The Royals

by Kitty Kelley

Hardcover, 1998

Collection

Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling, controversial portrait of the British royal family -- as told from behind the palace walls -- for fans of Netflix's The Crown and all royal watchers They are the most chronicled family on the face of the globe. Their every move attracts headlines. Now Kitty Kelley has gone behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace to raise the curtain on the men and women who make up the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Diana...here are the scandals of the last decades: the doomed marriages and the husbands, wives, lovers and children caught in their wake and damaged beyond repair. No one is spared.

Library's rating

Rating

(85 ratings; 3.5)

User reviews

LibraryThing member donttalktofreaks

Interesting story of the royal family throughout history. A little embellished, I'm sure. Definitely "unauthorized".

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LibraryThing member qwiksilver

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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LibraryThing member saliero

Salacious, prurient and absolutely marvellous.

LibraryThing member BoundTogetherForGood

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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LibraryThing member carterchristian1

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

LibraryThing member NancyJak

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.

LibraryThing member scartertn

Kitty Kelly puts together a fantastic biography of the current house of Windsor, as of 1995. Despite the objections of the family, Ms. Kelly cites 1000 plus interviews and sources for the book to put together a definitive guide that cuts through all of the rumors to get to the "truth" as best she

can decipher it.

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