The author certainly argues her point well on the title, I'll say. This covers the abdication of Edward VIII and how he was just really awful and everyone knew it. It's not as detailed in the terribleness as Traitor King, (thank god, I don't think I can take any more of that), but yeah, dude was shady and nobody liked him anyway, good riddance. The dude couldn't be arsed to go see his potentially dying father--Tommy Lascelles goes from finding Edward dreamy to finding him INSUFFERABLE and it's kind of funny--and Tommy snaps that if the king dying means nothing to him, it means a great deal to everyone else. Edward's response was to bang another married lady. When you find two guys saying the best thing that could happen to Edward would be for him to break his neck, HOO BOY. (P.S. Tommy Lascelles was bi and banged a few royal biographers! Influencing the writing much?) I liked how someone saw the state crown falling apart and off the coffin when his father died. Foreshadowing!
So up comes Bertie/the future George VI, raised to be timid, not great at military school, has a stutter, but he's nice. A lot of the first third of the book is the intriguing romance between him and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who either wasn't into him at first, and/or had other love interests (one of which the royals actually got shipped off to America!), and even though Elizabeth called him her dearest(?) friend, she really, really, really, really went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on marrying him--I note he had to propose three times before she finally gave in. I'm not sure (nor is anyone else but Elizabeth, I suppose) if her misgivings were about Bertie himself or marrying into the royal family, and even in that time period the latter was probably cause for concern. But aren't we all glad she did.
After that, things were happy maritally and with their two daughters. The book also covers Bertie's speech therapy with Lionel Logue, so you get insight into that. Most of the book after that covers their work during World War II, living where they're getting bombed, trying to buck up the populace, etc., which is pretty heroic. (Meanwhile, Edward is being Edward and nobody wants him.) The final fourth of the book or so is Bertie's decline and death and Elizabeth's romance with Phillip. I found it all pretty comprehensive and positive. So, four stars, I suppose.
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