~Ninety-Nine Glimpses Of Princess Margaret Craig Brown This biography is a whimsical and highly entertaining mix of fact and fancy. It comes at its target from a myriad angles via diaries, biographies, palace announcements and lists — as in the possessions auctioned after her death or a chapter about the phrases coined in the year of her birth. And scattered throughout are re-imaginings of what might have happened if, say, she had married Peter Townsend. If you’ve watched The Crown you’ll have enjoyed Helen Bonham Carter’s magnificent portrayal of Princess Margaret in which she comes across as witty and whimsical, a touch campy, slightly arrogant but alluring and charming nonetheless. By the time you’re done with this book you will see glimpses of all of these traits but your overwhelming conclusion (well, certainly my conclusion) is that she was, above all else, a spiteful…well, I’ll leave the next noun up to your imagination. Due to the absurdities of royal protocol, no-one in her company was allowed to sit down or leave a party before she did and whilst dining, must stop eating when she stopped eating, all rules which she imposed on others with regularity and glee. Story after story portrays her as rude, relentlessly selfish and highly capricious. In fairness there is the occasional act of kindness and she did seem to enjoy a reasonable amount of loyalty from her inner circle. The book itself is charming in its unconventional and playful approach (the author interjects many of his own thoughts) but also pretty caustic in its bitchy gossipy-ness — Princess Margaret being the cattiest gossip of them all. I had planned to read other books about the adult princess to achieve balance, but to be honest I couldn’t bear to spend any more time with her.
~Diana: Her True Story Andrew Morton Couldn’t not include this infamous gem published in 1992. It’s been donkey’s years since I’ve read it so can’t give a serious review but I do remember it was riveting given the scandal of its publication. After Diana’s death Morton did reveal that Diana herself had indeed been his source so this is certainly information straight from the horse’s mouth and a great place to start if you’re new to all things royal. Morton has gone on to write numerous books about the British royals including another book about Diana as well as ones on Meghan, Prince William and Elizabeth and Margaret as sisters. I haven’t read any of them but I’m guessing they do not disappoint.
~The Diana Chronicles Tina Brown Written ten years after her death this is an astonishingly balanced account of Diana’s life, family, marriage and the last summer before her death. Brown includes a look at Diana’s grandparents, parents and siblings before launching in to life at the palace and all the trials and tribulations that involved. This is colorful, entertaining, sometimes salacious (uh, hello, royal family) sometimes brow raising and I have no idea how much is truly true and how much mere speculation, but it was certainly engrossing and I appreciated the fact that Brown really did try to take a balanced, warts and all approach.
~The Little Princesses Marion Crawford Published in 1950 this was considered a huge scandal at the time and “Crawfie” (the princesses’ governess) was ostracized from the royal family and never spoken to again. If published today The Firm would be sending up royal prayers of thanks for its polite and innocent charm. That’s the passage of time for you. Having said that it’s easy to understand their sense of betrayal–I wouldn’t want my personal life put in a book for personal gain, no matter how innocent, especially if done by someone you trusted. Anyway, what this book gives is a behind- the-scenes look at how the two princesses were raised, their relationship with not just each other and their parents, but with the world events that played out around them. It’s a touch gossipy but it is in no way salacious. From an historical standpoint it’s quite fascinating. The princesses as children clearly already possessed the attributes that marked their adulthood. What stood out for me really, was the normalcy of their domesticity given their standing.
~HRH Elizabeth Holmes This book takes a look at four female royals: The Queen, Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle. Each get their own quarter of the book which gives an overview of their life, who they are etc etc. Nothing particularly new about any of them but certainly more in-depth than newspaper headlines. It’s nicely written and organized and is chock full of great photos—again, not anything you won’t have already seen if you even remotely follow the royals, with the exception of The Queen. There were a handful of photos from her earlier days as Queen that were fun to see.
~The Other Side Of The Coin Angela Kelly A great book for anyone with an interest in Her Majesty. Angela Kelly was the Queen’s dresser for a handful of decades and so has a unique perspective on all things sartorial—and a bit beyond (apparently they had a good laugh together). Sometimes it gets memoir-y and a bit saccharine, but for the most part this has all sorts of interesting tidbits about how dresses came to be, the design process behind the clothes and last minute changes due to this, that, and the other. Lots and lots of fabulous photos with one in particular which cracked me up—a tidy rainbow row of all the Queen’s see through umbrellas with colored trim and handles that match every outfit, just in case of rain. I’m sure they got lots of use!
