I am making my way through the piles of books on the cocktail table, and I will review the good, the bad, and even the ugly.
Jane Ridley's George V (Harper Collins) comes highly recommended. The subtitle is Never a Dull Minute, inspired by the late king's private secretary, Tommy Lascelles who described the king as He was dull, beyond dispute -- but my God, his reign ...never had a dull moment."
This biography is the fourth major biography of King George V who reigned from 1910 until 1936. Harold Nicolson and John Gore were tasked with the official biographies, the latter wrote about the political aspects of the reign. Kenneth Rose's George V offered more insight and depth into the king's personality, life, and reign,
Ridley focuses on George's partnership in marriage and on the throne with his wife, Mary, and the challenges he faced as sovereign, from the social changes (women's rights) to World War I and Europe's changing political climate. The author is an excellent storyteller, summoning her skills as a historian to present a work of scholarship. George V is a masterful achievement .... but do not get rid of your copies of Nicolson, Gore, and Rose because all four books form a formidable canon in the life and reign of King George V.
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Another book worth your time is Valentine Low's examination of the role of the courtiers, -- the hidden power of the throne -- during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Low, who is the Times Royal Correspondent, acknowledges that this book is not a history of courtiers, as "there are simply too many of them. The focus here is the modern-day courtiers who "exert power, but do not rule."
Low begins with Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, whose career as a courtier began when in 1920 when he became the future Edward VIII's assistant private secretary. Two years, Tommy's first cousin, Henry, 6th Earl of Harewood, married Edward's only sister, Princess Mary.
Tommy soon learned that his idealist view of the Prince of Wales was wrong, and he would spend years trying to keep the prince on the straight and narrow. He failed. He resigned in 1929 and accepted the position as secretary to the Earl of Bessborough, Governor General of Canada. In 1935 he returned to the court as as assistant Private Secretary to King George V. He served as assistant private secretary to Edward VIII and George VI and was promoted to Private Secretary in 1943.
According to Low, Lascelles was a "rough, experienced courtier, and just the man to break in the new queen." He remained in the position for a year.
The Courtiers offers fresh insight into the co-dependent relationship between the royals and their senior staff and the sometimes-fractious relationship between the staff in the different royal households, especially between the offices of the Queen and the Prince of Wales.
Yes, Valentine discusses the problems between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their office. This is not a hatchet job, but a deftly laying out all the facts as Low was approached by several members of the Sussex household.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Courtiers as it is well-researched and sourced, thanks to the numerous interviews cited in the notes.
An idea: Valentine Low can use his biographical acumen to delve further into the lives of Lord Stamfordham and Tommy Lascelles.
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I want to call attention to Royal Weddings of the 1840s by Kori Roff-Lawrence. This self-published book (only because most publishers are not interested in scholarship), profiles 56 royal weddings that took place in the 1840s with highly detailed research.
Royal Weddings is a 500-page tome that oozes scholarship. Roff-Lawrence's research goes beyond traditional biographies and histories. The bibliography is twenty-four pages! Books, magazines, newspapers, articles (several languages), and websites.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's wedding is the first of the fifty-six articles. The final article is about the marriage of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg and Princess Augusta Reuss.
Most of the marriages were political or family-arranged marriages, but several of the marriages during the 1840s were love matches. Infanta Isabel Fernanda of Bourbon eloped with Polish Count Ignatius Gurkowski in 1841, an action that caused commotion "to every European court blessed with princesses still young and unmarried."
Royal Weddings of the 1840s is worth the price. You will savor every article, every wedding.
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