If Elizabeth II were not a Queen, no one would write a book about

her. Those who know her personally would say this is a pity--her

wisdom and humanity embellish a character the more admirable for

wearing those qualities so modestly. But it remains true that it is sitting

on a throne that makes her remarkable--and the fact that she herself

remains, in that extraordinary context, a most ordinary woman, is

but an opening paradox. There are many more which illuminate not

just her own personal view of her life and work, but also the response

that she stirs in millions of human beings all over the world--whether

they are subjects or not--and on such paradoxes is based one of the

more curious social phenomena of the twentieth century: the survival,

nay the flourishing, of the British constitutional monarchy.

So this is as much a book about an institution as a biography of

the woman who happens to occupy it at the moment of writing, an

institution representing illogicality refined to a degree. Elizabeth II is

held to wield supreme power in the countries that acknowledge her

as Queen. She is supreme commander of the armed forces, the source

of justice, the fountain of honour, the supreme governor of the Church,

and all government is carried out in her name-- On Her Majesty s

Service. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are her servants, dependent

on her consent to give authority to their every action, and no matter

what their parliamentary strength, they can only advise herwnever

command, only recommend.