Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps one of the most controversial and divisive monarchs in regal history. Her story reads like a particularly spicy novel, with murder, kidnap, adultery, assassination and execution. To some she is one of the most wronged women in history, a pawn used and abused by her family in the great monarchical marriage game; to others, a murderous adulteress who committed regicide to marry her lover and then spent years in captivity for the crime, endlessly plotting the demise of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. This book covers the breathtaking scope of her amazing life and examines the immense cultural legacy she left behind, from the Schiller play of the 1800s to The CW teen drama Reign. Temptress, terrorist, or tragic queen, this book will give you the lowdown on one of history's most misunderstood monarchs.

The remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation. Anne Glenconner reveals the real events behind The Crown as well as her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define her.

Anne Glenconner has been close to the Royal Family since childhood. Eldest child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, she was, as a daughter, described as 'the greatest disappointment' by her family as she was unable to inherit. Her childhood home Holkham Hall is one of the grandest estates in England. Bordering Sandringham the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were frequent playmates.

From Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation to Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Glenconner is a unique witness to royal history, as well as an extraordinary survivor of a generation of aristocratic women trapped without inheritance and burdened with social expectations.

She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. Together they turned the island into a paradise for the rich and famous, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and it became a favourite retreat for Princess Margaret.

But beneath the glitz and glamour there has also lurked tragedy. On Lord Glenconner's death in 2010 he left his fortune to a former employee. And of their five children, two grown-up sons died, while a third son had to be nursed back from a coma by Anne, after having suffered a near fatal accident.

Anne Glenconner writes with extraordinary wit, generosity and courage and she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret, and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life.

A long-overdue and dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians at work today. She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen years; at eighteen she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her. The life of Mary Stuart is one of unparalleled drama and conflict. From the labyrinthine plots laid by the Scottish lords to wrest power for themselves, to the efforts made by Elizabeth's ministers to invalidate Mary's legitimate claim to the English throne, John Guy returns to the archives to explode the myths and correct the inaccuracies that surround this most fascinating monarch. He also explains a central mystery: why Mary would have consented to marry -- only three months after the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley -- the man who was said t

Queen Victoria's son, Prince Leopold, died from haemophilia, but no member of the royal family before his generation had suffered from the condition. Medically, there are only two possibilities: either one of Victoria's parents had a 1 in 50,000 random mutation, or Victoria was the illegitimate child of a haemophiliac man. However the haemophilia gene arose, it had a profound effect on history. Two of Victoria's daughters were silent carriers who passed the disease to the Spanish and Russian royal families. The disease played a role in the origin of the Spanish Civil War; and the tsarina's concern over her only son's haemophilia led to the entry of Rasputin into the royal household, contributing directly to the Russian Revolution. Finally, if Queen Victoria was illegitimate, who should have inherited the British throne? The answer is astonishing.

At the time of Elizabeth II’s accession, Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harry S. Truman was President of the United States and Joseph Stalin still governed the Soviet Union. It has often been said that she never put a foot wrong during her seven decades as monarch, and even those ideologically opposed to Britain and its governments have lauded her. Remarkably, she retained her relevance as sovereign well into her nineties, remaining a reassuring constant in an ever-changing world.

Royal biographer Ian Lloyd reveals the woman behind the legend over seventy themed chapters. Drawing on interviews with relatives, friends and courtiers, he explores her relationship with seven generations of the royal family, from the children of Queen Victoria to Elizabeth’s own great-grandchildren. He also sheds light on some lesser-known aspects of her character, such as her frugality and her gift for mimicry. In addition, we see her encounters with A-listers, from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna, and her adept handling of several of the twentieth century’s most difficult leaders.

Above all, Lloyd examines how the Queen stayed true to the promise she made to the nation at the age of 21, ‘that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service’.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A Daily Mail Royal Book of the Year, 2021 'Darkly compelling...hundreds of eye-popping details...Gripping ... damning portrait of the Windsors' Daily Mail 'Book of the Week' 'Briskly written and compulsively readable...' - A.N. Wilson, TLS 'Meticulously researched' - Spectator 'Entertaining... convincing... timely. Urgent reading for royals' - Evening Standard December 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his Crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after. But do they? In Traitor King, bestselling historian Andrew Lownie draws on hitherto unexplored archives to uncover the dramatic world of the Windsors post-abdication. Lownie reveals a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position and manipulating the media. Filled with treachery and betrayal, this is a story of an exiled Royal and the Nazi attempts to recruit him to their cause. And of why the Royal family never forgave the Duke for choosing love over duty.

