etween 9th and 12th June 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were the guests of Roosevelt at his country estate in Hyde Park, New York State, during what was the first ever visit by a reigning British monarch to the United States. Coming at a time when Britain desperately needed American help in the conflict that now seemed inevitable, the meeting was front page news on both sides of the Atlantic and imbued with huge political significance. In his new book Peter Conradi - who has already introduced us to the gentle, shy figure of George VI in his number-one bestseller The King's Speech - recreates the backdrop to the royal visit, analysing the political background and the media's reaction, and telling the back stories both of the King and of Roosevelt, whose colourful personal life became entwined with the visit.
