Grand Alexis of Russia

To learn more about Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, and especially his visit to the United States, here are several books:

Her Majesty by Christopher Warwick & Reuel Gordon

Dear Santa,

I would like this book for Christmas.  I have been very good this year.

Thank you, 

Marlene

PS: do you want a beer with the cookies or milk?


http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/02618/facts.her_majesty.htm

 

 

 

Must read ... must have books on the Hesse and By Rhine family

An amazing book of letters, offering new insight into Alexandra's mind and personality. 

 

David Duff's Hessian Tapestry remains one of my most favorite of all royal books. A must read, a must have for a good royal library


Christopher Warwick's biography is sympathetic, realistic, and offers a compelling, detailed portrait of Grand Duchess Elisabeth.



Manfred Knodt was a Lutheran pastor who lived in Darmstadt.  He had a great interest in the Hesse and By Rhine family


Unfortunately, neither of these books were translated into English, although both deserve English translations.   Erinnertes (Memories) is Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig's memoirs.   Margaret Prinzessin von Hessen und Bei Rhein commemorates the life of the British-born and much loved member of the Hesse and by Rhine family.

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This book should be your Christmas present to yourself. If you have not read it, you should ... seriously.

2013 -Royalty Weekend Ticehurst

ROYALTY WEEKEND

Ticehurst and Flimwell Church of England Primary School,

Steellands Rise, Ticehurst, East Sussex, TN5 7DH, UK

Saturday and Sunday, 6-7 April 2012

Speakers include:

Margreeth Popp on Princess Marianne of the Netherlands

Neil Rees on The Duke of Buckingham and the French Royal Family at Stowe House

Ted Rosvall on The Lesser Known and Hidden Away Royals

Christophe Vachaudez on More Belgian Royal Jewels

John Wimbles on Marie Coburg’s Last Visit to England

Charlotte Zeepvat with one of her magnificent slide lectures

And Richard Thornton who is planning a fiendish quiz

There will also be other royal authors present including Janet Ashton, Robert Golden, Coryne Hall and Ilana Miller

Booksellers van Hoogstraten of the Hague will be in attendance, and there will be a bring and buy Royal Ephemera sale.

Cost: for all lectures, tea, coffee and snacks, two buffet lunches & one evening meal with wine:

£110 for those paying in sterling before Feb 28^th 2013

£115 for those paying with Paypal; or sterling later than Feb 28^th 2013

Cheques in sterling payable to "Mrs S M Woolmans" and to be sent to 12 Lockswood, Brookwood, Woking, Surrey, UK, GU24 OHL. Payment can be accepted by PayPal for overseas attendees. Further details from royalweekend@gmail.com or call 0044 (0) 208 319 0696.

The official launching of Lady Pamela Hick's book

The official coming out party for Lady Pamela Hick's second volume of memoirs.

Daughter of Empire has been published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK. 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/lady-pamela-hicks-echoes-of-the-end-of-empire-8312598.html

The Palace and the Bunker by Frank Millard

In 2006, Jonathon Petropolous wrote Royals and the Reich, a largely definitive book on the German royals, especially members of the Princely house of Hesse, who were active and willing Nazis.  Royals and Reich is a  major achievement, a fantastically researched book.

One would have hope that Frank Millard's The Palace and the Bunker, which is subtitled Royal Resistance to Hitler, would be the companion, the other side of the story, to Royals and the Reich.  Sadly, the book is not the same league.  A real disappointment.

Millard's book is divided into two parts.  The first part focuses on led to the rise of National Socialism and the growth of German resistance.  The princely resistance fighters form the second part of the book: Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, Prince Hubertus of Lowenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, and several Habsburgs and Hohenbergs.

This book is poorly written, poorly researched, and very disjointed.  Millard tends to ramble a lot, and he largely relied on English sources despite the fact that many of the primary sources for the history of this time period are in German and other European languages.

And then there are the really bad mistakes that an editor should have caught.  Millard writes that that Prince Louis Ferdinand was offered British citizenship after the war "as he was a descendant of Queen Victoria."  Prince Louis Ferdinand would not have been entitled to British citizenship due to his descent from Queen Victoria.  He was a British national by virtue of his descent from the Electress Sophia of Hanover.

King Haakon VII is described as the younger brother of the King of Sweden, when in fact, Haakon was the younger brother of King Christian X of Denmark. Millard identifies Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld as Queen Wilhelmina's husband, rather than her son-in-law.  At least, Millard got the year right for Bernhard's wedding, but he married Wilhelmina's only daughter, Juliana.

Prince Louis Ferdinand is said to be Crown Princess Cecilie's grandson.  He was her second son. 

The Palace and the Bunker is a simplistic effort about about a complex period in European history.  The resistance princes deserve something better.

The book was published by the History Press (£16.99).

I am puzzled by Millard having a Ph.D in history.  I hope this book was not his dissertation. 


I do recommend Royals the Reich, a masterful and scholarly work.