~Elizabeth The Queen Sally Bedell Smith A comprehensive, well researched biography perfect for filling in any gaps in knowledge for all fans of The Crown. It’s full of fascinating behind-the-scenes royal minutiae which plays out nicely alongside a running commentary of British history and politics. Having said that, it has an unapologetically pro-Queen stance (Diana certainly doesn’t fare well) and while it’s an easy (albeit long) read it has a tendency to fall flat in parts. Bedell Smith has written numerous other royal biographies including one on Princess Diana (I shudder to think how it reads given what she says in the Queen’s biography) and most recently Prince Charles.
~Remembering Diana: A Life in Photographs This has a foreword by Tina Brown but outside of that this is exactly what the title states: a collection of photos of Diana over the course of her lifetime with brief copy describing each one. It’s broken down into four segments: childhood, marriage, post marriage and death. While most of the photographs are familiar, there are a handful which feel new and as a whole they highlight that gorgeous luminosity she had. It also contains several photos by Mario Testino which have always been my favorites, including the portrait session of her with Charles and the boys with a horse and picnic. Highly stylised but so good.
The Lady Di Look Book Eloise Moran The author wrote this after falling down a Lady Di rabbit hole a few years back and became convinced that the former Princess used her clothes to convey thoughts and feelings – the book’s byline is “what Diana was trying to tell us through her clothes”. A bit of a stretch perhaps, although there’s no denying that her post-Charles dressing conveyed her sense of new found freedom from royal constraints. This has a bold and brash look accompanied by cheeky and entertaining text which makes it fun to read. It’s classified into chapters such as “The Fuck-You Dress Revenge Look”, “The Polo Look” and “The Rebel Rebel Look” with sub-sections entitled “Americana” “Pretty in Pink” and “The Shift Dresses”. All in all, a fun romp through Diana’s sartorial choices from her teens to the summer before her death.
Three titles if you fancy a bit of royal fiction:
~The Royal We Heather Cocks Jessica Morgan Basically a fictionalized telling of William and Kate’s courtship and marriage, with some changes – Bex (Kate) is American. If chick lit is your jam, you could certainly do worse, especially if you love reading all things royal. It’s not badly written, but I personally didn’t manage to finish it – which perhaps wouldn’t have been a problem if it was closer to 200 pages and not 400.
~The Gown Jennifer Robson In modern day Toronto Heather Mckenzie discovers after the death of her beloved Nan, that she has left her a piece of embroidery. When Heather discovers that it looks remarkably like the embroidery on the gown worn by Queen Elizabeth for her wedding in 1947, she decides to go to London to discover its truth and the connection between her Nan and celebrated holocaust survivor and textile artist Miriam Dassin. In 1947, post-war Britain is experiencing a harsh winter and still enduring rationing. The approaching wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip is a bright light amidst so much darkness. Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin who work for Norman Hartnell, have the honor of working on the Princess dress. While the story cleverly revolves around the making of the dress, this actually plays a pretty small role. This is more a story of female friendship and resilience in the face of hardship. The author has certainly done her research and if you love a good London, Second World War-ish setting then this is a pleasant read as long as you’re not looking for something with a huge amount of depth.
~The Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett A highly entertaining thoroughly cheeky look at what might happen if the queen become a bookworm. When the queen stumbles upon a mobile library right outside the palace, she takes a book more out of obligation than anything else. She reads it for the same reason, finds it a bit of a slog and exchanges it for the Pursuit Of Love by Nancy Mitford. And falls in love. She begins to read voraciously: novels and poetry, Austen and Proust. She regrets how much time she has lost not reading and sets out to make up for lost time, immersing herself in new worlds and discovering all manner of delights. There’s just one teensy tiny problem – she starts to neglect her duties. Sneaking in just one more page has a tendency to make her late and throw off the well-oiled machine that is the palace. And suddenly ceremonial duties feel lackluster and pomp and circumstance serves nothing more than a roadblock to her latest book. And all this reading makes her glaringly aware of not just other people’s feelings, but her own too, causing her to be much more sympathetic and, ultimately, relatable. Her private secretary is unamused. Her aides are horrified. So they come up with a plan. Which backfires. Spectacularly. Doesn’t get more charming than this.
And a list for further reading, none of which I have read myself and by no means definitive because, goodness, there are so many books about the royal family you could dedicate a whole year to reading them if you so desired.
~Diana: Finally the Complete Story Sarah Bradford
~The Diana I Knew Mary Robertson
~Diana: Closely Guarded Secret Inspector Ken Wharfe
~A Royal Duty Paul Burrell
~The Palace Papers Tina Brown
~Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life In The Shadow Of The CrownAnne Glenconner
~Brothers And Wives: Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan Christopher Andersen
