25 NOVEMBER 2000, Page 51

Paul Johnson

Anyone looking for a sumptuous Christmas present for a loyal subject and ardent royal- ist should examine The Daily Life of the Queen: An Artist's Diary by Michael and Vivien Noakes (Ebury Press, £30). This is the pictorial record of a year in Elizabeth II's life by one of the few artists who can get the Queen's expression right. Michael Noakes shows her doing her job, at home and abroad, in places grave and gay, fasci- nating and boring, and with a perception photographers can't match. There are over 350 drawings in colour and Mrs Noakes, author of a fine book on Edward Lear, provides the text. I have seen no reviews of this delightful volume, out since September, which tells us something about editors, eh?