From the moment of Abdication, which shook the Royal Family and the Establishment profoundly, the Queen Mother took charge of events. Having lived modestly in Piccadilly, married to the Duke of York, she suddenly found herself chatelaine of a palace, two castles and a huge country house. She steadied the new King's nerves, and for well over half a century has exerted a strong influence on the Royal Family, and hence the life of the nation. One of the Queen Mother's greatest strengths has been her non-royal birth, which gave her the perspective of an outsider, and she was the first member of the Royal Family to talk informally to people who had not been presented. This biography discusses a figure who has been at the centre of the nation's life for six decades.