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Queen Elizabeth likes her martinis neat. Only one during dinner. Prince Philip prefers his shaken. At lunch, she likes equal parts gin and Dubonnet. Again, one drink. She favors simple foods, and isn’t happy with spaghetti and its messy sauces. She's known to serve lunch to friends, and clear the table herself.

She loves the outdoors, walking with Prince Philip at her estates, where she looks after her stables and rides with one of her beloved thoroughbreds. A demon driver, she doesn’t have a license, but then Queens never do.

She was taught very practical things. At an early age, she drove a two-ton army truck during World War II, learned to strip down an engine, change a tire and spark plugs. Stalked deer when she was 16, crawling through prickly brush at her Sandringham and Balmoral terrain. Maintains a tool kit with a screwdriver that she uses to lock in her diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and pearls into the tiara she’s chosen to wear. Her grandmother Queen Mary wore a tiara every night to dinner, even when dining alone with King George V.

She passed on seeing The Queen starring Helen Mirren, but invited Helen to tea. So reveals Sally Bedell Smith who digs deeper and beyond these friendly details that she’s solicited from behind palace doors in her engrossing and deeply human biography, Elizabeth The Queen, The Making Of A Modern Monarch. Pages of photographs before and after Elizabeth’s coronation through the decades enrich Sally’s book.

After losing her father King George VI to lung cancer (yes, he smoked), she ascended the throne of the British Empire at age 25. The Oscar-winning The King’s Speech starring Oscar-winning Colin Firth is based on her family.

“At 85, the Queen’s in excellent physical shape, with a beguiling smile, an exuberant spirit and a witty sense of humor. She has the twinkliest blue eyes and a flawless complexion,” says Sally, author of six previous bestselling biographies. Among them: CBS titan William Paley; the grand courtesan Pamela Harriman (courtesans attain power with marriages and liaisons); Diana, Princess of Wales (who suffered a “borderline personality disorder”); John and Jacqueline Kennedy; Bill and Hillary Clinton.

“The Queen sleeps very well, has very good legs, and can stand on her feet a long time … her secret is to keep them parallel. She’s tough as a yak,” adds Sally, who interviewed more than 200 insiders, including duchesses, jewelers, courtiers, horse whisperers, dog handlers, etc. This is a richly readable history of the woman who’s reigned over the British Empire for 60 years, with 12 prime ministers, four recessions, wars and turbulent times and vast technological changes. Elizabeth The Queen is a fascinating summation of a life of intelligence, composure and grace, with duty being paramount and personal life secondary. (The first woman to inherit the throne of England in 1553 was Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII – she was often overshadowed by her long-reigning sister Elizabeth I.)

Queen Elizabeth describes her husband of 64 years as being “strength and stay,” having fallen in love when she was 13 and he was a naval cadet, a penniless member of the Greek royal family. (Her parents hoped for a wealthy English aristocrat.) A private secretary confided that Prince Philip “is the only man who treats the Queen as another human being, and the only one who can.”

“In an era plagued by flawed public figures, the world’s most famous woman has graced her realm impeccably these 60 years,” observes Walter Isaacson, biographer of Steve Jobs. “Sally shows how the Queen balances being both modern and traditional … our celebrity-saturated world could learn a lot from her – and from this book.”

Sally assesses the Queen’s travails with her four children and their chaotic marriages, providing balanced analyses of their relationships. “By the end of Sally’s winning book, I felt as I had a new friend at Buckingham Palace,” comments Tom Brokaw, with Nancy Milford lauding Sally for “not avoiding the difficult questions … asking them in a way no one else dared.”

This month, Queen Elizabeth will be the second monarch after Queen Victoria in 1,000 years of British history to participate in a Diamond Jubilee. Celebrating her 60th year on the throne, the Diamond Jubilee begins during the first week in June. No matter what controversy arises about the monarchy, Sally says the Queen’s approval rating stands at 80 percent.

On June 3, a thousand boats led by the Queen on a royal barge will prevail on the River Thames launching the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Thousands of beacons will be lighted around the world the following day to commemorate her six decade reign over the UK and as head of the Commonwealth with two billion people in 54 countries.

The Queen and Prince Philip will visit England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and members of the Royal Family will travel throughout the United Kingdom and overseas.

Dancers, musicians, military and equestrian displays from around the world will come together for three nights at Windsor Castle, and museums are featuring exhibitions relating to Queen Elizabeth who rules the world’s last great monarchy.

“She will not abdicate,” says Sally. “Her duty is to serve until death.”