Robert Hardman has covered the Royal Family for many years in print and in several television documentaries. Often such close long term contact with someone leads to a certain amount of cynicism about them, but in Hardman's case this has not occurred. Her Majesty: Queen Elizabeth II and Her Court, is an unabashedly favorable examination of the monarch, her family, and her courtiers and officials. Adding new interest and authority to Hardman's book are many attributed quotes and observations, not only from those who work with the Royal Family but also from some members of the Family itself, including Princes Philip, Charles, Andrew, and (most interestingly because they are his first public statements on the issue) William.There is much fascnating information in this book, not only about the Queen herself, but also about the day to day business of being a constitutional monarch with all the pomp, circumstance, and a few banalities that go along with it. I enjoyed reading about all the details that go into a State Visit, or what goes on at a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. It was also interesting to learn more about the Queen's relationships with her various Prime Ministers, including some fascinating reminiscences from Tony Blair, John Major, and David Cameron. This is not really a chronological biography of the Queen, so there isn't much about her childhood or early adult years. But what I found really intriguing about this book was the amount of information about how the Queen in her own quiet way has presided over a thorough revamping of the monarchy over the years, making it more accessible and less remote without letting in "too much daylight upon the magic." In some cases this was accomplished by officials like the former Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Airlie, but in many cases the impulse for change came from the Queen herself, and as she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee she can definitely feel proud of her accomplishment in preserving an institution that many felt could never survive.If you're looking for long discussions of the reasons why some of the Royal Family's marriages have failed or a recapitulation of tawdry gossip then this book will disappoint you. But if you want to know more about some of the ways the small quiet woman we've all seen smiling and waving for 60 years now has managed a difficult task with grace and dignity, with able assistance from a long line of hard working men and women, then Her Majesty makes the perfect Diamond Jubilee reading.