Do Let's Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

by Gareth Russell

Overview

For fans of The Crown and Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, a deliciously entertaining collection of 101 fascinating and funny anecdotes about Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—one for each year of her life.

During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations, and dry-as-a-martini delivery style as she was for being a beloved royal. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 (one for each year of her remarkable life) amusing and astonishing vignettes from across her long life, including her coming of age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law and her unexpected ascendance to the throne, and her half century of widowhood as her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. Featuring new revelations and colorful anecdotes about the woman Cecil Beaton, the high society photographer, once summarized as “a marshmallow made on a welding machine,” Do Let’s Have Another Drink is a delightful celebration of one of the most consistently popular members of the royal family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668006931
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	152,962
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Educated at Oxford University and Queen’s University, Belfast, Gareth Russell is a historian, novelist, and playwright. He is the author of several books, including The Palace, The Ship of Dreams, Young and Damned and Fair, The Emperors, and Do Let’s Have Another Drink. He lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter I: East or West, Home is Best (1900–1910)

Table of Contents

Author's Note 1

I East or West, Home is Best (1900-1910) 5

1 Late to her own christening

2 The Benjamins

3 Bowes

4 The Monster of Glamis

5 Clipping Lord Crawford

II War Wounds (1910-1920) 19

6 The Countess of Rothes's trip to New York

7 Honey, jam, buns and tea

8 Goodbye to the German governess

9 Old Year's Night

10 The Mad Hatters

11 Miss Poignand's singalong

12 Telegrams

13 Old Billy-O

14 1917

15 Armistice at Glamis

III The Delightful Duchess (1920-1930) 37

16 Lord Farquhar's Ball

17 Princes to spare

18 Dickie, Diamond, and dancing the night away

19 Dear old Anne Boleyn

20 Cocktails with Fenella

21 The Old Ikon

22 Belfast

23 Drinky-poos

24 Naindikwa

25 Lilibet

IV Queen (1930-1940) 65

26 The Kings Speech

27 Just in case

28 How do you solve a problem like Marina?

29 Wallis from Baltimore

30 That's Mummy now

31 Send in the cavalry

32 An unstable throne

33 HRH

34 Beaton, Hartnell and Winterhalter

35 The Kaiser sends his condolences

36 The toilet-trapped Duchess

37 Queen Elizabeth

38 Have you read Mein Kampf?

39 Hot dogs on the Hudson

40 Who is this Hitler?

V The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe (1940-1950) 97

41 Lizzie, Get Your Gun

42 Ah, a German!

43 A wee touch of the imp

44 The Windsor brothers

45 Hi, Your Majesty!

46 Grinning Liz

47 The worst mistake of my life

48 Philip Mountbatten

49 Wedding times and conga lines

VI Widow (1950-1960) 119

50 Sissinghurst

51 I'll see you in the morning

52 The House of the Northern Gate

53 Prince Paul's chocolates

54 Group Captain Townsend

55 Dropping out for Dior

56 Her Excellency?

VII Queen Mum (1960-1970) 137

57 Dear old Edwina

58 The Countess of Snowdon

59 Mitfords, Marchmains and Mosleys

60 Queen of the Mey

61 The Zoo

62 Save me from good intentions

63 Monsieur de Noailles's cocktail parties

64 Going self-service

65 Communist confetti

66 Lochnagar

67 The Dry Martini flush

68 Sprigs of heather

VIII Steel Marshmallows (1970-1980) 153

69 Sir Frederick's bathroom

70 The Emperors visit

71 Even Hitler was afraid of her

72 Do you know who I am?

73 Raspberries

74 Parlour games

75 Devoir and Dubonnet

76 The Politburo at the Palace

77 Good old Cake

IX Glasses Filled with Dubonnet, Gin and Pimm's (1980-1990) 167

78 Old queens

79 Nerissa and Katherine

80 The ghosts of the Romanovs

81 Mrs. Browns marriage licence

82 I shall have to look in my book

83 A Talent to Amuse

84 In Friendship, Elizabeth?

85 Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Elizabeth

86 The Viscount's handshake

87 Highballs at Hillsborough Castle

X I Shall Miss Those Laughs (1990-2002) 183

88 A nip in the air

89 The salmon's revenge

90 Major Burgess's rollerblades

91 Back to Spencer House

92 Chief leper

93 Prize fighter

94 Matins and Martinis

95 The Captain's House

96 William, Harry and a very cunning plan

97 My Old Man's a Dustman

98 Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

99 The Old Icon

100 Princess Margaret's Marigolds

101 Tay Bridge

Epilogue 205

Further Reading 207

List of Illustrations 209

Acknowledgements 211

References 213

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

09/05/2022

