Voyage Around the Queen

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERTHE TIMES and SUNDAY TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2024 … ''GENIUS''A BOOK OF THE YEAR for theSPECTATOR, MAIL ON SUNDAY, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY EXPRESSand THE TABLET.From one of the funniest writers of our time, the award-winning author of One Two Three Four and Ma''am Darling turns his attention to Queen Elizabeth II in an unforgettable and fascinating biography.''A crown jewel among royal biographies'' OBSERVER‘Extraordinarily original, enlightening and fresh’ SPECTATOR''Absolutely fascinating'' Ruth Langsford, LOOSE WOMEN''A very unusual masterpiece'' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH''Brilliantly funny and well-researched'' FINANCIAL TIMESVirginia Woolf compared her to a caterpillar; Anne Frank kept pictures of her on the wall of her annex; Jimi Hendrix played her tune; Haile Selassie gave her a gold tiara; Dirk Bogarde watched Death in Venice with her; Andy Warhol envied her fame; Donald Trump offended her; E.M. Forster confessed he would have married her, if only she had been a boy.Queen Elizabeth II was famous for longer than anyone who has ever lived. When people spoke of her, they spoke of themselves; when they dreamed of her, they dreamed of themselves. She mirrored their hopes and anxieties. To the optimist, she seemed an optimist; to the pessimist, a pessimist; to the awestruck, charismatic; and to the cynical, humdrum. Though by nature reserved and unassuming, her presence could fill presidents and rock gods with terror. For close to a century, she inhabited the psyche of a nation.Combining biography, essays, cultural history, dream diaries, travelogue and satire, the bestselling and award-winning author of Ma''am Darling and One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of this most public yet private of sovereigns.–''An unconventional tribute that offers a snapshot of almost a century of social history with a mix of royal insanity, and superior anecdotes, from farts and corgis to Pa