In the classic fairy-tale formula, the handsome prince overcomes all obstacles to pluck his beloved from hardship or obscurity and make her his princess. In Elizabeth & Philip, Tessa Dunlop flips the fantasy on its head as she tells the story of a princess who meets the prince of her dreams and conquers all opposition to place him beside her on the throne.
While this Windsor romance is an oft-told tale, Dunlop winkles out some new details and angles to refresh the story. Her cleverest ploy comes in interviews with a handful of contemporaries of the late Queen. Nonagenarians and even centenarians, ordinary people, share their ancient but undimmed memories of the love story that brightened a dreary postwar Britain. To a surprising and touching degree, these common folk identified with the royal couple.
