Do Let's Have Another Drink

During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations and dry-as-a-Martini delivery style as she was for being a member of the Royal Family. She was also famed for her fondness for 'drinky-poos'—usually a gin and Dubonnet or three. Now, recounts 101 biographical vignettes—one for each year of her long, remarkable life, including her coming-of-age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law, the truth about her tragic nieces and her relationship with her two daughters over half a century of widowhood. The book is a skimming-stone biography—the story of a life without the boring bits—and a travel guide to a world that no longer exists. Stepping into the Queen Mother's rarefied universe is a little like falling through the looking glass. The book rightly celebrates her sense of humor but also explores her enmities and feuds, including the truth about her behavior towards Wallis Simpson, Nerissa Bowes-Lyon and Diana, Princess of Wales. For fans of and featuring new revelations, never before published, and colorful anecdotes about the woman the high society photographer Cecil Beaton once described as 'a marshmallow made on a welding machine', is a delightful celebration of one of the most consistently popular members of the Royal Family.