-
The Queen Mother
- The Official Biography
- Narrated by: William Shawcross
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Abridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Historical
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $27.93
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Clementine
- The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By Winston Churchill's own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been "impossible without her". Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchill's wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDR's initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britain's close relationship with America.
-
-
Well told history of inspirational unsung heroine
- By Go Steelers on 02-10-18
By: Sonia Purnell
-
Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- By: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
-
-
Interesting, informative, and insightful
- By Dr. Lance Moore on 06-08-17
By: Anne Edwards
-
Queen Mary
- The Official Biography
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a queen consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers, and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a remarkable portrait of a remarkable woman and received rave reviews across the press.
-
-
Excellent! UPDATED review after 2nd listen.
- By Geri A on 07-31-21
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
-
The Queen Mother
- The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
- By: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, Lady Colin Campbell reveals the fascinating and moving life of The Queen Mother. With unparalleled sources, including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, and friends and relatives of Elizabeth herself, this mesmerizing account takes us inside the real and sometimes astonishing world of the royal family.
-
-
Listen with a huge pinch of salt
- By Graham Lord on 11-07-18
-
Elizabeth the Queen
- The Life of a Modern Monarch
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II has been the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well do we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II.
-
-
A Personal Look at a Great Queen
- By Ashleesgirl21 on 09-14-12
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specifically, there could never be “another Diana”—a member of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the British monarchy.
-
-
Tina Brown reads her book
- By Karen on 04-26-22
By: Tina Brown
-
Clementine
- The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By Winston Churchill's own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been "impossible without her". Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchill's wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDR's initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britain's close relationship with America.
-
-
Well told history of inspirational unsung heroine
- By Go Steelers on 02-10-18
By: Sonia Purnell
-
Matriarch
- Queen Mary and the House of Windsor
- By: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
-
-
Interesting, informative, and insightful
- By Dr. Lance Moore on 06-08-17
By: Anne Edwards
-
Queen Mary
- The Official Biography
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a queen consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers, and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a remarkable portrait of a remarkable woman and received rave reviews across the press.
-
-
Excellent! UPDATED review after 2nd listen.
- By Geri A on 07-31-21
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
-
The Queen Mother
- The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
- By: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time, Lady Colin Campbell reveals the fascinating and moving life of The Queen Mother. With unparalleled sources, including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, and friends and relatives of Elizabeth herself, this mesmerizing account takes us inside the real and sometimes astonishing world of the royal family.
-
-
Listen with a huge pinch of salt
- By Graham Lord on 11-07-18
-
Elizabeth the Queen
- The Life of a Modern Monarch
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the moment of her ascension to the throne in 1952 at the age of twenty-five, Queen Elizabeth II has been the object of unparalleled scrutiny. But through the fog of glamour and gossip, how well do we really know the world’s most famous monarch? Drawing on numerous interviews and never-before-revealed documents, acclaimed biographer Sally Bedell Smith pulls back the curtain to show in intimate detail the public and private lives of Queen Elizabeth II.
-
-
A Personal Look at a Great Queen
- By Ashleesgirl21 on 09-14-12
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specifically, there could never be “another Diana”—a member of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the British monarchy.
-
-
Tina Brown reads her book
- By Karen on 04-26-22
By: Tina Brown
-
Bertie: A Life of Edward VII
- By: Jane Ridley
- Narrated by: Carole Boyd
- Length: 22 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Entertaining and different, this is an enjoyable study of a flawed yet characterful Prince of Wales seen through the eyes of the women in his life. Edward Vll, who gave his name to the Edwardian Age and died in 1911, was King of England for the final 10 years of his life. He was 59 when at last he came to the throne. Known as Bertie, the eldest son of Victoria and Albert, he was bullied by both his parents.
-
-
I cried when I finished
- By Silvershirt on 04-22-14
By: Jane Ridley
-
The Real Wallis Simpson
- A New History of the American Divorcee Who Became the Duchess of Windsor
- By: Anna Pasternak
- Narrated by: Laura Kirman
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wallis Simpson is known as the woman at the center of the most scandalous love affair of the 20th century, but in this surprising new biography, best-selling author Anna Pasternak redeems a women wronged by history with new information revealed by those who were close to the couple - presenting Wallis as a convenient scapegoat to rid England of a king deemed unworthy to rule.
