Alexandra The Lost Queen by S. Gillespie

 

Alexandra was a queen without a throne.  In 1944, she married King Peter II of Yugoslavia.  A princess of Greece by birth, Alexandra was born in 1921, the same year as Prince Philip of Greece (a first cousin once removed) and King Michael of Romania (a first cousin).    Life was never easy for the Princess, who was the daughter of King Alexander of the Hellenes and Aspasia Manos.   

She never knew her father, as Alexander died from a monkey bite several months before her birth.  Sadly and tragically, Alexandra lived in exile for most of her life.  Due to the Second World War and the political civil war raging in Yugoslavia, Alexandra and Peter married in haste.  The couple was ill-suited for marriage as both were emotionally stunted due to their upbringings.

Peter was only 11-years-old when his father, King Alexander of Yugoslavia, was assassinated. 

Neither Alexandra nor Peter was prepared for exile.  Unlike his cousin, King Michael, Peter never knew what it was to be a king.  Within days of 17-year-old Peter being declared of age to reign without a regency, Germany invaded Yugoslavia.  Peter and his family fled the country, spending the war in exile.  In 1945, Josip Broz Tito declared Yugoslavia a republic, leaving Peter without a throne or financial support.

The young king and queen were unprepared for a life without a throne.  Alexandra wanted a home to raise a family.  Peter was never able to find a job that would pay the bills.  He found solace with other women and alcohol.  She had struggled with mental health issues and attempted suicide several times.  Both wrote their memoirs, laying out their perceived issues.

Alexandra died in an English nursing home in 1993.  She was buried at Tatoi until 2013, when her remains were brought to Topola, where she and Peter were reinterred next to each. 

This book came up as a recommendation on Amazon.   I had not heard of S. Gillespie, as the author does not have a body of work in the field of royal history literature.  

I ordered the book and read it in one sitting.  Well-written, but .....

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Alexandra The Lost Queen is a scholarly HOT MESS!

In full transparency, I am well-informed about the Yugoslav royal family, and I consider Crown Prince Alexander a good friend.  We have known each other since the 1980s.   We first met when I was researching the first of my three books on Queen Victoria's Descendants.  I have had the special honor of being invited three times to Serbia: for the Crown Prince's 60th, his 25th wedding anniversary, and the state funeral for King Peter, Queen Alexandra, Queen Marie, and Prince Andrej in 2013.

The term "hot mess" refers not to the text but to the fact that the book was self-published.  I did not know this when I ordered it.  The image quality is abysmal.  Blurry and teeny.  There are no credits for the photos, some of which are still in copyright.  The layout is appalling.  Few paragraph breaks and unfinished sentences --words omitted and no period/full stop.   This occurred several times in the text, including on page 248 and 256..

There are no citations or footnotes/endnotes for quotes.   No index and several glaring errors.

Page 98: "in marrying Peter before November 28, 1943, the beginning of Lent in the Greek Orthodox Church, as no marriages could take place for 40 days." 

Lent is not in November.   In 1943, Lent (Greek Orthodox) began on March 8th.  The following year, Greek Orthodox Lent started on February 28th with Easter on April 9.  

Peter and Alexandra's wedding ceremony took place on March 20, 1944, which fell during Greek Orthodox Lent.

Page 107:  "the wedding dress game from Peter's cousin's wife, MAMIE LIGHAM..."      Who?   Peter's cousin, Prince Vsevelod of Russia, married Lady Mary Lygon, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Beauchamp.   She was known as Mamie, however.

Page 199:  Lord Mountbatten had little to do with pushing Philip and Elizabeth together.  The future husband and wife had known each other from childhood, as they moved in the same circles.

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/12/of-course-elizabeth-knew-philip.html

I was amused by the alleged Swiss bank account that Peter tried to find.  This reminded me of a similar story about King Michael of Romania, who traveled to Switzerland to try to access an alleged bank account owned by his father, King Carol II. Perhaps the two Balkan sovereigns had adjoining bank vaults.

Pushing the hot mess aside, let me say this: Alexandra, The Lost Queen is a first-rate royal biography.  The author has done due diligence in research, especially through extensive use of primary sources examined at the National Archives at Kew and the Royal Archives.

Unfortunately, the author has done the subject a disservice by self-publishing.   Several British publishers, including Amberley Publishing, History Press, and Pen & Sword Books, publish royal biographies/histories.  Self-publishing is limited on several levels.  You won't be able to see your book in Hatchards or any other bookstore.  Poor quality control.  A lack of professional editing.  

