Queen Elizabeth II's biography is unlikely to be published during King Charles' lifetime, at least according to British royal historian Robert Lacey.
Queen Elizabeth's funeral at Westminster Abbey // Photo: Reuters (archive)
Such a biography, he explained, would have to include dealing with difficult and charged topics, including the closeness of his brother Prince Andrew (son of the late Queen who passed away at the age of 96 in September 2022) to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Harry's marriage to Meghan Markle that led to their departure to the United States and retirement from the royal family with all the scandals that came with it, as well as Charles' troubled marriage to the late Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth's dislike of his current wife Queen Camilla.
Should King Charles ultimately decide to allow his mother's biography to be written, it is widely assumed that he will choose an editor rather than an editor, with the name currently ranking highest on the betting charts being that of British editor, historian and biographer Jane Ridley.
Queen-consort Camilla Parker Bowles, Photo: AFP
If elected, she will have exclusive access to documents and diaries, including the Queen's private diary, which she reportedly wrote every evening. The task of writing a biography will be particularly sensitive and complex, given the volatility surrounding the British royal family, with editing having to balance the need to stay true to history with the sensitivity of matters concerning the family and the royal family itself.
Harry and Meghan, Photo: AP
"The years of the great crisis in the late Queen's life," Lacey told the Guardian, "revolved around the breakup of Charles and Diana's marriage. There is the testimony of a private secretary in which the Queen explicitly stated that she wanted nothing to do with Camilla, whom she described as an 'evil woman', which at the time brought Charles to the brink of tears. I don't see any way that such an exposed and honest testimony about Charles and other senior figures at 10 Downing Street (the address of the British prime minister's official residence), which describes the dark days of the royal family in the nineties, can be published during Charles' lifetime."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us