Prince Philip was a man of many, many words. For almost eighty years since he first entered the public's eye, Prince Philip had been telling the world exactly what he thought of it. Over the years, Prince Philip's quips and wisecracks have been labelled as shocking and even outrageous, but at the root of this colourful royal was a very funny man who seemingly never took life too seriously. He was an icon of the royal family and a reminder of a time when the world was a different place - and for that, we, the Great British public, salute him. This tiny tome is a celebration of his extraordinary life in the service of his subjects, as well as a compilation of his best (and worst) one-liners, in his own inimitable style. 'I rather doubt whether anyone has ever been genuinely shocked by anything I have said.' Prince Philip, in an interview, 1999. Smashing Fact No.1: Philip was 13 years old when he met his future wife, Elizabeth. They were both attending the wedding of Princess Marina of Greece and the Duke of Kent in 1934. Elizabeth was eight at the time. The pair met again five years later.

Historians and broadcasters Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan tell the real stories of the most powerful men and women in British history. Kings & Queens explores the lives, loves, triumphs and disasters of a monarchy that is the envy of the world. Snow and MacMillan offer a unique insight into those born to rule, whether villains or heroes - from cruel King John and warrior-king Edward III, to our own Elizabeth II: dutiful, discreet and the longest-reigning queen in the world. This is the story of modern civilization through the lens of those who have ruled.

Tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations. From Henry VIII's lovelorn notes to Anne Boleyn and George IV's impassioned notes to his secret wife, to Queen Victoria's tender letters to Prince Albert and Edward VIII's extraordinary correspondence with Wallis Simpson - these letters depict romantic love from its budding passion to the comfort and understanding of a long union (and occasionally beyond to resentment and recrimination), all set against the background of great affairs of state, wars and the strictures of royal duty. Here is a chance to glimpse behind the pomp and ceremony, the carefully curated images of royal splendour and decorum, to see the passions, hopes, jealousies and loneliness of kings and queens throughout history. By turns tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations, whose actions (and passions) changed the course of history, for good and bad. This morning I received your dear, dear letter of the 21st. How happy do you make me with your love! Oh! my Angel Albert, I am quite enchanted with it! I do not deserve such love! Never, never did I think I could be loved so much. Queen Victoria to Prince Albert (28 November 1839)

The acclaimed Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperback The formation of England happened against the odds - the division of the country into rival kingdoms, the assaults of the Vikings, the precarious position of the island on the edge of the known world. But King Alfred ensured the survival of Wessex, his son Eadweard expanded it, and his grandson AEthelstan finally united Mercia and Wessex, conquered Northumbria and became Rex totius Britanniae. Tom Holland recounts this extraordinarily exciting story with relish and drama. We meet the great figures of the age, including Alfred and his daughter AEthelflaed, 'Lady of the Mercians', who brought AEthelstan up at the Mercian court. At the end of the book we understand the often confusing history of the Anglo-Saxon kings better than ever before.

A lost princess and a vanished world- a remarkable true story that moves from the Punjab of the Raj to 1930s Paris and the cataclysm of the Second World War A lost princess and a vanished world- a remarkable true story that moves from the Punjab of the Raj to 1930s Paris and the cataclysm of the Second World War On a sweltering day in 2007, Italian writer Livia Manera Sambuy encounters a photograph of Princess Amrit Kaur in a Mumbai museum. The picture is arresting, gorgeous - but the caption will change Livia's life forever. It claims that the Punjabi princess sold her jewels in occupied Paris to save Jewish lives, only to be arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp where she died within a year. It's a sensational story - and for Livia, the beginning of a compulsive search for the truth as she delves into the history of the British Raj, the diamonds and sapphires of the twentieth-century aristocracy, and the lives of extraordinary figures- bankers, jewellers, explorers and spies. Past and present converge when Livia travels to meet Bubbles, the princess's daughter, now in her eighties. Striving to reconnect Bubbles with the elusive woman who abandoned her in 1933, Livia unearths a strange and complicated family history; one that diverges unexpectedly from the story that she set out to uncover. Filled with glamour and terror, beauty and sorrow, In Search of Amrit Kaur is an engrossing detective story, a kaleidoscopic history lesson, and a moving portrait of mothers, lovers and daughters across the century, seeking personal freedom.

