Today's blogpost is a review of a new book about the British Royal family - it appeared in the i newspaper.
The book's subtitle mentions The Truth and the Turmoil, and legendary editor Tina Brown certainly goes there. The book is well-researched, very funny, at times jaw-dropping.
There are a dozen main characters, and what certainly comes over (and is reflected on the cover, with women on the front and men on the back) is that the women may not be better or worse, but they are a lot more interesting than the men.
And that in 2016 ‘Meghan’s vision for herself now was as a global celebrity brand synonymous with enlightened causes..[even though] very few people had ever heard of her'. Then: One Palace adviser told Brown that Meghan thought “she could change the world. It’s a very American type; we don’t have them here”. Could the gulf be any wider?
We can consider that Prince Charles has now been married to Camilla for longer than he was to Princess Diana.
And we can learn that Prince Charles “just wasn’t the kind of person the Queen admired”. Oh dear.
I loved every dynamite moment of the book, because I take a very un-admiring view of the Royal Family at the best of times, but I do enjoy a good gossip.
You can find the full review here.
... and you can buy the book anywhere.
Tina Brown's earlier book The Vanity Fair Diaries features in this blogpost, and I am also a big fan of her The Diana Chronicles, a wildly entertaining biography of the Princess of Wales.
But where are the clothes?
ReplyDeleteI'd have thought there was enough material for thousands of posts on royal clothing.
Yes, but, then the illos are just the photos of the clothes they actually wear. The challenge for me on the blog is finding something that represents a description. Goodness knows how I came up with that niche structure, but that's how it is! Sometimes there's no clothes, and maybe once or twice I have tracked down a lost picture that might be the actual thing (a few long-ago actresses and Nijinsky), but on the whole it has to be that I have found something that I think might resemble the description.
DeleteI hope this explains my arcane thinking!
Oh, sounds as though it's just full of those moments, Moira! Cringe, laugh, jaw-drop, whatever, the royal family is nothing if not...interesting. I'm glad there's wit in it, and it sounds as though it doesn't get too lurid, which is good.
ReplyDeleteYes, good point Margot - it draws a line between enjoyable gossip and something that goes too far.
DeleteRoyals around the world were, by hundreds if not thousands of years, the original people famous by being famous.
ReplyDeleteMany were famous by being infamous.
DeleteYou're both right...
DeleteHappy belated birthday to the ONLY current head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
ReplyDeleteHa! Pretty good distinction to have.
Deletebtw, did you see that I posted on Square Deal Sanderson in the second post on impersonation? h/t as ever!
Yes, I saw the post...did not reply because I'm nowhere NEAR as well-read as you think I am. I just have some very odd areas of expertise.
DeleteWell that'll do as a description, and I am still alllowed to think you are well-read!
DeleteThere's a very funny parody of this in the current Private Eye!
ReplyDeleteYes I read that and enjoyed it very much - the piling up of three unconnected adjectives for each new person is a common trope in non-fiction these days and should be discouraged!
DeleteOh, my goodness! How grisly it all sounds!
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly one description...
DeleteI love the fact that Tina Brown is a wonderful writer. If this book, which I am going to buy, is half as entertaining and engaging as The Diana Chronicles I will be very happy.
ReplyDeleteExactly - she really is good, and I love the Diana Chronicles, both as a model biography and also an enjoyable piece of good writing
Delete