Let's talk royals
Mark A.C Stewart/What Kate Wore
If you’ve clicked on this link, then I applaud your efforts. You are successfully attempting to gift that special person in your life who is intrigued/fascinated by/mildly-to-very obsessed by royalty. Welcome. Allow me to make your life easier with a vast selection of royal-centric objects that will make holiday shopping a breeze, from books to sweatshirts and everything in between. [Read more…]
There’s a new book coming out later this summer about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but don’t expect anything juicy. It was written by royal journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand and, according to Deadline, it includes an interview the Sussexes gave before they left the U.K. earlier this year. The book, which promises to dispel rumors about the couple and reveal “unknown details about their life together,” reportedly has their blessing. [Read more…]
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If you ask me, royal books are having the best year ever.
First, I plowed through The Royal We in about three days and suffered from withdrawal. THEN I discovered The Prince George Diaries (Michael Joseph books, November 2015) a satirical first-person account of George’s life, as recorded by the heir himself. [Read more…]
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Today, September 9th, is a very significant day for Her Majesty, who – at 5:30pm local time – will officially surpass her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
The Telegraph clocks Victoria’s reign at “23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes” or 63 years and seven months. Save for an engagement (the Queen will visit Edinburgh, Midlothian and Tweedbank for the Scottish Borders Railway opening celebrations), Elizabeth II will mark September 9th privately at Balmoral, according to reports.
The Daily Mail‘s Sebastian Shakespeare claims that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will join Her Majesty on September 9th for a “private dinner.” [Read more…]
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I first read one of Claudia Joseph‘s biographies, Kate: The Making of a Princess in 2011, just a few months before the royal wedding. Since then I’ve read a number of books on Catherine, William and a number of other royals, but few authors have been able to keep me hooked like Joseph, who doesn’t glaze over details of Catherine’s upbringing and her relationship with William. For example, in Making of a Princess, Joseph introduced readers to Kate’s ancestors, which allowed for a better understanding of who she is and, perhaps, why she is where is she today. [Read more…]
Few books cast such a spell that the reader can’t tear him or herself away.
This is how I felt about The Royal We (Grand Central Publishing, 2015), the book born out of a labor of love that involved thorough research, clever plot twists and the imagination of two very funny women, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, otherwise known as the team behind the hugely popular (and hugely witty) site, Go Fug Yourself.
Even Buffy’s getting involved: [Read more…]
After her first cookbook, Celebrate received less-than-stellar reviews (“A turkey at Christmas time is good for large gatherings”), Pippa Middleton is bravely making a second attempt, this time in the name of charity
Jesal / Tanna / Splash News
The Daily Mail reports that Middleton plans on putting together a celebrity cookbook to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. [Read more…]
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Dickie Arbiter handled press for both Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and the Prince and Princess of Wales for a number of years, including the House of Windsor’s most turbulent decade.
Back in 2011, I spoke to Arbiter’s daughter, royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter, about her father’s job with the royal family. Dickie was working for Leading Britain’s Conversation when opportunity came knocking.
She’s a controversial figure in the eyes of many Britons, but I’ve come to admire Penny Junor‘s work on the House of Windsor.
When I interviewed Junor back in 2012, I was impressed by her objective, in-depth approach to writing Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King.
“14 years ago I wrote a book that caused a great deal of anger, called Charles: Victim or Villain,” Junor told me at the time. “And I think that the reason people are angry with me is because they remember me from last time and they think that I am a Diana basher who just loves Charles and has not a good word to say for [the late Princess of Wales]. I was very surprised by the strength of the hostility towards me.” [Read more…]