your lap to fix. You get to untangle the knots. You must replace unneeded with helpful and reclaim a reputation. It was someone else’s mess to make and, as in “Power and Glory” by Alexander Larman, it’s your mess now.
Had you been near Buckingham Palace on the evening of May 8, 1945, you might’ve witnessed quite a sight: two teenage princesses, kicking and cavorting with their fellow countrymen in celebration of the end of World War II. Surely, the war’s end was a weight off the shoulders of 19-year-old Princess Elizabeth, the future queen.
Her father hadn’t asked to be King. Elizabeth hadn’t requested the throne, either, but her Uncle David, the Duke of Windsor, had tossed Great Britain into a tizzy when he fell in love with a divorced American and famously stepped aside. Elizabeth was just a little girl then and her father had dutifully assumed control with some struggle, but the Royal Family couldn’t forgive the Duke for what he’d done. He was an embarrassment that got worse when it was revealed that he’d been deeply involved with Nazis during the war.
As for Elizabeth, she endured a different kind of embarrassment: courting in public.
It was one of Royalty’s “worst-guarded secrets” that Prince Philip of Greece had caught the eye of the young Princess, but the Royal family wasn’t totally keen on him. Still, he won them over, the engagement was announced, they married, and they lived happily ever after.
Until King George VI died in 1952 and the Princess became Queen with all-new problems.
George “had hoped to revitalize the monarchy,” says Larman,” but would run out of time before he could do so. It now seemed clear that his successor would have to continue the job for him.
All this may sound a little British-stiff-upper-lip-ish, doesn’t it? You’ll be glad it’s not; author Alexander Larman tells a mid-century tale with so many tiny details and small stories that you’ll be pleased and delighted.
Part of the appeal is the palace intrigue he shares.
Politicking is everywhere inside “Power and Glory,” and the backdoor wrangling, scheming, and secret decision-making makes good reading, if nothing but because we know how this all ends. Larman also shows readers sides of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – anger, plotting, befuddlement, and ultimate banishment — that feel fresh but also rather sad, in the end. Yes, Larman’s timeline bounces about a bit too much, but the back-and-forth works as a foundation to keep readers grounded in the main story of Queen Elizabeth’s astounding sense of duty and her lifelong work.
“Power and Glory,” in fact, will give you a new appreciation of her efforts to become relevant and to revive the Royal Family. It’s lively and readable, with a touch of wry humor — it’s clearly a book you need.
“Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty” by Alexander Larman
c.2024, St. Martin’s Press
$32.00
324 pages
