The Diamond Queen: Elizabeth II And Her People by Andrew Marr

"I declare, before you all, that my whole life, whether long or short, shall be devoted to your service."

As the Queen plays host to a gathering of sovereign monarchs from near and afar for her Diamond Jubilee lunch at Windsor Castle on 18 May 2012, I thought it appropriate to read a book about the Queen to celebrate and congratulate her for having reigned sixty years on the English throne.  She is Britain's second-longest-serving-reigning monarch after Queen Victoria and the longest-lived monarch in her country's history.  The dinner will be the largest reunion of kings and queens in one place in a decade.  May God Bless and Save The Queen.

(from the book blurb)  As Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, Andrew Marr turns his attention to the monarch - and to the monarchy, chronicling the Queen's pivotal role at the centre of the state and making a strong case for the institution itself.  If you are expecting a gossipy life story of Queen Elizabeth II, this is not the book for you.

Arranged thematically, rather than chronologically, Marr dissects the Queen's political relationships, crucially those with her prime ministers;  he examines her role as Head of Commonwealth, and her deep commitment to that Commonwealth of Nations;  he looks at what the Queen actually does - from walkabouts and opening hospitals to meetings with visiting heads of state and other dignitaries - and looks at why she spends three hours everyday reading the contents of the red boxes sent over from Downing Street.

He also looks at the drastic changes in the media since her accession in 1952 and how the monarchy has had to adapt as a result.  Indeed, he argues that under her watchful eye, the monarchy has been thoroughly modernized and made as fit for purpose in the twenty-first century as it was when she came to the throne and a 'new Elizabethan age' was ushered in.

About the author:  Andrew Marr presents the weekly Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 and Start the Week on Radio 4.  He was the BBC's Political Editor from 2000 to 2005 and is the author of several bestselling history books, including The Making of Modern Britain (2009).

An introduction to the three-part BBC television series on the Diamond Queen: