Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor
Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor
ISBN: 9780151556847
定价: 130.00
内容简介
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.