Royal insider reflects on Queen Elizabeth’s legacy in new book

Andrew Morton, author of “The Queen: Her Life,” joins ABC News Live to discuss his journey covering the British royal family and the legacy of the late Queen Elizabeth.
7:41 | 11/17/22

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Transcript for Royal insider reflects on Queen Elizabeth’s legacy in new book
WELL, OVER THE LAST 70 YEARS, THE WORLD WATCHED AS QUEEN ELIZABETH LED THE U.K. AND MADE HISTORY AS THE LONGEST SERVING ROYAL MONARCH OF ENGLAND, THOUGH SOME SAY SHE WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY SHY. >> THE LATE RULER USED HER UNDYING SELF-DISCIPLINE TO LEAD THE MONARCHY WHILE LETTING VERY FEW PEOPLE INSIDE TO ACTUALLY SEE HOW SHE DID IT. >> INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING AUTHOR ANDREW MORTON WAS ONE OF THE FEW WRITERS THAT THE ROYALS TRUSTED. AND FOR ALL YOU VIEWERS WHO BINGE THE NETFLIX SERIES THE CROWN, YOU'LL KNOW WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT. >> I CAN SAY CATEGORICALLY THAT I DID NOT INTERVIEW THE PRINCESS, BUT I SPOKE TO HER FRIENDS, ASSOCIATES, ANYONE WHO WAS WILLING TO TALK KENNETH MOTON JUST REALLY THEY WERE DESPERATE TO TELL THE WORLD HOW IT REALLY IS . >> WELL, I HAD THE HONOR TO GET TO KNOW ANDREW IN LONDON AS WE BOTH COVERED QUEEN ELIZABETH'S FUNERAL TOGETHER. AND NOW HE JOINS ME HERE BACK IN THE U.S. TO TALK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK, THE QUEEN, HER LIFE. >> SO GOOD TO SEE YOU. NICE TO SEE YOU ON THE THE HAPPIER CIRCUMSTANCES. YES, EXACTLY. YEAH, THAT WAS TOUGH. BUT YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT. I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE ROYALS. I LEARNED HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET INFORMATION WHEN IT COMES TO THE ROYALS. >> BUT YOU WERE YOU HAD YOU HAD A GIFT. >> YOU WERE LUCKY YOU WERE ABLE TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. YET AT THE SAME TIME. RIGHT. RIGHT. ABOUT THE TOUGH, THE TOUGH SUBJECTS AS WELL. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK MADE THIS BOOK SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BOOKS THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THE ROYALS? >> WELL, I'VE WRITTEN 25 BOOKS OVER THE YEARS. SOME AGING MYSELF, BUT THE QUEEN, HER LIFE IS IS ALWAYS MY ATTEMPT TO LOOK AT THE WOMAN BEHIND THE MASK AND WHO WHO WAS THIS POST SEARCH FOR PERSONALITY CLUES? >> BECAUSE AFTER ALL, A BIOGRAPHER IS ESSENTIALLY A PERSONALITY DETECTIVE. AND I FOUND ALL KINDS OF CLUES ON TOUR WITH MY FIRST THE FIRST WHAT I DID WITH WAS IN 1983 IN CALIFORNIA AND IT WAS A BROADWAY SHOW. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED THE TOUR THAT WENT WRONG BECAUSE EVERYTHING IT COULD HAVE GONE WRONG WENT WRONG. BUT YOU GOT CLUES INTO HER PERSONALITY, THE FACT THAT WHEN IT WENT WRONG, SHE LOVED IT. AND WILLIAM PRINCE WILLIAM SAID THE SAME THING THAT THE MOTHER LOVED IT WHEN THINGS WENT WRONG. >> AND YOU COULD SEE THAT SHE HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR, A GREAT WIT. I REMEMBER WHEN BALMORAL, A PLACE THAT SHE LOVED AND SHE PASSED, SHE HAD A LITTLE BODY THAT THERE WAS YOU HAD PICNICS AND THEY SAID WE SHOULD REALLY PUT A PLAQUE HERE SAYING THE QUEEN SWEPT HERE BECAUSE SHE LOVED TO SHE LOVED TO CLEAN UP AFTER A BARBECUE. AND EVERY YEAR CHRISTMAS, THEY GIVE HER A PAIR OF YELLOW RUBBER GLOVES. >> THAT'S PRETTY CUTE AND CREATIVE, BUT IT ALL SERIOUSNESS, YOU FOUND A BEAUTIFUL BALANCE OF LEGACY AND TRIBUTE, BUT ALSO COVERING THE SCANDAL AND THE SCANDALS AND THE SECRETS. >> HOW DID YOU DO THAT? HOW DID YOU FIND THAT DIGNIFIED BALANCE? >> WELL, I TRY TO INVESTIGATE THE QUEEN AND LOOK AT THE WAY THE NARRATIVE ARC OF HER LIFE CHANGED SO THAT IN THE TWILIGHT YEARS, IT SEEMS TO ME SHE WAS A LOT MORE RELAXED. SHE LOVED SHE WAS LOVING THE JOB. I MEAN, SHE WAS HAVING MARMALADE SANDWICHES WITH PADDINGTON, JUMPING OUT