Ottawa's Festival of Ideas Since 1997

Pay what you can for this event

Thank you for your interest in our programming! If you are able to make a donation it would be greatly appreciated. Tax receipts will be provided for donations of $20 or more. We hope you enjoy this event!
$5
$10
$20
$50
Other Amount:


Podcast Episode 17
12:00pm

Elizabeth & Margaret

with Andrew Morton
Hosted by the Toronto Star’s Deborah Dundas

Elizabeth & Margaret

with Andrew Morton
Hosted by the Toronto Star’s Deborah Dundas
7
Friday
May
2021
12:00pm
Andrew Morton

Join the Toronto Star’s Books Editor, Deborah Dundas for a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Andrew Morton. Andrew’s latest international bestseller, Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, follows Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret as they navigate life in the royal spotlight. 

 

They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward Vlll decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called 'Lillibet.' And bow to her wishes.

 

Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister's antics with a kind of stoical amusement, but Margaret's struggle to find a place and position inside the royal system—and her fraught relationship with its expectations—was often a source of tension. Famously, the Queen had to inform Margaret that the Church and government would not countenance her marrying a divorcee, Group Captain Peter Townsend, forcing Margaret to choose between keeping her title and royal allowances or her divorcee lover.

 

From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden war-time lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father's death and Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. Andrew Morton's latest biography offers unique insight into these two drastically different sisters—one resigned to duty and responsibility, the other resistant to it—and the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family, and the ways it adapted to the changing mores of the 20th century.

 

Books are available from our friends at  Perfect Books  .

 

The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider  subscribing to our newsletter  and  making a donation  to support our programming and  children’s literacy initiatives  .

 

Presented in partnership with the  Ottawa Public Library  .

 

Join Wait List

Elizabeth & Margaret

Notify me if new tickets come available for this event

Number of tickets:
RSVP

Elizabeth & Margaret

Please RSVP to help us gauge interest in our programming and be reminded when this event premiers