Queen Elizabeth II’s official biographer named as Scots historian

Historian Anna Keay, whose most celebrated book is about Britain’s republican period, has been confirmed as Queen Elizabeth II’s official biographer.

Ms Keay will be able to talk to members of the royal family and the late Queen’s friends and household when researching the book, and she will have access to her personal and official papers held in the Royal Archives.

It was reported last weekend that the King wanted a female author for the task and the academic was in talks for the prestigious role.

Official royal biographies sometimes throw up unexpected facts or details about the subject’s life and shed light on important periods.

William Shawcross’s official biography of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, revealed she believed Edward VIII was “bemused with love” at the time of his abdication and how she suffered from bowel cancer in her 60s but was successfully treated.

Ms Keay said on her appointment: “It is a profound honour to have been asked to write the official biography of Queen Elizabeth II.

“She was our longest-reigning monarch and an extraordinary woman, whose life spanned a century of great change.”

Ms Keay is a trustee of the Royal Collection Trust, which the King supports as patron, and is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee.

She has written a number of books about British history and culture including The Restless Republic: Britain Without A Crown, winner of the 2023 Duff Cooper Prize for non-fiction, which chronicles the 11 years Britain was a republic after Charles I was tried and executed.

The historian added: “I am deeply grateful to His Majesty the King for entrusting me with this responsibility and for granting me access to her papers, and will do all I can to do justice to her life and work.”