Do Let’s Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

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This book takes a look at her life, decade by decade, to show the woman who tried (not always successfully) to avoid publicity. I have just finished reading Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother by historian Gareth Russell. When I drank in the cover of this book and its title, I surmised I was getting truly a new spin on the topic in the form of humorous anecdotes about The Queen Mother. I've got many uncomfortable feelings about the monarchy but, I heard Gareth Russell on the Savage Lovecast and was fascinated by the history he shared and requested this ARC. The author clearly has an affection for the Queen Mother, but this is definitely not a saccharine-loaded memoir.

While fascination with the royal family rarely wanes, the younger generations tend to grab all the headlines. Stepping into the Queen Mother’s rarefied universe is a little like falling through the looking glass. The Duke of Windsor was a terrible spoiled man, who, when he got what he wanted, still winged and wined. Neither brother (Kings Edward VIII or George VI) comes across in a very positive light, both being described as not overly bright, quick to throwing temper tantrums, and spoiled. If you are in your seventies, however, you will remember the furore over Margaret’s doomed relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend.King George VI died fifteen years later, at which point his daughter Elizabeth, became Queen Elizabeth II, and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Russell does a magnificent job telling the story of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother thoughtfully and engagingly. Those in their fifties might say that the life and death of Diana created an unprecedented media storm. We know their names; King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Phillip, Prince (now King) Charles, Princess Diana, and Prince William. Gareth Russell peels back the gilded curtain to explore the life of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, lovingly known as the Queen Mother, in his latest biography, “Do Let’s Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. I read elsewhere that both she and her husband Bertie were completely unaware the King was planning to abdicate until they stepped off a train one day and saw a billboard advertising it!The short stories of her life as a young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon were heartfelt and full of personality.