REX The Queen Mother at the christening of Prince William, 1982Now the Queen Mother's memory is about to be sullied by a new book accusing her of being insane and inebriated for the last 20 years of her long and illustrious life.
The publisher's blurb for the book, Backstairs Billy: The Royal Life Of William Tallon, which has been posted on Amazon, the country's biggest online bookseller, reads: "As far as the public was concerned, the Royal Family was a model of reticence but Billy saw the other side of a family whose members loved drinking and smoking, swearing and playing sometimes cruel practical jokes on each other in private.
"They hated anything serious and were constantly making jokes at each other's expense. The Queen Mother was especially good at all this, according to Billy.
"This was partly because she had a great sense of fun and partly because, for the last 20 years of her life, she was dotty to the point of lunacy."
To write such absolute nonsense about someone who is dead and unable to answer back is disgusting.
Margaret Rhodes
Describing shopkeeper's son Mr Tallon, who died in 2007, as "charming, amusing, occasionally bitchy and extremely promiscuous," the book claims that the Queen Mother adored her trusted servant of 50 years because he poured generous gin and tonics.
The blurb continues: "Billy adored her and she adored Billy, perhaps because of his high-camp style and outrageous remarks about the well-born equerries, royal press people and advisers, but mostly because he made her gin and tonics just the way she liked them, nine-tenths gin and one-tenth tonic."
Last night the Queen Mother's niece and former lady-in-waiting Margaret Rhodes, who remains one of the Queen's closest confidantes, said: "One really would have hoped that the Queen Mother was above such allegations.
"To write such absolute nonsense about someone who is dead and unable to answer back is disgusting."
Mrs Rhodes, 89, who was one of the Queen's bridesmaids and lives in a grace-and-favour home in Windsor Great Park, said the Queen Mother "never drank a gin and tonic, not ever", adding: "She preferred a gin martini mix which she usually made herself.
"She drank no more than one or two drinks of an evening but never drank too much.
"She was very conscious of her standing and knew what was proper of someone in her position to do and not to do.
"Of course she had a wonderful sense of humour. She laughed until she cried watching programmes like Dad's Army and Keeping Up Appearances, but she wasn't some party girl and she certainly didn't go potty.
"Absolutely not. She could talk to anyone about anything, from rhododendrons to Persian poetry. She knew her onions, right until the end."
PH The Queen Mother at a celebration, with HRH the Queen in the backgroundMrs Rhodes, whose mother Mary Bowes-Lyon was the Queen Mother's sister, served as her lady-in-waiting from 1991 until her death in 2002 at the age of 101.
After her husband, George VI, died in 1952, the Queen Mother continued her public duties, carrying out hundreds of royal engagements every year and becoming patron or president of more than 350 charitable organisations including the Red Cross and St John Ambulance.
One of the monarchy's most popular figures, she was renowned for her love of the countryside and sport, and was a keen and expert angler as well as a leading owner of steeplechasers.
A spokesman for the Queen said: "Buckingham Palace would not comment on this kind of book."
A royal aide added: "While we haven't seen the book, the allegations made in the promotional material are scurrilous, wrong and insulting to the memory of the Queen Mother, a much loved figure who devoted her life to serving her country."
Author Tom Quinn's previous works include London's Strangest Tales, Cocoa at Midnight: The Real Life Story Of My Time As A Housekeeper and The Cook's Tale: Life Below Stairs As It Really Was.
A spokesman for publishers Biteback Publishing, which is part of the Robson Press, declined to comment.
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