My conversation with Elizabeth Holmes for So Many Thoughts

Here are some excerpts from a recent interview and a link to the entire interview.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Holmes about George VI and  Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy for her “So Many Thoughts” newsletter. Here are some excerpts from our conversation that included my impressions of three months in the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle reading the royal family’s correspondence and diaries, as well as my thoughts on the 1937 coronation and the 2023 coronation only a few weeks away. To read the rest, you can find the full interview on

Sally Bedell Smith on ‘the Marriage that Saved the Monarchy’

I’d love to hear more about those diaries. What did you learn from them?

Elizabeth’s diary that she began two days before Bertie’s third proposal was just riveting. She clearly knew that her life was about to change. It was a chronicle of the 12 days that it took her to make up her mind after the third proposal.

[George VI’s] diary was a total revelation. It began on the first day of World War II and lasted for a little more than seven years. It showed me aspects of his personality that I had no idea about. First of all, he was far, far brighter than people who didn’t know him gave him credit for. He was very astute in his judgments of people. He was exceedingly discreet. Winston Churchill entrusted him with the biggest secrets of the war, including the Enigma codes and plans for D-Day. It was a real window on their relationship.

[Bertie and Elizabeth]  were a good pair, weren’t they? 

They were entwined as a partnership in ways many haven’t realized. And if you compare them, for example, to George VI’s father, George V and Queen Mary, she was not involved in any way as much as Elizabeth was in George VI’s life, particularly his life as king. I’m not suggesting she was a co-monarch or anything, but he did share [with her]. It was of some frustration to his private secretaries that she was his number one confidante — unlike, for example, his father, who confided almost everything to his private secretary. But with George VI, it was [Elizabeth] in every way.

What do you make of Charles as king?

There has never been a king who has been so well-prepared. I think people will appreciate that his experience will really count for a lot, and that it has given him wisdom and perspective that I think will be very valuable in the way he conducts himself….. He has his quirks, but by and large, he’s done a great deal of good for the world. 

And how about Camilla? What will it feel like to watch her be crowned queen?

..Reasonable people will watch her and say, “She has earned this.” She has really been diligent in her duties. But most of all, she has made Charles happy and they are very well suited. They have the same sense of humor. She really keeps his feet on the ground and he pays attention to what she thinks and says.

(To Order George VI and Elizabeth, just click on the cover below.)