The Four Graces by Ilana Miller

Ilana Miller's introspective and well-researched The Four Graces is Majesty Magazine's book of the month.  Yes, the book is a bit pricey ($43.00), but it is worth the investment.  This is the story of the four daughters of Princess Alice and Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and By Rhine: Victoria, Elisabeth, Irene and Alix, as seen through the eyes of the eldest child, Princess Victoria.

(the original review)    http://royalbooknews.blogspot.com/2011/07/four-graces-by-ilana-miller.html


I cannot stress enough that this is one of the best new royal books published in a VERY LONG TIME!  It has it all - romance, pathos, emotion, history, love, desire, and passion as the lives of these remarkably interesting princesses emerge from the quiet of the small Grand Duchy to move toward the international stage.

click here to order

These four women lived vastly different lives, yet remained loving, caring sisters.    

Click on the link  (showing the image) of The Four Graces.  Most of the surviving bookstores will not have the book in stock, although the publisher does supply it to Amazon.  

This book is the perfect companion to David Duff's Hessian Tapestry and Richard Hough's  Louis & Victoria: the First Mountbattens.

More royal wedding magazines

These magazines are still on newsstands. Some may be available through Amazon and other sources.

The Royal Wedding Commemorative Edition, published by Multi-Media. This magazine touts the marriage of William and Catherine as "the wedding of the century." It is only 2011 ... a long way until the end of the century.

The Royal Wedding A Collector's Edition was published by the British magazine, Woman's Weekly (£2.99/$9.99) 100 pages of text and photos.

The Royal Wedding Keepsake of a Lifetime, published by WW magazines. The price is $5.99, and will be on sale through September 13, 2011.

The Final Curtsey is out!

I have not yet read the book, but I have been hearing lots of good things about this book, written by the Hon. Margaret Rhodes. The book has not yet been published in the USA.

Otto von Habsburg - recommended books

Here is a selection of titles of recommended books on the late Archduke Otto of Austria. Most of the titles are in German.

Der Habsburg-Faktor: Visionen für das neue Jahrtausend. Eva Demmerle im Gespräch mit Otto von Habsburg

Otto von Habsburg. Die autorisierte Biografie


Die Habsburger ohne Reich: Geschichte einer Familie seit 1918

Otto von Habsburg

Books about Duke Carl Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Duke Carl Eduard is also mentioned in Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone's memoirs, For My Grandchildren, and in Theo Aronson's biography of Princess Alice.






Herzog Carl Eduard. Zwischen Deutschland und England


Coburg im 20. Jahrhundert - Die Chronik über die Stadt Coburg und das Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha vom 1. Januar 1900 bis zum 31. Dezember 1999

Books about King Michael and Queen Helen

Crown Against Sickle: The Story of King Michael of Rumania


The Royal House of Greece


Helen, Queen Mother of Rumania, Princess of Greece and Denmark;: An authorized biography

Helen, Queen Mother of Rumania, Princess of Greece and Denmark: an Authorized Biography

The Royal House of Greece.

Borders - RIP

I was delighted when my local Borders in Springfield, Virginia, survived the original cut when Border's went into bankruptcy earlier this year.  I get up at 8 a.m., on Saturday mornings, and head to my Zumba class.  After I get home, shower and change, I head to Border's.  Every Saturday, rain or shine, I drive the five minutes to the bookstore -- except for vacations and the rare blizzard -- to browse.  Check the new books.  Look at the magazines.  Border's is the last place in this area where I can get Bunte, but the store stopped stocking Point de Vue, Hola and Hello after the bankruptcy announcement. 

Every Saturday, a large vanilla latte, extra vanilla, skim milk.  Light ice in the summer.   I am a Border's Rewards Plus member, so I get extra bennies.  Last Saturday, I bought the new People magazine (Duchess of Cambridge on the cover) and Kate Morton's third book. 

I plan to be there every Saturday morning until the store closes in September.  I do not know what I will do after the store closes for good!  Where will I get my vanilla latte?  Where will I browse even a small section of foreign magazines?

This sucks ... big time.