“Princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact” — so said the nineteenth-century writer Walter Bagehot. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary. This love story of the world's most famous couple presents a thematic look at the most outstandingly successful marriage of recent times.

This illustrated study explores the pressures and stresses of living life in the glare of public scrutiny. It is an early case of a married couple leading independent lives of extraordinary public service and indicating a path for others to follow. The historical experience of queens and their consorts and Elizabeth and Philip's Canadian and Commonwealth roles add scope to this biography.

Lynne Bell