The Queen Mum - Charles Rae

As she approaches her 100th birthday, the Sun Book of the Queen Mum takes a lively and affectionate look at the life and times of the best-loved of all Britain's royals. The book' s authors have, between them, over 40 years experience covering her achievements.

From her birth in Scotland at the dawn of the last century, through her roles as Queen, mother and finally royal great grand-mother, the Queen Mum has experienced all the dramas both of her own family and of the country at large. The Sun Book of the Queen Mum follows all the key moments of this extraordinary life. She was catapulted from the quiet confines of her domestic circle by her marriage to the Duke of York. Her husband's unexpected elevation to the crown in 1936 following the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII caused her to become the cornerstone of the monarchy. Cutting a surprisingly modern figure at variance with her later image of genial conservatism, the Queen Mum was almost the 'Princess Di' of her day. A tower of strength for the nation through the Second World War, she overcame the sorrow of the death of her husband to carve a new role as, simply, the Queen Mum. Through all the changes which have occurred around her, she has become a tireless and unchanging emblem of all that is most cherished about the Royal Family.

With striking images of the her early life and unique photography by the Sun's Arthur Edwards of the Queen Mum over the past 30 years, the Sun Book of the Queen Mum is a rich visual tribute to the royal matriarch. The text, by Sun royal reporter Charles Rae, reveals the Queen Mother in all her strength, warmth, dignity and humour.