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
"
""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"
" "
"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."
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