Saturday, March 12, 2011

Willam and Kate



The wedding is now less than six weeks away.   Book and magazine shelves are beginning to fill up with publications about Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and expect even more after the wedding.  I will be reviewing books and special publications that are published in the United Kingdom and in the United States.   Yes, the United States.   British publications are also being sold in North America.  If you see other special publications, especially commemorative magazines, please drop me an email.  You will find a link for my email address on the right.

The first commemorative magazine, A Royal Wedding,  was published in the United States by USA Today.  It was published only a few weeks after the engagement was announced.   This is a uniquely American publication, and I do not know if USA Today has made arrangements to sell the magazine in the United Kingdom.

This is a glossy publication complete with official engagement photographs.  The editors have chosen to include feature articles previously published in USA Today. A profile of Kate was first published on November 17.  There is also a timeline of the couple's romance, beginning at St. Andrew's, and culminating with the large sapphire and diamond ring on Kate's fourth finger.

No special publication on the royals can be complete without the requisite article on the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This magazine's article "Reflections on Di" was first published on August 31, 1998.

There are also features on the bridegroom -- lots of photos -- and his father, the Prince of Wales, and his reaction to the engagement.

USA Today has done a fine job with its 100- page A Royal Wedding.  It is still available on magazine stands at local bookstores and is also available from Amazon,   The price is $7.99.

Another American publication is The Royal Wedding, which has been published by Life ($12.99/$16.99 Can.)  Life has done a nice job with many photographs of William and Catherine, as a couple, and growing up. The magazine features several articles on the courtship, on Kate and her family, and on the Windsors themselves. 

The final pages are devoted to two royal weddings: Charles and Diana (where William's story begins) and Andrew and Sarah, where four-year-old William entertained his six-year-old cousin, Laura Fellowes when both were young attendants. 

Now, nearly 25 years later,  Prince William will be waiting at the altar for his bride, the very pretty Catherine Middleton. 

Life magazine will also be publishing The Royal Wedding Prince William and Kate Middleton: A Commemorative Edition with pictures from the wedding in May.  This will be published in a hardcover edition and released in the UK on May 31.  The first edition will be released in the UK in early May.

The text was written by Robert Sullivan.  Life has also released the commemorative book in a hardcover edition ($19.99.)

The Daily Mirror, a London tabloid, has produced Wills & Kate A Royal Love Story, which has a lot of photos of the couple, past and present, and tells the story of the royal romance through Mirror headlines.  This magazine is available for sale in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and in Europe.  The prices are, respectively,  £4.99, $12.99, $19.99, and E8.99.

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