OF A HELICOPTER AND SHE DID WHAT THE JAPANESE EMPEROR WOULD NEVER DO. >> SHE JUMPED OUT OF A HELICOPTER FOR THE LONDON OLYMPICS. SO AND OTHER LITTLE THINGS SHE WAS ONCE ASKED, WAS YOUR GREATEST AMBITION? AND BY HER DRESSER, ANGELA KELLEY. AND SHE SAID, I'D LIKE TO HELP YOU PUT MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS. BECAUSE AS A CHILD, SHE HAD THE STERN QUEEN MARY LOOKING AFTER HER. AND SHE SAID, YOU CAN NEVER PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS. AND SO ANGELA GOT HER CARD AGAIN, GOT A PHOTO SHOOT AND SHE PUT HER HANDS IN THEIR POCKETS. SO YOU SO THOSE LITTLE THINGS, LITTLE DETAILS HUMANIZE, I THINK, HER MAJESTY. >> WERE THERE ANY SURPRISES AS YOU WERE DOING A DEEPER DOVE AND WORKING ON THIS BOOK? >> I THINK FOR ME, THE QUEEN'S HAD A BAD UP AS A MUM AND DAD AND THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T REALLY APPRECIATE THAT WHEN SHE CAME INTO BEING THE MONARCH IN IN NINETEEN FIFTY TWO, IT WAS A MAN'S WORLD AND SHE HAD AN ENORMOUS RESPONSIBILITY, A KIND OF A TSUNAMI OF RESPONSIBILITY. >> THREATEN TO OVERWHELM HER AND WHAT THE VICTIMS REALLY WERE. >> CHARLES NAN, WHO DIDN'T HAVE AS MUCH TIME WITH THEIR MOTHER AS THEY WOULD HAVE HAD TWENTY FIVE BOOKS. >> IS THERE A FAVORITE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL FAMILY THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT SOMEONE YOU ENJOYED MAYBE THE MOST? >> OH, THAT'S A TOUGH QUESTION. THAT'S A SIMPLE QUESTION. OH, DIANA WAS WAS IS IS THE MOST FULFILLING INTERACTION REALLY THE THE WAY OR HAPPENED, THE DRAMA BEHIND IT? >> WATCHING THE CROWN HAS BROUGHT IT ALL BACK FOR ME. AND IT'S LIKE ALL THE SILT OF THE MEMORIES ARE BEING STIRRED UP. >> I WAS QUITE SHOCKED. >> WELL, LET'S TAKE A MOMENT, BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN A MEMBER OF THE ABC FAMILY FOR QUITE SOME TIME SINCE YOU WERE A YOUNG TEENAGER WHEN YOU WERE WITH PETER JENNINGS, COVERING ACTUALLY THE DEATH OF DIANA. I BELIEVE WE HAVE THAT FOOTAGE. AND AS WE LOOK BACK AT THAT, AS YOU LOOK BACK AT THAT, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOST? >> DIANA TOUCHED YOU. YOU WROTE A BEST SELLING BOOK. YOU REALLY DID GET INSIGHT. >> NOBODY ELSE DID. AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, PEOPLE HERE IN AMERICA LOVED HER VERY MUCH. >> LET ME TELL YOU A VERY QUICK STORY. ABOUT THAT FUNERAL. WE ALL HAD CROSSES ON OUR BACKS . WE WERE VERY HIGH UP OVERLOOKING WESTMINSTER ABBEY. AND PETER'S KEPT FALLING OFF. AND AT ONE STAGE, WE TOLD THAT THE POLICE HAVE YOU IN THE SIGHTS AND THEN A SECURITY GUARD HAD TO PULL HIM OFF THE SET BECAUSE HISAND I HAD ONY I HAD THIS GUY ON THE OTHER ARM AND AS WE'RE PULLING IN BACK AND FORTH, PETER'S STILL GIVING THE COMMENTARY. >> AND NOW THE COFFIN ENTERS WESTMINSTER ABBEY. AND THEY PULLED UP AND SAID, I WISH TO EXPLAIN TO OUR VIEWERS YOU HAD TO HAVE ORANGE XS ON YOUR BACK BECAUSE SECURITY WAS SO TIGHT THAT THEN. >> RIGHT, ALL THE POLICE NEEDED TO KNOW THAT YOU WERE CLEAR THAT YOU WERE OKAY. AND SO SAYS X FELL OFF OF HIS BACK . HE IS A TARGET TO BE TAKEN AWAY. YOU ALMOST ANCHORED THE NEWSCAST FOR ABC NEWS. >> THAT'S RIGHT. ABSOLUTELY. IT WAS A IT WAS ONLY A TESTAMENT TO HIS COOL ON THE UNDERFIRE. >> WELL, IS THERE ANOTHER BOOK IN PROGRESS? >> I MEAN, THIS IS THE SAME SORT OF LIKE AN END OF AN ERA, BUT NOT REALLY. IF YOU LOOK AT THE FUTURE KING CHARLES , COULD THAT BE THE NEXT BOOK? >> WAIT AND SEE. I DO HAVE SOMETHING IN MIND. THE CORONATION IS GOING TO BE PROBABLY THE NEXT TIME WE MEET WILL BE IN LONDON IN MAY AND IT WILL DEFINE THE STYLE OF THE FUTURE OF KING CHARLES . THE THIRD AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO QUEEN CAMILLA THAT WOULD BE A GOOD BOOK. ANDREW MORTON, THANK YOU SO MUCH. MY ALWAYS A PLEASURE. >> THE BOOK, THE QUEEN, HER LIFE. BE SURE TO PICK UP A COPY

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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