** Now updated to cover Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement. ** Prince Henry of Wales has emerged as the unexpected jewel in the crown of the modern British monarchy. Despite his unruly antics, for which he's made headlines all over the world, Harry has won the nation's admiration and respect through his commitment to helping injured servicemen and women with the Invictus Games and his spearheading of mental health issues. With updated chapters on Harry's flourishing relationship with American actress Meghan Markle, Duncan Larcombe's insightful and highly entertaining biography is the inside story of how a young prince has grown and matured into a respected soldier, charitable fundraiser and national figurehead who still retains his reputation as a heart-throb and lovable rogue.

Join us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the filming locations for the award-winning Netflix series The Crown.The series recreates the romance and intrigue at the heart of our very own royal family and within these pages we seek out the settings so integral to the story, linking each 'fictional' site to its real-life counterpart.Covering the first four series, starting with Princess Elizabeth's marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 and concluding in 1990 - in particular with the relationship of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer following their 1981 wedding - this is the perfect opportunity for every fan of The Crown to follow in the footsteps of royalty.Stunning Ely Cathedral provides the backdrop to the iconic Westminster Abbey where Princess Elizabeth's wedding took place, while Belvoir Castle, Hatfield House and Burghley House are just three of the fine locations that 'double' as Windsor Castle. Historic Winchester Cathedral transforms into St Paul's Cathedral in the run-up to the wedding of Charles and Diana, its versatility also seeing it representing both Romsey Abbey and Westminster Abbey.Sweeping across Britain from London and the home counties to the Welsh treasure that is Caernarfon Castle, heading north to Manchester and Liverpool and onwards to the majestic Scottish Highlands, The Crown's Royal Britain takes you on a royal tour of Britain and the venues that were an inspiration for this special drama.Many of the featured sites are open to the public so as well as learning about how these places played their part you can visit and enjoy the real spectacle in person.

Featuring unreported details and stunning revelations, the long-awaited follow-up to the "fabulous, addictive" (Chicago Sun-Times) New York Times bestseller Diana's Boys explores the last twenty years in the lives of Princes William and Harry and the evolution of their relationship as adults, with one brother the designated heir, and the other doomed to life as the spare--perfect for fans of Netflix's The Crown. Diana's Boys revealed the powerful bond between the teenaged princes, and how it strengthened even more in the wake of their mother's tragic death. Now, twenty years later, Queen Elizabeth II is in her mid-nineties, Prince Charles is in his seventies, and all eyes are turned increasingly toward William and Harry again. Christopher Andersen picks up where he left off, covering everything that has happened to the brothers as they have grown up, gotten married to two remarkable women, and had children--all while facing continual waves of controversy and questions about the ways their relationship has shifted. Andersen examines how the Queen's behind-the-scenes maneuvering to mold her grandsons in the Windsor image after Diana's death, and her expectations of William as the future king, played out. He questions whether the brothers' famously close relationship can survive Harry's departure from the Royal Family--the first time this has happened since their great-great-uncle King Edward abdicated the throne to marry a divorcee. He delves into the impact sisters-in-law Kate and Meghan have had on each other as well as on their princes, and how marriage and fatherhood have changed the brothers and, in some ways, also driven a wedge between them. Andersen also looks with an honest eye at how the princes and their wives have been continuously buffeted by scandal--including headline-making allegations of bullying, racism, betrayal, and emotional abuse that has pushed more than one royal to the brink of self-destruction. Based on in-depth research and with his "fascinating and insightful" (The Christian Science Monitor) writing, Andersen leaves no stone unturned in this intimate and riveting look into the private lives of the world's most famous princes.

