At the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 Nigel Nicolson was in his mid-thirties and already a successful publisher, a left-leaning Conservative MP (elected to Parliament the day King George VI died) and an author. He moved close to royal circles yet was not part of the Court. He has kept a daily diary throughout these years and has observed how a nation that still boasted an empire gradually down-sized to a sovereign state that is now part of the European community. In 1953 the Queen ruled over a country still recovering from the depradations of world war II. The royal family kept its private life private. How it has all changed since then! Why has it changed? asks Nicolson. Is it a change for the good? Should we continue to have a royal family? Then there are the social changes, the technological innovations. Nicolson comments on them, writing with a wry sense of humour and a keen sense of history.