The Last Queen

In 2020, the Queen finally appeared to be at ease in the modern world, helped by the new generation of Windsors. But then Harry and Meghan announced that they were leaving 'The Firm', and Prince Andrew was relieved of his duties following revelations of his involvement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, inflamed by a car-crash TV interview. Suddenly, the Faustian bargain the royal family had struck with the media to ensure their survival had never seemed so close to breaking point.

Here, through Clive Irving's unique insight, we look behind the façade to find a fragile institution which owes its continued existence to one extraordinarily dutiful matriarch. Part biography, part meditation on a changing society, The Last Queen asks: how long can the House of Windsor survive beyond the reign of Elizabeth II?

Picking up his tale in 1936, with the abdication of Edward VIII, Irving follows Elizabeth and her family's struggle to survive in the face of unprecedented changes in attitudes towards the monarchy a story honed by the critical eye of an investigative reporter who has been close to the action since the very beginning.

About the Author

Clive Irving is a columnist for the Daily Beast in New York. He has had a long and distinguished career on both sides of the Atlantic, with an unusually wide media experience: as a pioneer of investigative journalism at the Sunday Times; as a colleague of David Frost in transforming live television journalism; as a top magazine editor in London and New York; and as an early contributor to the Daily Beast. Coincidentally, his career in journalism and as a frequent critic of the monarchy has run in parallel with the Queen's entire reign.

This gives him a unique insight into how the Queen has dealt with enormous social and cultural changes and, particularly, how the world's perception of the royal family is now, more than ever, decisively shaped by the media.