When you don't like Queen Elizabeth, you know it immediately, says a royal biographer.

In Robert Hardman's forthcoming biography, Queen of Our Times: the Life of Queen Elizabeth II, a senior advisor to the queen "looks you up and down with a withering gaze, and you can tell when she is not pleased with you."

The "gaze" begins with what one official calls "eyebrows." If both eyebrows appear, it is more extreme annoyance. And if you get a firm "Are you sure?" the annoyance has really escalated.

"Another retired courtier still remembers the icy glare he received after he made a timing error at a state dinner," Hardman writes in his April 5 book. (Hardman wrote in his April 5 book ("Don't worry about the courtiers.) ) "Silent reprimands can be caused by incompetence or by over-familiarity.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in his memoirs, "She may occasionally endear herself to you, but don't try to reciprocate.

The queen is friendly, even jovial at times, but there are boundaries, Hardman says.

"Most people know there are two dangers to avoid when meeting with their bosses. 'Never cross the former and never accept the latter.'