The Royals (1997)

by Kitty Kelley

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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

Thoroughly enjoyable information about the House of Windsor. Nice family tree on the front and back cover to flip to while trying to figure out who was who at the beginning. Gave me a different perspective about all of them. (

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readingfiend | Apr 15, 2013 |

Really not very nice at all. She went out her way to write a string of nasty things about these people.

carterchristian1 | Jul 27, 2010 |

Wow. That was intense. So intense that I would have guessed it had taken me two or three times longer to read than it actually did! I only read it in small bits; I coudln't mentally handle more than that amount of it at a time. It is basically the reading of gossip, The book is written as second-hand (or more) accounts. I am glad I read it though. i do believe that culturally I have a better feel for how the British feel about their monarchy. I think I pretty much feel the same. It would be a shame to see such a tradition end and yet it is really.messed.up. I know it can't be easy to be born into the monarchy but each person has the same opportunity to deny it and walk away from it. If they choose to stay then it is what it is and they must face it. I could say more and I will if anyone asks me to directly. Otherwise I hate to say anything that could be considered as bad-mouthing or judging. (

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BoundTogetherForGood | Nov 7, 2009 |

This would've gotten higher marks if Kitty Kelly had been a bit more balanced. She seems bent on just the bad and not much of the good. I especially had issue with her treatment of Elizabeth during the war. She had the future queen as an incompetant and out of touch young woman when the truth is that Lizzy was quite handy with a spanner (wrench), drove trucks, was known as No. 230873, Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor and is so far the only, female member of the Royal Family to actively serve in the armed forces. Absolutely no mention of this important issue by Ms. Kelly. Ms. Kelly was too interested in the less heroic parts of Elizabeth's life. (

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qwiksilver | Nov 5, 2008 |

Salacious, prurient and absolutely marvellous. (

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saliero | Jun 14, 2007 |

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Series (with order)

Canonical title

The Royals

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1997

People/Characters

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom

Charles, Prince of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales

Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom

George VI, King of the United Kingdom

(show all 32 items)

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

New York Times bestseller (Nonfiction, 1997)

Publishers Weekly Bestseller (Nonfiction, 1997)

Epigraph

"...Once in a while a family has to surrender itself to an outsider's account. A family can get buried in its own fairy dust, and this leads straight, in my opinion, to the unpacking of lies and fiction from its piddly shared scraps of inbred history..."
From The Stone Diaries
by Carol Shields

"I believe in aristocracy though, if that is the right word and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power based upon rank and influence, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the considerate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes and all through the ages and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent the true human tradition, the one permanent victory of our queer race over cruelty and chaos."
From a 1941 essay by
E. M. Forster

Dedication

To my husband John, who makes dreams come true.

First words

If a cat may look on a king, as the English proverb goes, so can a Kitty. (Author's Note)

Princess Margaret strode out of the theater. (Chapter One)

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Wikipedia in English (3)

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Kitty Kelley

Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse

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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0446517127, Hardcover)

The killer quill of Kitty Kelley, who skewered Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Reagan, goes for royal blood in her latest tell-all biography, The Royals. Fans of the 1992 book Diana used to bash her in-laws--Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story--and Prince Charles's 1995 riposte--Jonathan Dimbleby's The Prince of Wales--will detect much familiar material. So will anyone who's ever read a newspaper. Even so, Kelley has a great eye for the salable quote and anecdote, and her book makes for handy one-stop gossip shopping.

Here are a few of the nasty allegations Kelley collects in a history of Britain's top dogs: though the royals may love their corgis more than their children and spouses, they pinch the poor pooches' posteriors to make them bark into the phone to amuse the royals at the other end of the line. Also, the Queen Mother may have been born out of wedlock, and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, may have been conceived by artificial insemination.

There are dozens of other stinky zingers in Kelley's book, mostly from anonymous sources. The late Princess Diana comes off the best, even though Kelley suggests that she may have shoved her 58-year-old stepmother down the stairs. Diana met her last lover, Dodi, after The Royals went to press, so there's nothing in it about them--though Kelley does relate previous 100 m.p.h. chases and press encounters ending in gore. It was a long, sad story leading up to the last crash, and Kelley tells the family's worst enemies' account of it in a tone colder than the royals themselves.

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:49:19 -0500)

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▾Library descriptions

They are the most chronicled family in the world. Their every move attracts headlines. Scores of books have tried and failed to penetrate the royal facade. Now bestselling biographer Kitty Kelley has gone behind palace walls to provide the first three-dimensional, comprehensive, and even-handed portrait of the men and women who make up the royal family. Illuminating the Windsor's arrogance, naivete, and lust as well as hard work, dedication, and ability to survive the most humiliating disclosure, The Royals is Kitty Kelley's richest, most iconoclastic, historically significant, and compelling book.… (more)

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