This book cries for a dust-jacketed hardcover edition that will be read in libraries, bought in bookstores, and online.   The subject also deserves better.

https://amzn.to/4tvdcNX (US)

https://amzn.to/4nmAPqI (UK)

 https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/03/king-peter-weds-princess-alexandra.html 

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2013/05/queen-alexandra-home-to-serbia.html 

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2014/03/peter-to-marry-alexandra-official.html

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/07/son-for-peter-and-alexandra.html

New Royal Books and Magazines

This book is available on both sides of the Pond

https://amzn.to/4ulk81c (UK)

https://amzn.to/3PhPxCK  (US)

https://amzn.to/48F5Y2u (US)

These magazines were spotted at my local Barnes & Noble

https://amzn.to/4d6D5O0  (US)

https://amzn.to/4f1IWqv  (UK)

https://amzn.to/49uIv4m  (US)

https://amzn.to/42NWq1K (UK)

The Hello publications are not available on Amazon or Amazon.co.uk.  I earn a few pennies every time someone purchases an item (does not have to be a book, as long as you enter Amazon through one of my links).

The Hunt for Anna Pavlovna’s Stolen Jewels: Deception, Diplomacy, and an Imperial Heist by Jenni Wiltz

On the night of September 25, 1829, the jewels of the Princess of Orange disappeared from her palace in Brussels. Suspicion quickly fell on her husband, Prince Willem of Orange, a Waterloo veteran known to be deeply in debt. But when the police failed to find any witnesses or leads, the investigation ground to a halt.

In 1831, Anna Pavlovna’s jewels surfaced in New York in the hands of a former Napoleonic deserter named Constant Polari. Dutch officials scrambled to reclaim the jewels and extradite Polari, hoping a public trial would clear their prince’s name. But President Andrew Jackson’s customs collector preferred to confiscate the jewels, sell them, and pocket his share of the proceeds. When Polari’s lover dug up a buried portion of the gems and sailed for Europe, it triggered a race across the Atlantic, a kidnapping from Bellevue prison, and a sensational trial with a last-minute twist.

True crime meets royal history in this long-forgotten caper that pitted the old world’s diplomacy against the new world’s self-determinism. Drawing on previously neglected case documents and sources in five languages, the tale of Anna Pavlovna’s stolen jewels unfolds against a backdrop of war, revolution, corruption, and betrayal.

The book will be published in the US on June 30, 2026. The price will be $39.95.

https://amzn.to/4t4ZEc8

The UK publication date is April 30, 2026.

https://amzn.to/4vVJGDQ

The publisher is Pen & Sword History.https://girlinthetiara.com/

Jenni Wiltz is a superb and sassy royal historian. She runs the blog The Girl in the Tiara.

https://girlinthetiara.com/

Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (1795–1865) was the eighth child of Emperor Paul I of Russia and his wife, Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, who became Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. In February 1816, she married the Prince of Orange, the future King Willem II of the Netherlands.

Paul - Anna - Willem III - Wilhelmina - Juliana - Beatrix - Willem-Alexander - Catharina-Amalia.

I look forward to reading Jenni's book.  

Maria Pavlovna 1890-1958 by Charlotte Zeepvat

 Maria Pavlovna 1890-1958

Grand Duchess of Russia, Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Södermanland, Princess Putiatine [In English] 

152 pages, 419 illustrations, more than a hundred from the private albums of the Imperial Family. Also: an illustrated genealogical section of the ancestors and descendants of "Marie", composed by Ted Rosvall.To read more and to order copies, go to 

https://www.royalbooks.se/products/maria-pavlovna

The cost is 425 Swedish kroners.

Queen Elizabeth II's Official Biographer will be ...

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 The Daily Mail's gossip columnist, Richard Eden, has revealed the name of Queen Elizabeth II's official biographer.  

King Charles II has selected Anna Keay as his mother's official biographer, according to Eden, who learned the writer's name at the launch party for Robert Hardman's Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story,  held at the iconic Hatchards bookstore on Piccadilly. 

Eden noted that the King "wanted the commission to go to a woman."   Charles knows Kealy and trusts her "to do a thorough job."  She will have full access to the late queen's private papers.

This has not been confirmed by an official announcement from Buckingham Palace.

Dr. Keay, 51, is the Director of the Landmark Trust, an organization that restores historic buildings.  The King is the Trust's patron.  She is also a trustee of the Royal Collection Trust.

She earned a degree in history from Magdalene College, Oxford, and a Ph.D from Queen  Mary, University of London.  Her dissertation, The Ceremonies of Charles II's Court, which inspired her book, The Magnificent Monarch: Charles II and the Ceremonies of Power.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

After working for seven years as Assistant Curator of the Historic Royal Palace, Dr. Keay was hired in 2002 by English Heritage, where she remained for ten years.  In 2012, she was named Director of the Landmark Trust.