-
-
worst narrator ever
- By jill yate on 03-31-19
By: Anna Pasternak
-
Elizabeth & Margaret
- The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward Vlll decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called "Lillibet". And bow to her wishes. Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister's antics with a kind of stoical amusement, but Margaret's struggle to find a place and position inside the royal system - and her fraught relationship with its expectations - was often a source of tension.
-
-
Enlightening
- By Laurie on 04-21-21
By: Andrew Morton
-
Royal Sisters
- Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret
- By: Anne Edwards
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Royal Sisters, Anne Edwards, author of the best-selling Vivien Leigh: A Biography and Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor, has written the first dual biography of Elizabeth, the princess who was to become Queen, and her younger sister, Margaret, who was to be her subject. From birth to maturity, they were the stuff of which dreams are made.
-
-
Where's The Rest?
- By Simone on 12-19-17
By: Anne Edwards
-
Lady in Waiting
- My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
- By: Anne Glenconner
- Narrated by: Anne Glenconner
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the fifth Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.
-
-
Horrible Reading
- By Teddy hall on 03-27-20
By: Anne Glenconner
-
Princess Mary
- The First Modern Princess
- By: Elisabeth Basford, Hugo Vickers - foreword
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Princess Diana is seen as the first member of the British royal family to tear up the rulebook, and the duchess of Cambridge is modernizing the monarchy in strides. But before them was another who paved the way: Princess Mary.
-
-
So many things I didn't know
- By Etoile NEOhio on 01-28-22
By: Elisabeth Basford, and others
-
George V
- Never a Dull Moment
- By: Jane Ridley
- Narrated by: Joanna David
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the most beloved and distinguished historians of the British monarchy, here is a lively, intimately detailed biography of a long-overlooked king who reimagined the Crown in the aftermath of World War I and whose marriage was an epic romance.
-
-
great but long listen
- By aleks r on 02-23-22
By: Jane Ridley
-
Daughter of Empire
- My Life as a Mountbatten
- By: Pamela Hicks
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few families can boast of not one but two saints among their ancestors, a great-aunt who was the last tsarina of Russia, a father who was Grace Kelly's pinup, and a grandmother who was not only a princess but could also argue the finer points of naval law. Pamela Mountbatten entered a remarkable family when she was born at the very end of the Roaring Twenties.
-
-
Beautifully Impressive Narrative of Aristocracy
- By Robert W Bruso on 08-31-17
By: Pamela Hicks
-
The Husband Hunters
- American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy
- By: Anne de Courcy
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Towards the end of the 19th century and for the first few years of the 20th, a strange invasion took place in Britain. The citadel of power, privilege, and breeding in which the titled, land-owning governing class had barricaded itself for so long was breached. The incomers were a group of young women who, 50 years earlier, would have been looked on as the alien denizens of another world - the New World, to be precise. From 1874 - the year that Jennie Jerome, the first known "Dollar Princess", married Randolph Churchill - to 1905, dozens of young American heiresses married into the British peerage....
-
-
Very interesting and well read!
- By Raven on 09-01-18
By: Anne de Courcy
-
The Royals
- By: Kitty Kelley
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They are the most chronicled family on the face of the globe. Their every move attracts headlines. Scores of books have tried and failed to penetrate the royal facade. Now Kitty Kelley has gone behind palace walls to provide the first three-dimensional, comprehensive, and evenhanded portrait of the men and women who make up the British Royal family.
-
-
Ties the Tin Can On Them
- By Laurie on 11-07-17
By: Kitty Kelley
-
The Quest for Queen Mary
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers - editor
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck, Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The highly acclaimed unexpurgated notes taken by James Pope-Hennessy for his official biography of Queen Mary, the present Queen's grandmother. Published in full for the first time and edited by much-admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers. When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court members and retainers around Europe. The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years....
-
-
Very informative and entertaining
- By bigdjunta on 02-11-20
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
-
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey
- The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle
- By: The Countess of Carnarvon
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes's Emmy Award-winning PBS series, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants: Lady Almina, the fifth Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.
