Published to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession to the throne, this biography of Queen Elizabeth II is based on research in the Royal Archives at Windsor and interviews with senior-ranking former members of the Royal household and with members of the Royal Family. It explores the personal as well as the official life of the Queen, and includes chapters on her childhood, her uncle's abdication, her father's accession, her marriage, her own accession, her family relationships and crises, such as the Margaret/Townsend affair, life inside Buckingham Palace and weekends at Windsor Castle, and the Queen's relationship with the Commonwealth and with her Prime Ministers, notably Margaret Thatcher. It also considers the future - whether the Queen will abdicate and whether the monarchy will survive into the 21st century. The author also wrote Royal Pursuit: The Palace, the Press and the People.