Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography by Robert Jobson (John Blake £22, 320pp)
The Princess of Wales loves green smoothies and sticky-toffee pudding. Her idea of happiness is ‘being in the thick of family mayhem, chaos in the kitchen and the rough and tumble over what music should be played over breakfast’.
In this lively and affectionate biography of Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Robert Jobson shows us a woman who, after her own happy, outdoorsy childhood, makes a priority of giving her children the security, love and freedom to roam that she had.
Jobson portrays William and Catherine as a couple deeply in love, and Catherine as ‘a pillar of stability’.
After their ‘moment of misstep’ in March, when they released the Photoshopped family photo, the outpouring of love for the Princess of Wales when she revealed her cancer diagnosis showed the esteem in which she’s held.
Charles III: New King, New Court – The Inside Story by Robert Hardman (Macmillan £22, 544pp)
In this updated edition of his superb, impeccably sourced portrait of Charles III, first published in January to great acclaim, Robert Hardman takes us up to this autumn, incorporating the family-picnic video released by the Waleses after the Princess had completed her chemotherapy treatment, and the Duke of York’s stubborn declaration that he’ll be staying on at Royal Lodge, and financing it himself.
Of the King, a close friend said: ‘There’s been no return to the Eeyorish moods of his middle years . . . Being King is a suit that fits him well.’
His spiritual mentor the Right Reverend Richard Chartres said that the King had been ‘energised’ by ‘the tremendous outpouring of support’ for him when his cancer was diagnosed. ‘I’ve had so many wonderful messages and cards,’ the King said to then prime minister Rishi Sunak. ‘It’s reduced me to tears.’
Hardman includes excellent details, such as that our late Queen reduced the number of courses at royal banquets from five to four; the King has since reduced them from four to three, doing away with the soup course.
That really is a slimmed-down monarchy.
A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown (Fourth Estate £25, 672pp)
In his scintillating and sparklingly funny A Voyage Around The Queen, Craig Brown treats us to a succession of delicious, quirky glimpses of our late Queen seen from many angles. Her wit, steadfastness and radiance shine out.
So does her devotion to her horses and dogs. When one of her corgis died, Lady Pamela Hicks wrote her a brief letter of condolence. The Queen replied with a six-page letter listing all of the dog’s virtues.
People were so overwhelmed when they met the Queen that they blurted out gibberish. Terry Wogan summed it up: ‘You say the first thing that comes into your head, and you carry the memory of your foolishness to the grave.’
There’s an unforgettable Queen-related nugget on every page of this delightful book, which doubles up as a unique portrait of Britain over the last century.
The King’s Loot: The Greatest Royal Jewellery Heist in History by Richard Wallace (The History Press £22.99, 288pp)
On April 2, 1987, at the Hotel Beau Rivage in Geneva, a Sotheby’s sale took place with 306 lots of the deceased Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery.
The auction raised £39 million, with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Elizabeth Taylor among the purchasers.
But where did this treasure trove of jewellery come from, and was it ever really the Duchess’s at all? Richard Wallace, who was present at the sale, investigates the mysteries surrounding the Duchess’s jewels.
When Edward, the Prince of Wales, fell in love with Wallis Simpson, he showered her with gems from the vaults of the Royal Collections.
Because the personal possessions of the Royal Family have not been documented since Henry VIII’s days, no one knows exactly what was there, or how much Edward brazenly helped himself to.
Then there was the mysterious theft of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s jewels while they were staying with the Earl and Countess of Dudley in 1946. Did the Duchess defraud the insurers by overstating the number and identification of the jewels? This is a fascinating dip into the murky world of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s obsession with money and possessions.
Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty by Alexander Larman (W&N £25, 352pp)
In the highly readable concluding volume of his trilogy on the House of Windsor, Alexander Larman takes us from VE Day to the Coronation of Elizabeth II. We see Princess Elizabeth blossoming into the confident, inspirational monarch she would become.
She certainly got her way when it came to choice of husband.
Madly in love, she declared to the US diplomat Robert Coe that ‘if objections were raised to her marrying Philip, she would not hesitate to follow the example of Edward VIII and abdicate’.
Running alongside this story, Larman depicts the exiled Duke and Duchess of Windsor living in futile splendour in France, the Duke consumed by loathing for what he saw as his icy and mean relatives. He was deluded enough to believe that when his brother was seriously ill in the early 1950s, he’d be able to seize the throne, and take on the office of regent.
My Mother and I: The Inside Story of the King and our Late Queen by Ingrid Seward (S&S £25, 304pp)
The King’s strained relationship with his mother, the late Queen, is revealed in this insightful book by Ingrid Seward.
From early childhood, when he saw her for only an hour after tea, to being sent off to boarding prep school where he missed his governess far more than he missed his mother, the young prince learned to hide his emotions.
‘Craving affection from his mother, the sensitive prince retreated behind a mask of formality.’ To this day, he sleeps near his beloved teddy bear, and sends it to be repaired and patched by his wife’s couturier, with instructions to do it quickly.
Over the years he and his mother mended their strained relationship and became closer, ‘even if they didn’t show it’.
Not strictly relevant to the central plot, but nonetheless unforgettable, is the detail that Prince Philip never took to Meghan Markle, and called her ‘DOW’ from the start, because she reminded him so much of the Duchess of Windsor.
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