Happy and Glorious: A Celebration of the Life of HM Queen Elizabeth II

This is a photo book, one I purchased at the gift shop of the royal yacht Britannia (probably not easily available in the USA). All the photographs are the work of the author, Robin Nunn, and the "commentary" consists of laudatory paragraphs written by various of her loyal subjects describing how a particular event of meeting the queen gave them a lasting and fond memory. Their comments did not usually match the occasion of the photo they were with, but this was not particularly jarring--the words and pictures were essentially addressing the same issue of her unexpected personal warmth given her rather stoic image. The photos span 1985 to 2005, with a welcome emphasis on more recent ones. She is portrayed both casually and formally, usually smiling warmly and invitingly. Overall, the book elevated her in my opinion, emphasizing her strengths as it did. (For one thing, her outfits are much more stylish and colorful than what I expected.) One secret bonus to this book is that you get to play "spot the protection officer." One is so obvious as to have a bug in his ear, but the others are mostly nicely dressed men who are Argus-eyed in looking past the queen and scanning the crowd. At book's end, you wish her well . . .