When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, it sent shockwaves around the world. The longest reigning and oldest monarch, at ninety-six years of age, she had just publicly celebrated her Platinum Jubilee in June 2022. The Queen's death meant the passing of the Crown to her son, HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, her controversial, earnest, and outspoken heir, who had long lived in the shadow of her mystique.

King Charles III's own life has been marred by scandal and myth, but who is the real man behind the Crown? In this revelatory book, renowned royal correspondent and author Robert Jobson examines the life of our new King, and his passions, purpose, and motivations.

On the eve of his landmark coronation, Our King considers the life of the man and the monarch, reflecting on how his values and beliefs will shape him as he takes on this monumental role.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY "THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "AND "THE BOSTON GLOBE"
This richly entertaining biography chronicles the eventful life of Queen Victoria's firstborn son, the quintessential black sheep of Buckingham Palace, who matured into as wise and effective a monarch as Britain has ever seen. Granted unprecedented access to the royal archives, noted scholar Jane Ridley draws on numerous primary sources to paint a vivid portrait of the man and the age to which he gave his name.
Born Prince Albert Edward, and known to familiars as "Bertie," the future King Edward VII had a well-earned reputation for debauchery. A notorious gambler, glutton, and womanizer, he preferred the company of wastrels and courtesans to the dreary life of the Victorian court. His own mother considered him a lazy halfwit, temperamentally unfit to succeed her. When he ascended to the throne in 1901, at age fifty-nine, expectations were low. Yet by the time he died nine years later, he had proven himself a deft diplomat, hardworking head of state, and the architect of Britain's modern constitutional monarchy.
Jane Ridley's colorful biography rescues the man once derided as "Edward the Caresser" from the clutches of his historical detractors. Excerpts from letters and diaries shed new light on Bertie's long power struggle with Queen Victoria, illuminating one of the most emotionally fraught mother-son relationships in history. Considerable attention is paid to King Edward's campaign of personal diplomacy abroad and his valiant efforts to reform the political system at home. Separating truth from legend, Ridley also explores Bertie's relationships with the women in his life. Their ranks comprised his wife, the stunning Danish princess Alexandra, along with some of the great beauties of the era: the actress Lillie Langtry, longtime "royal mistress" Alice Keppel (the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker Bowles), and Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston.
Edward VII waited nearly six decades for his chance to rule, then did so with considerable panache and aplomb. A magnificent life of an unexpectedly impressive king, "The Heir Apparent" documents the remarkable transformation of a man--and a monarchy--at the dawn of a new century.
Praise for" The Heir Apparent"
"If "The Heir Apparent"] isn't "the "definitive life story of this fascinating figure of British history, then nothing ever will be."--"The Christian Science Monitor
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""The Heir Apparent" is smart, it's fascinating, it's sometimes funny, it's well-documented and it reads like a novel, with Bertie so vivid he nearly leaps from the page, cigars and all."--Minneapolis "Star Tribune"
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"I closed "The Heir Apparent" with admiration and a kind of wry exhilaration."--"The Wall Street Journal"
"Ridley is a serious scholar and historian, who keeps Bertie's flaws and virtues in a fine balance."--"The Boston Globe"
"Brilliantly entertaining . . . a landmark royal biography."--"The Sunday Telegraph"
"Superb."--"The New York Times Book Review"

"From the Hardcover edition."

King for fifty years (1327--77), Edward III changed the face of England.
He ordered his uncle to be beheaded; he usurped his father's throne; he started a war which lasted for more than a hundred years, and taxed his people more than any other previous king. Yet for centuries, Edward III was celebrated as the most brilliant king England had ever had.
In this first full study of the man, Ian Mortimer shows how Edward personally provided the impetus for much of the drama of his reign. Edward overcame the tyranny of his guardians at the age of seventeen and then set about developing a new form of awe-inspiring chivalric kingship. Under him the feudal kingdom of England became a highly organized, sophisticated nation, capable of raising large revenues and, without question, the most important military nation in Europe. Yet under his rule England also experienced its longest period of domestic peace in the Middle Ages, giving rise to a massive increase in the nation's wealth through the wool trade, with huge consequences for society, art and architecture. It is to Edward that England owes its system of parliamentary representation, local justice system and the English language as "the tongue of the nation."
As the King who re-made England and forged a nation out of war, Edward III emerges as the father of the English nation.

