Sovereign: Elizabeth II & the Windsor Dy

Flamini ( Ava ) adds little to the oft-published history of today's British royals with this gossipy retelling of events in the lives of Elizabeth II and those in her orbit. We're reminded of Edward VIII's 1936 abdication that brought his brother to the throne, and of Princess Margaret Rose's affair with Peter Townsend that her sister, as queen, had to end; we're told about Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, flirting in public, and made privy to rumors about their daughter-in-law Di's roving eye. Flamini pays tribute to the accidental King George VI and his wife, Queen Mary, as monarchs during grueling war years and to Elizabeth II, a dedicated and hard-working ruler since she inherited the crown at age 25 in 1951. But the biography fails to evoke feeling for the human beings involved or, on the other hand, to titillate. Even the semi-inside on dit strikes a familiar note. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)