Elizabeth, The Queen Mother An illustrated talk on The Queen Mother, one of the best-loved figures of the Twentieth Century, by Hugo Vickers, whose 2005 life was hailed by A.N. Wilson as 'the best royal biography I ever read'. Hugo Vickers tells the story of the Queen Mother, throwing new light on her early years, her courtship by the Duke of York, her reactions and involvement with the Abdication, the war years, the later years of the King's reign, and, drawing on considerable personal observation, he illuminates the fifty years she spent as a working Queen Mother.