This is the story of Elizabeth I's inner circle and the crucial human relationships which lay at the heart of her personal and political life. Using a wide range of original sources - including private letters, portraits, verse, drama, and state papers - Susan Doran provides a vivid and often dramatic account of political life in Elizabethan England and the queen at its centre, offering a deeper insight into Elizabeth's emotional and political conduct - and challenging many of the popular myths that have grown up around her. It is a story replete with fascinating questions. What was the true nature of Elizabeth's relationship with her father, Henry VIII, especially after his execution of her mother? How close was she to her half-brother Edward VI - and were relations with her half-sister Mary really as poisonous as is popularly assumed? And what of her relationship with her Stewart cousins, most famously with Mary Queen of Scots, executed on Elizabeth's orders in 1587, but also with Mary's son James VI of Scotland, later to succeed Elizabeth as her chosen successor? Elizabeth's relations with her family were crucial, but just as crucial were her relations with her courtiers and her councillors. Here again, the story raises a host of fascinating questions. Was the queen really sexually jealous of her maids of honour? Did physically attractive male favourties dominate her court? What does her long and intimate relationship with the Earl of Leicester reveal about her character, personality, and attitude to marriage? What can the fall of Essex tell us about Elizabeth's political management in the final years of her reign? And what was the true nature of her personal and political relationship with influential and long-serving councillors such as the Cecils and Sir Francis Walsingham? And how did courtiers and councillors deal with their demanding royal mistress?

Readers of Princess Sultana's extraordinary autobiography, Princess, were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. In Desert Royal she continues her story at a period of crisis in her life when she reveals her shameful secret - especially so in a Muslim country where alcohol is forbidden - that she has a drinking problem. The forced marriage of her niece to a cruel and depraved older man, and her discovery of the harem of sex slaves kept by another cousin, makes her more determined than ever to defend the rights of women in her country. Her cause is given an extra sense of urgency against the backdrop of increased dissent against the Al Sa'uds, and the looming spectre of Islamic Fundamentalism.

Sir Seretse Khama, the first President of Botswana and heir apparent to the kingship of the Bangwato people, brought independence and great prosperity to his nation after colonial rule. But for six long years from 1950, Seretse had been forced into exile in England, banned from his own country. His crime? To fall in love and marry a young, white English girl, Ruth Williams. Delving into newly released records, Susan Williams tells Seretse and Ruth's story - a shocking account of how the British Government conspired with apartheid South Africa to prevent the mixed-race royal couple returning home. But it is also an inspiring, triumphant tale of hope, courage and true love as with tenacity and great dignity Seretse and Ruth and the Bangwato people ovecome prejudice in their fight for justice.

The artist and author, Owen Grant Innes, began life in Nova Scotia, 'the most British of the Canadian provinces.' As a young boy in the 1960s, Innes felt an enormous sense of not belonging and found that through history, culture, and Queen Elizabeth II, he was connected to a wider world and, in that, found a sense of belonging. This book is a product of the unique relationship between sovereign and subject, acting as a 'love letter' to the Queen. Including 24 beautiful artworks dedicated to the Queen's life, from her birth to coronation, to the recent passing of her husband, Prince Philip. Alongside each painting is a quotation from Her Majesty or a reflection from the author. This book is a wonderful ode to the monarch and a tribute to the impact of her long reign.

The first major biography of Henry VIII least favourite wife - but the one who outlived them all. 'I like her not!' was the verdict of Henry VIII on meeting his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, for the first time. Anne could have said something similar on meeting Henry and, having been promised the most handsome prince in Europe, she was destined to be disappointed in the elderly and corpulent king. Henry also felt that Anne was not as she had been described, complaining that he had been sent a Flander's mare. Forced to proceed with their wedding for diplomatic reasons, Henry and Anne tried to make the best of the situation, but attempts to consummate the match were farcical. Henry could not bring himself to touch his new bride and Anne, entirely ignorant of such matters, did not even notice that there was a problem. After only seven months of marriage Henry was so desperate to rid himself of Anne that he declared himself impotent in order to secure a divorce. Anne was also eager to end her marriage and, with her clever handling of Henry obtained one of the biggest divorce settlements in English history. Following her divorce, Anne made good use of her many properties, including Richmond Palace, Hever Castle and the house at Lewes now known as 'Anne of Cleves' House'. Anne of Cleves is often portrayed as a stupid and comical figure. The real Anne was both intelligent and practical, ensuring that, whilst she was queen for the shortest period, she was the last of all Henry VIII's wives to survive. Henry's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell lost his head for his role in the Cleves marriage, but Anne's shrewdness ensured she kept hers. Even after Henry's death, Anne managed to work to her own advancement, attempting to annul her divorce in order to ensure her financial security as a dowager queen. Anne of Cleves led a dramatic and often dangerous life but, for all this, of Henry VIII's six wives, she is truly the wife that survived.

At age 25, Elizabeth II became Britain's 40th monarch and vowed to dedicate her life to service and duty on behalf of her country. She is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states, head of the 53 member Commonwealth of Nations, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and head of the armed forces. Most notably, however, on September 9th, 2015, she became the longest reigning monarch in British history. She has consistently adapted in order to remain relevant, while devotedly upholding the age-old traditions of the monarchy. Although there have only been six British female monarchs, it cannot be argued that some of the most enlightened times in history have occurred during periods of queenship. Elizabeth I led the country through the Golden Age and Victoria ushered in the Industrial Revolution, but it is Elizabeth II who will leave the most illustrious and progressive legacy of all.

