Book Review - The Faith of Queen Elizabeth

Book review: The Faith of Queen Elizabeth by Dudley Delffs.

In the 1980s, when I was a student minister at Glasgow University in Scotland, I wrote a letter to the Queen regarding environmental issues. As Head of the Commonwealth, I felt that Her Majesty had a unique role in looking after our planet. After mailing the letter, I assumed that it would be lost in the hundreds of thousands of letters she gets every year. A few weeks later I received a reply from Michael Heseltine, who was Secretary of State for the Environment at that time. The letter stated that he was commanded by the Queen to give an official response to my letter. In it, he stated that Her Majesty was very concerned about the environment and that as a Christian she would do her utmost to protect it. I was deeply impressed that her faith commitment was mentioned in the official reply.

Dudley Delffs’ book, ‘The Faith of Queen Elizabeth,’ is a remarkable read. He has clearly researched an area of the Queen’s great life which has often been set aside. His book is a masterfully written and worthy biography of this much-loved and historical sovereign. He takes the reader through many of the highs and lows of the Queen’s long life and shows how her faith in Christ has enabled her to successfully survive.

Throughout the book, the author quotes from some of Her Majesty’s Christmas broadcasts which are not only used by her as a summary of the current year, but also as a means to gently express her faith in God. At the beginning of each chapter, Delffs uses these quotes to introduce another crucial experience or step in the Queen’s life.

The author also uses excerpts from various television serials or movies that have been made about the Queen, as well as some contemporaneous news reports from moments like the Coronation, her son’s investiture as Prince of Wales, the death of Princess Diana, the impact of 9/11, and the jubilees that have been celebrated around the world during her reign.

One of the best parts of the book are the anecdotes at the end of each chapter where the author describes spontaneous conversations that he has had with ordinary British citizens about their Queen. The telling of these instances is delightful and adds some great insights into why Her Majesty is well-loved by most of her subjects.

This is a very clever book and a wonderful witness of Queen Elizabeth’s absolute faith in God. Her Christianity is well-documented by the author who has obviously completed a lot of worthwhile research in putting together this delightful book.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about the Queen and to everyone to whom their faith is important. It would make a great gift for Christmas!

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in order to read and review this book.