Unseen behind the throne, two sides of the royal bloodline competed for influence, and egregious family secrets had to be protected. Meanwhile, in public, a succession of family ruptures put the monarchy under unprecedented scrutiny from the world's media. From the turbulent loves of Princess Margaret to the tragic saga of Princess Diana, from the torments of Prince Charles to the arrival of Meghan Markle, tensions gripped the House of Windsor. Through all this, Elizabeth II remained steadfast in her values while many of those around her seemed to lose their moorings. Clive Irving's gripping account casts new light on seventy tempestuous years of British history, exploring how the Queen, uncomfortable with the pace of the social and cultural changes in her nation, and often seeming out of touch, resolutely kept the monarchy stable in a rapidly changing world. With unparalleled insight, Irving examines the pivotal events of the Queen's reign and then steps above them to assess her role in the royal family's Faustian pact with the media. The final irony is, as Irving's carefully measured scrutiny shows, that in the last decades of her reign the Queen endures to become one of the most admired people in the world while remaining one of the least known and understood. She will likely be the last Queen of the United Kingdom.

'Expertly researched, zestfully written, acutely intelligent in its historical judgements, this masterly biography finally does justice to a forgotten Tudor princess' John Guy

Sometime heir to the English throne, courtier in danger of losing her head, spy-mistress and would-be architect of a united Catholic Britain: Lady Margaret Douglas is the Tudor who survived and triumphed -but at a terrible cost.

Niece to Henry VIII and half-sister to James V of Scotland, the beautiful and Catholic Margaret held a unique position in the English court. Throughout her life, she was to navigate treacherous waters: survival demanded it. Yet Margaret was no passive pawn. As the Protestant Reformations unfolded across the British Isles, she had ambitions of her own: to see her family rule a united, Catholic Britain. When her niece Mary, Queen of Scots was widowed, Margaret saw her chance. Thoroughly Machiavellian, she set in motion a chain of events that would see her descendants succeed to the crowns of England, Ireland and Scotland.

Drawing on previously unexamined archival sources, So High a Blood revives the story of Lady Margaret Douglas to vivid and captivating effect.

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller 'This second volume of memoirs is as fascinating as the first....full of wit, joy, vivid vignettes and useful insights...she has another bestseller on her hands' India Knight, Sunday Times 'It's great to have another memoir from Lady Glenconner . . . as open-minded and entertaining as she clearly is' Lynn Barber, Sunday Telegraph 'A jolly anecdote for every day of the year and excellent advice' Hilary Rose, The Times 'As glorious and highly readable as its predecessor - as well as being packed full of new stories' ipaper 'Full of eye-popping detail' Sophia Money-Coutts, Daily Telegraph 'Charm itself' Spectator 'Anne Glenconner returns to charts her fascinating life and the hard-won lessons learnt in diplomacy, marriage and motherhood' Tatler.com Bracing honesty, rare insight and hilarious revelations from internationally bestselling author of LADY IN WAITING as she shares everything she's learned from her extraordinary and unexpected life. Anne Glenconner's glittering life hasn't always been golden. As she revealed in her astonishing bestselling memoir Lady in Waiting, it has been one of stark contrasts - from growing up in the splendour of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from travelling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner. Tragically, she has also survived the loss of two of her sons and nursed a third son back from a coma. Now in her ninetieth year, and at her happiest, Anne brings her bracing honesty, characteristic wit and courage to reflect on and reveal more about her long and unexpected life, her extremely volatile marriage, and what it's taught her. As a wife, she became a master in the art of keeping the peace, knowing when to pick her battles, when she needed help - and when to take a lover. As a hostess, she acquired great practical skills in throwing marvellous parties and looking after magnificent homes, and, as a lady in waiting, became well versed in diplomacy and etiquette. It was as a mother she learnt the toughest lessons of all, and through them the value of friendship, family, and laughter to get her through the worst moments in life, as well as celebrate the best of them. Anne Glenconner's Whatever Next? is the richly entertaining proof that staying open to every new adventure and being ready for whatever happens sets an inspiring example for us all.

Discover all the foul facts about the history of royalty with history's most horrible headlines: Top 50 Kings and Queens edition. The master of making history fun, Terry Deary, turns his attention to 50 foul royals across history. From who kept a zoo in the Tower of London and which monarch died from eating too many eels to who pretended to be a corpse to make an escape. It's all in Horrible Histories: Top 50 Kings and Queens: fully illustrated throughout and packed with hair-raising stories - with all the horribly hilarious bits included with a fresh take on the classic Horrible Histories style, perfect for fans old and new the perfect series for anyone looking for a fun and informative read Horrible Histories has been entertaining children and families for generations with books, TV, stage show, magazines, games and 2019's brilliantly funny Horrible Histories: the Movie - Rotten Romans. Get your history right here and collect the whole horrible lot. Read all about it!

Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps the most romantic and tragic figure in British history. Was her tragic life a product of bad luck, bad advice, or ambition? Destined to marry the Dauphin of France and reign as his queen, his early death changed Mary's life. As claimant then in France, England and Scotland, there are many mysteries and unanswered questions in the tragedies that befell her. This fascinating book looks at Mary Queen of Scot's life and death. Angela Royston examines Mary's early life as the Infant Queen before her childhood in France, moving onto her time in Scotland and her scandalous marriage to Lord Darnley, and Mary's imprisonment and execution after being charged with treason. A must for any student of history or visitor to England, this revised edition of a Pitkin classic is filled with colour photographs and reproductions of historical artworks and artifacts to illuminate the life of Mary Queen of Scots.

This revelatory book shows how the influential and controversial Empress Dowager Cixi used art and architecture to establish her authority Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), who ruled China from 1861 until her death in 1908, is a subject of fascination and controversy, at turns vilified for her political maneuvering and admired for modernizing China. In addition to being an astute politician, she was an earnest art patron, and this beautifully illustrated book explores a wide range of objects, revealing how the empress dowager used art and architecture to solidify her rule. Cixi's art commissions were innovative in the way that they unified two distant conceptions of gender in China at the time, demonstrating her strength and wisdom as a monarch while highlighting her identity as a woman and mother. Artful Subversion examines commissioned works, including portrait paintings and photographs, ceramics, fashion, architecture, and garden design, as well as work Cixi created, such as painting and calligraphy. The book is a compelling study of how a powerful matriarch at once subverted and upheld the Qing imperial patriarchy.

They're not like us, the royal family. Or are they? We simply don't know and we're all desperate to find out. This A-Z of royalty is the practical miscellany of the royal family that everyone's been waiting for. Did the Queen Mum really give all her clothes to charity? Hundreds of people send Her Majesty boxes of chocolates on her birthday, but what happens to them? Where are the best places to go to see the royal family? Does the Queen hold a driving licence and did she pass a test? What are the correct days and hours when it is permitted to fly a flag above Buckingham Palace? Including fascinating facts on abdication, birthdays, Christmas, dining, equerries, fashion, garden parties, hairdressers, insignia, the Jewel House, Kensington Palace, liveries, maids of honour, nannies, orbs, protection squads, the Queen's piper, racing, Snowdon, tartans, the Union Jack, Queen Victoria, weddings, the X-ray machine at Buckingham Palace, yachts and Meghan Markle, this is an unstoppable, unbeatable little guide to our great monarchy.

A beautifully presented gift book this Christmas Our most travelled monarch covered well over 1,000,000 miles and visited 117 countries during her reign. From New Zealand to Barbados, we look back at Queen Elizabeth's most memorable Commonwealth visits. While the Commonwealth itself has endured the challenges of a changing society over the last seven decades, one constant always remained: Queen Elizabeth. Explore the nature of this evolving relationship through The Times archives, with striking full-colour photographs and authoritative accounts of news stories as they unfolded across the globe. In this beautifully designed volume you'll find: * Timelines for each decade of state visits, from the 1950s to the 2010s * Striking, full-colour photographs of Queen Elizabeth on tour * Articles from The Times archives, reporting on events as they unfolded

The royal family is the original Coronation Street - a long-running soap opera with the occasional real coronation thrown in. Its members have become celebrities, like upmarket versions of film stars and footballers. But they have also become a byword for arrogance, entitlement, hypocrisy and indifference to the gigantic amount of public money wasted by them. ... And What Do You Do? is a hard-hitting analysis of the royal family, exposing its extravagant use of public money and the highly dubious behaviour of some among its ranks, whilst being critical of the knee-jerk sycophancy shown by the press and politicians. By turns irreverent and uncompromising, ... And What Do You Do? asks important questions about the future of the world's most famous royal family.