This is the story of Queen Caroline's favourite ghostwriter, the infamous Captain Thomas Ashe, who was also an adventurer and sometime blackmailer. His unpublished novel, The Claustral Palace: or Memoirs of The Family, carried out Caroline's threat to 'blow the roof off the Nunnery', revealing the secret lives and loves of the daughters of King George III in their unmarried confinement at Frogmore, the UK marital home of Harry and Meghan (for a short time). A blackmailing synopsis was circulated to members of the royal family. It was then stolen by government agents and preserved by the Treasury Solicitor. James Travers describes for the first time the significance of this novel, its author, and his relationship with Caroline, the estranged wife of George IV, and with the government of Spencer Perceval, whose untimely death the author predicted. Did Perceval himself blackmail his way to power? The novel itself is a never-before-seen gothic bodice-ripper about the royal princesses and their clandestine lovers at Frogmore, based on Caroline's own confidences gained from Princess Elizabeth. Later encouraged by shadowy figures allied to the Irish statesman Daniel O'Connell, Captain Ashe blackmailed and threatened the life of the Duke of Cumberland and preoccupied the cabinet meetings of the Duke of Wellington.

In Shah of Shahs Kapuscinski brings a mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity to bear on the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, one of the most infamous of the United States' client-dictators, who resolved to transform his country into "a second America in a generation," only to be toppled virtually overnight. From his vantage point at the break-up of the old regime, Kapuscinski gives us a compelling history of conspiracy, repression, fanatacism, and revolution.Translated from the Polish by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand.

A DAILY TELEGRAPH AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'A remarkable book: the dramatic story of a truly extraordinary man ... brilliant' Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves A major new biography of one of the most extraordinary of all rulers, and the father of present-day Europe Charles, King of the Franks, is one of the most remarkable figures ever to rule a European super-state. That is why he is so often called 'Charles the Great': by the French 'Charlemagne', and by the Germans 'Karl der Grosse'. His strength of character was felt to be remarkable from early in his long reign. Warfare and accident, vermin and weather have destroyed much of the evidence for his rule in the twelve centuries since his death, but a remarkable amount still survives. Janet L. Nelson's wonderful new book brings together everything we know about Charlemagne and sifts through the evidence to come as close as we can to understanding the man and his motives. Nelson has an extraordinary knowledge of the sources and much of the book is a sort of detective story, prying into and interpreting fascinating material and often obdurate scraps, from prayerbooks to skeletons, gossip to artwork. Above all, Charles' legacy lies in his deeds and their continuing resonance, as he shaped duchies and counties, rebuilt and founded towns and monasteries, and consciously set himself up not just as King of the Franks, but as the new 'Emperor governing the Roman Empire'. His successors - in some ways to the present day - have struggled to interpret, misinterpret, copy or subvert Charlemagne's legacy. Nelson gets us as close as we can ever hope to come to the real figure, as understood in his own time.

Edward the Confessor was the son of King Aethelred the Unready of the House of Wessex. The family was exiled to Normandy when the Danish invaded England in 1013 but, with the nation in crisis on the death of King Harthacnut twenty-nine years later, Edward was named King of England, restoring the throne to English rule. Often portrayed as a holy simpleton, Edward was in fact a wily and devious king. For most kings a childless marriage would have been an Achilles' heel, but Edward turned it to his advantage. He cunningly played off his potential rivals and successors, using the prize of the throne as leverage. Though his reign was peaceful, his death would wreak havoc. Bloody wars were waged, two claimants were cut down and William the Conqueror earned his name. Edward's posthumous reputation grew as stories were spread by the monks of his magnificent foundation, Westminster Abbey. The childless king was transformed into a chaste, pious and holy man. Miracles were attributed to him and he was credited with the King's Touch - the ability to cure illnesses by touch alone. In 1161 he was canonised as Saint Edward the Confessor and to this day he remains the patron saint of the royal family.

In the long run, we're all dead. But for some of the most influential figures in history, death marked the start of a new adventure. The famous deceased have been stolen, burned, sold, pickled, frozen, stuffed, impersonated and even filed away in a lawyer's office. Their fingers, teeth, toes, arms, legs, skulls, hearts, lungs and nether regions have embarked on voyages that criss-cross the globe and stretch the imagination. Counterfeiters tried to steal Lincoln's corpse. Einstein's brain went on a cross-country road trip. And after Lord Horatio Nelson perished at Trafalgar, his sailors submerged him in brandy - which they drank. From Mozart to Hitler, Rest in Pieces connects the lives of the famous dead to the hilarious and horrifying adventures of their corpses and traces the evolution of cultural attitudes towards death.