She is married to Simon Hurley, an architectural historian.  They met at English Heritage, where he was Executive Director from 2002 through 2015.  He currently serves as the Chair of the National Heritage Lottery Fund.  The couple has twin children, Arthur and Maude.  

Dr. Keay is a scholarly historian and biographer.  Her books include: 

The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth 

https://amzn.to/4c65W64  US

https://amzn.to/4dHkCcT  UK

Crown Jewels: The Official Illustrated History 

https://amzn.to/424jrNq  US

https://amzn.to/4tnH0x7 UK

The Magnificent Monarch: Charles II and the Ceremonies of Power 

https://amzn.to/3OvJoCA  US

https://amzn.to/3Qw6FEY

Here is the link to the original Daily Mail article.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/article-15723015/EDEN-CONFIDENTIAL-Royal-King-picks-woman-pen-mothers-life-story.html

https://www.annakeay.co.uk/

https://archive.ph/OtOy0

New & Forthcoming Books

 

Hodder & Stoughton will publish Hugo Vickers' Queen Elizabeth: A Personal History on April 9.   No US publisher yet.

https://amzn.to/4lXRDn3

Fashioning the Crown: A Story of Power, Conflict and Couture by Justine Picardie was published by Faber & Faber in the UK and Pegasus in the United States.

https://amzn.to/4s2ckjh  (UK)

https://amzn.to/3Q78esL  

The History Press is the publisher of Victoria Arbiter's new book, Queen Elizabeth II: An Icon of Modern Monarchy.  The book was published in the UK in February.  History Press will release the book in the US in October 2026.

https://amzn.to/47OUzwP 

https://amzn.to/4bSlAAC

 Caroline de Guitaut is the author of Queen Elizabeth: Fashion and Style, published by the Royal Trust Collection, which is the companion to the forthcoming exhibit, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life and Style.  The exhibition opens at the King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace on April 10th.

https://amzn.to/4cddVOs

The US edition will be released on May 4, 2026.

https://amzn.to/4sGmKq0  

The Royal Collection is also the publisher of Royal Diamonds: Two Centuries of British Royal Jewels.  This book was published in the UK earlier this month.

https://amzn.to/40X6HrJ

The  American edition will be released on April 21.

https://amzn.to/4lSMCMA 

Robert Hardman's book,  Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. Her Story will be published in the United States on May 19th.  Pegasus is the publisher.

https://amzn.to/3Os4thc

The UK edition was released today, April 9th, by Macmillan.

https://amzn.to/41rl8o5

Grand Duke Dimitri was the son of Grand Duke Paul and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark.   

Princess Alexandra died in childbirth after giving birth to Dimitri.  Grand Duke Paul was murdered by the Bolsheviks in January 1919.

Amberley Press is the publisher.  The book is scheduled for  UK release on August 15.  

https://amzn.to/4bNuyjT

Hanson is the author of The Wandering Princess, a biography of Princess Helene of Orléans, who married the Duke of Aosta.

https://royalbooknews.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-wandering-princess-by-edward-hanson.html 

I will earn a few pennies toward Amazon gift cards if you use the links to purchase these books and shop. Thanks

William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story by Russell Myers

 

Russell Myers is the Royal Editor for London's Daily Mirror.  

"From the relentless media scrutiny and controversies of their 2022 Caribbean Tour to the shock cancer diagnoses of both the Princess of Wales and the King, this captivating biography by acclaimed royal journalist Russell Myers intimately traces the story of William and Catherine’s relationship from their earliest meeting at St Andrews University to the present day.

Drawing on exclusive access to numerous palace insiders, it offers never-before-told context about the biggest stories to have followed the Prince and Princess of Wales in recent years – including the Sussex departure, the forming of the ‘Cambridge way,’ and the death of Queen Elizabeth II – and provides an unprecedented glimpse into their private lives.

Highlighting the couple's resilience and dedication in the face of adversity, William and Catherine present a deeply personal perspective on how the events the Prince and Princess have weathered together will shape their vision for a modern monarchy – as they set out to secure its safe continuation at a time of extreme change and turmoil."

The book will be published in the United Kingdom on February 26 by Penguin.  

The  US edition with the title William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story is scheduled for publication in March.  Pegasus is publishing the U.S. edition, with distribution by Simon & Schuster.

https://amzn.to/3Nrumgb  US

https://amzn.to/49AEN8G  UK

Fingers crossed for the book to include an index, a bibliography, and citations (footnotes/endnotes)