Throughout her reign, the Queen has delighted her subjects with a wide range of witty, sarcastic and humorous observations, revealing a fascinating side of her personality that often remains hidden from the public
Lifestyle writer Karen Dolby claims that anyone who knows the Queen will attest to her excellent sense of humour
Ms Dolby revealed in "The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II" that Her Majesty teased her then new daughter-in-law Sophie Wessex that she was “the perfect royal”
She also joked that "a member of 'The Firm' should have the warmth of Fergie, the steadfastness of Mark ‘Foggy’ Philipps, and the poise of Princess Michael of Kent"
However, not all royal family members felt this way about the Duchess of York – otherwise known as "Fergie" – as the book reveals Prince Philip’s savage response at her new home after she married Prince Andrew
When the house was completed in 1990, the Duke of Edinburgh claimed it "looked like a tart's bedroom"
Karen Dolby also writes that the Queen Mother tried to be diplomatic about the house, which was often jokingly referred to as “South York” after the ranch in the soap opera "Dallas"
The Queen Mother reportedly said: “If you’d spent most of your life on a warship you would not know about taste
” The witty book reveals that the Queen has since said of her family traumas: “Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters, and of family disagreements
” Queen Elizabeth labelled 1992 her “annus horribilis", adding that it is not a year on which Her Majesty will look back on with “undiluted pleasure”
The year had begun badly in January with the publication of embarrassing photos of Sarah Ferguson on holiday with her Texan friend, Steve Wyatt
However, during her marriage to Prince Andrew, Sarah was in fact close to the Queen
Her Majesty's relationship with her other daughter-in-law, Princess Diana, was sometimes strained, but the Queen and Sarah had plenty in common, and an easy chemistry
In her autobiography, "My Story", Sarah wrote: "In private I called her mama, when she waved me to sit next to her in the car or at church, I felt favoured and blessed
" Andrew and Sarah decided to separate in January 1992, and Sarah wrote in her autobiography that when they broke the news to the Queen: "She asked me to reconsider, to be strong and go forward
" However, the relationship between the two women felt the strain when the Duchess was photographed with another man just five months after the separation had been announced
She had taken a holiday with her new partner, financial adviser John Bryant, and paparazzi photographed them embracing
The front page story broke a few days later when Sarah was at the Queen's Scottish estate Balmoral with her estranged husband, their daughters, and the rest of the royal family
Sarah says Andrew was supportive and understanding. The Queen, however, was furious
For a time Sarah maintained a good relationship with her mother-in-law, recalling in her autobiography of the time after herseparation: "Through all the chaos of the past six months, the Queen and I had stayed consistent
"She still took my calls, and I still brought her grandchildren to Windsor for tea on Sundays
" Nevertheless, Sarah lost her HRH status and dropped off the invitation list for all royal occasions