As a 13-year-old girl, Princess Elizabeth fell in love with Prince Philip of Greece, an ambitious naval cadet, and they married when she was 21. When Elizabeth suddenly became Queen at 25, their lives changed forever... With previously unpublished material and unique interviews with friends and relations, this book looks afresh at her life as princess, glittering yet isolating. Letters from Elizabeth and the royal family give an intimate insight into their lives and minds. Vivid detail and anecdotes reveal more about her, the era in which she grew up and the people who shaped her life. The love and stability her parents provided, and the presence of her mother's family, Bowes Lyon, with their creativity and eccentricities, gave her a solid background from which to draw during the rapidly changing times of her long reign. This book tells the story of a young princess becoming a Queen.