Sally Bedell Smith

Sally Bedell Smith is a highly accomplished and bestselling historical fiction biography and memoir author. She has written definitive biographies of several notable figures, including the late Queen Elizabeth, based on her research using diaries and letters from the Windsor Castle archives. Smith has published six biographies in total, with her works often appearing on the New York Times bestseller list.

Smith's biographies include "Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch" (Random House 2012), "For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years" (Random House 2007), "Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House" (Random House 2004), "Diana In Search of Herself: Portrait of a Troubled Princess" (Random House 2004), "Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman" (Simon & Schuster, 1996), and "In All His Glory: The Life and Times of William S. Paley and the Birth of Modern Broadcasting" (Simon & Schuster, 1990). She has been a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair since 1996 and has previously worked as a cultural news reporter for The New York Times, a staff writer for TV Guide, and a reporter-researcher for Time Magazine. Smith was awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982 and was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University from 1986 to 1987. She earned her B.A. from Wheaton College and her M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Smith's latest biography, "Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life," was published on April 4, 2017, and became an immediate New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller. The first major biography of Prince Charles in more than two decades, it provides an in-depth look at the real man, complete with his contradictions, complexities, and ambitions. Smith has also served as a consultant to playwright Peter Morgan on "The Audience," his award-winning drama about Queen Elizabeth II, which led to the hit Netflix series "The Crown." She is the mother of three children and currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Stephen Smith. Smith's biography of Queen Elizabeth II won the 2012 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence and the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for best book in history and biography.