Sarah Bradford

“The more unpopular politicians are, the better people think it is to have a monarchy.”

“There is no doubt in my mind at all. The Duke of Edinburgh has had affairs - yes, full-blown affairs, and more than one.”

“When you are absorbed in a biographical subject, you get so close you don't realise the potential effect of what you say. You are trying to get at the truth.”

“Now, I think perhaps I got it wrong over Prince Philip. I think he loves pretty women, and he likes flirting, but I'm not sure how important actual sex is to him, put it that way.”

“There's things you just don't ask, because if you did, the interview would be over very quickly.”

“I do feel sorry for the Prince of Wales, waiting and waiting, while his mother looks better and better. She's not staying on because of any concern about his abilities as a king. The Queen simply feels she must do her duty, and she's never even contemplated abdication.”

“You check off stories to make sure if they're true or if they're right.”

“The links between the British and the Dutch royal families are strong - Queen Beatrix's grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, was evacuated to Britain during the Second World War. But that doesn't mean they share the same attitudes.”

“I think the Queen enjoyed my book on her father, George VI.”

“But how can one criticise someone else's mother? One shouldn't, really... particularly as my first marriage failed.”

“If inheritance tax were to be introduced for the monarch, it would mean slowly slicing away the royal assets.”