Historian Russell (The Ship of Dreams) balances titillating gossip and heartfelt poignancy in this sparkling snapshot of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002), the wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II. One hundred and one stories, one for each year of her life, showcase the Queen Mother’s wicked wit: scolded by her daughter for not dressing properly for a visit to Cheltenham Racecourse in bad weather, Elizabeth replied, “Don’t worry, darling. I’ve got my pearls to keep me warm.” Finding the word cocktail too harsh, Elizabeth preferred “drinky-poo”; she also did impressions of characters from the sitcom Blackadder and learned some of Sacha Baron Cohen’s catchphrases. Elizabeth’s wisdom shines in her handling of such crises as her brother-in-law King Edward VIII’s abdication and in her urging of several “Appeasers” (as she once had been) to read the unexpurgated edition of Mein Kampf to understand that Hitler wasn’t just “bluffing and posturing to get what he wanted.” The Elizabeth that emerges is a warmhearted practical joker and “Olympian” grudge-holder whose loyalty (to friends including Noël Coward) and sense of humor remained strong to the end. Throughout, Russell interweaves brisk and informative history lessons with royal family intrigue. Fans of The Crown will lap this up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

My favourite book of the season...a brief and highly selective biography of the QM...concentrating on good stories at the expense of all the guff ...You know you want this book, and I know you want it, and if you’re very good Father Christmas might bring it for you” The Spectator

"[A] little bit of gin-soaked nostalgia.... Royalists, especially fans of the Edwardians, will be enthralled." —Booklist

"Historian Russell balances titilating gossip and heartfelt poignancy in this sparkling snapshot of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon....Russell interweaves brisk and informative history with royal family intrigue. Fans of The Crown will lap this up." —Publishers Weekly

“A warm and funny picture of a remarkable woman ... Russell’s “skimming stone” biography has managed to capture both the laughter and the wisdom - I raise a glass to him.” - The Daily Telegraph



“Affectionate, scholarly, and side-splittingly funny. I couldn’t put it down.” —Adrian Tinniswood, author of The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House, 1918 - 1939

“Utterly captivating. Skilfully weaving together insightful anecdotes, witty asides and impeccably-researched historical details, this wonderful book achieves something that none of the conventional biographies has quite managed: to humanise the Queen Mother.” —Tracy Borman, author of Crown and Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II

“Gareth Russell writes about the Queen Mother and her world of aristos and etiquette with great verve and clarity. His deep research is lightly worn in sentences of wonderful prose, telling stories that are hilarious and moving by turns. Immensely enjoyable.” —Suzannah Lipscomb, author of A Journey through Tudor England

“With this snapshot, drink-infused biography, Gareth Russell has found an utterly compelling way to tell a life story - and what a life! ... Guaranteed to raise the spirits of anyone lucky enough to read it.” —Anne Sebba, author of That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

“It’s the Queen Mother like you’ve never read before. Human, humorous, and - hammered.” —Kinsey Schofield, host of To Di For Daily and author of R is for Revenge Dress: A Princess Diana–Inspired Alphabet Book for Grown-Ups

From the Publisher

10/01/2022

Historian Russell's (The Ship of Dreams) collection of 101 short vignettes isn't the usual biography about the mother of the late Queen Elizabeth II. It starts with her early days and the 1920s when she was an aristocratic, London debutante with a few suitors. The book shows the evolution of how she became Princess Elizabeth/Duchess of York when she wed Albert. Elizabeth as Queen Consort and later the Queen Mother could be salty and sarcastic as indicated by the book's subtitle, though the main title doesn't do her justice. The one memorable mention of alcohol was when she referred to a cocktail as a "drinky-poo." The book also discusses her brothers, who were killed or held as prisoners of war and traumatized. The well-written book doesn't dwell on details known through history and popular culture, such as The Crown, The King's Speech, and media coverage. Stories about a king marrying an American divorcée and the rocky relationship of Diana and Charles are briefly told only as Elizabeth saw them. VERDICT Russell portrays the Queen Mother in a positive light and dispels rumors, but leaves out some unflattering facts; an enjoyable companion to the many other books about the British crown.—Sherri Crawford

Library Journal