-
-
Fascinating
- By the little hill on 12-09-12
Publisher's Summary
The official and definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Consort of King George VI, mother of Queen Elizabeth II, grandmother of Prince Charles - and the most beloved British monarch of the 20th century.
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon - the ninth of the Earl of Strathmore’s 10 children - was born on August 4, 1900, and, certainly, no one could have imagined that her long life (she died in 2002) would come to reflect a changing nation over the course of an entire century. Now, William Shawcross - given unrestricted access to the Queen Mother’s personal papers, letters, and diaries - gives us a portrait of unprecedented vividness and detail. Here is the girl who helped convalescing soldiers during the First World War...the young Duchess of York helping her reluctant husband assume the throne when his brother abdicated...the Queen refusing to take refuge from the bombing of London, risking her own life to instill courage and hope in others who were living through the Blitz...the dowager Queen - the last Edwardian, the charming survivor of a long-lost era - representing her nation at home and abroad...the matriarch of the Royal Family and “the nation’s best-loved grandmother".
A revelatory royal biography that is, as well, a singular history of Britain in the 20th century.
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about The Queen Mother
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lynne C
- 01-07-16
Abridged version -
I had not realized when I purchased the audible that is was abridged. The book is quite detailed and lengthy. Didn't realize it wasn't the same until I noticed that the whole abdication crisis, WWII and the death of the king pretty much zipped through in 5 hours. These were the defining parts of the queen's life. Once I got past the glossed over version of this part of the queen's life I stopped listening. What was the point?
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeanette Finan
- 05-02-13
The right woman at exactly the right time
I was actually looking for a biography of George VI on audible but couldn't find on so I got this one as it was the closest I could get. I'm beginning to think audible is prejudiced towards male monarchs.
She wasn't really all that special but she brought humanity to the Royal family at a time when they desperately needed it. And she did it with grace and an abundance of charm. She was the right woman at exactly the right place and time.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CaliFunYa
- 09-13-15
Excellent book!
After reading and listening to a number of historical books about many different members of the royal family through the centuries, this is the first book that moved me to tears regarding the death of a royal. The narration was also beautifully done. This is a remarkable book about a very human and yet very lovely, charming and admirable woman who was a true queen in every positive sense of the word.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Leslie
- 03-29-21
More like homage than biography
Disappointed that the writer was so worshipful of the queen mother. We know now that the QM was a domineering woman who tried to have her way in everything, inserted herself in other people's business, was a spendthrift privileged person who cloaked herself in do-goodery. This is a good read, but it totally lacks any perceptive detail or analysis. More like an outline of her life than a discerning, penetrating biography.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Serena Galloway
- 11-02-16
thin
very little substance after the death of her husband. Basically 25 years of her social calendar.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Homebound
- 06-28-13
Bland.
Overall, a mildly interesting book for monarcho-philes but superficial and glorifying. Not a waste of time, especially for learning about her earlier years but at best a "beach" book, neither one that is a complete waste of time, nor one you would hate to lose.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Etoile NEOhio
- 04-05-22
I had not realized this audio version was ABRIDGED
What a sad state that the author did but see fit to read his own book in its entirety. Very disappointing and left me feeling ripped off. Had I realized it sooner I would have returned the audio version as unacceptable. I happened to also buy the Kindle version, which I now will read in its entirety as I was reading along and kept having to pause the audio to fill in the blanks. The amount of material that was left out of this audio version is stunning. Sadly, the print version gives a much broader and deeper picture of the Grand Dame we called The Queen Mum.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elizabeth Newton
- 08-10-20
What a life!
Wonderful biography of the Queen Mother. Shawcross captures the essence of the times Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon lived through.
My only wish would be that it had been read unabridged;)
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather
- 06-29-20
Wonderful book about a wonderful woman
I truly enjoyed this listen. It was easy to listen to, narrated by the author, and fast-paced. I found it especially interesting and contrast with certain members of today's Royal family who do not wish to do their duties, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's devotion to her country was even more outstanding.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diane F. Trussell
- 07-08-19
Exceptional lady
what an inspiring grand lady . so enjoyed this book. I will certainly tell my history loving friends to listen to this book