Young Prince Philip by Philip Eade

Mark your calendars!   Philip Eade's Young Prince Philip will be published by Henry Holt in November.

Our Queen by Robert Hardman

Daily Mail's Royal Correspondent Robert Hardman is completing work on a new book, Our Queen, which will be published in October. He scored a major coup by securing an interview with the Duke of Cambridge.  The interview took place shortly after the Duke's marriage in April.

The Duke of Cambridge, according to Richard Kay, discussed "his grandmother an the monarchy."  The book is an "eagerly awaited Diamond Jubilee portrait" of Queen Elizabeth II.



You can pre-order the book, which will be published by Hutchinson on October 6.

Young Royals on Tour William & Catherine in Canada

Three cheers for Canadian publisher Dundurn, which has published the first book about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first overseas tour to Canada. 

Young Royals on Tour  is a slick, well-produced soft-cover book that covers the July trip to Canada.   The author is Christina Blizzard, a journalist who has worked  for The Toronto Sun and The Guardian.  She is now the Queen's Park columnist for QMI, a Canadian news agency.

Young Royals on Tour: William & Catherine in Canada

Blizzard provides a detailed day-by-day description of William and Catherine's tour.  Each day - Ottawa, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Slave Lake and Calgary.    The text is  complemented by superb photos, the majority of which were taken by QMI photographers.  This is a far better effort than Hello's recent special issue on the Canadian tour.


The book also includes photographs from previous Canadian tours  by Queen Elizabeth II -- and yes, there are also a few photos of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, included the famous edited photograph showing Diana greeting her two young sons on the HMS Britannia.  The Prince of Wales, who was standing right next to Diana, was edited out of the photograph.  (This was done to give the impression that Charles was an uncaring father, which was far from the actual truth, but misconceptions sell more newspapers.)
The book has 64 pages and costs $14.99/£9.99.

Five stars for Young Royals on Tour  William & Catherine in Canada.   Dundurn has made this book available for sale through Amazon, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca.  The book can also be purchased at bookstores throughout Canada.   It is not available at American bookstores.

http://www.dundurn.com/

Dundurn also published William & Catherine A Royal Wedding Souvenir, which was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom by Pitkins.  Annie Bullen wrote the informative text, focusing  not only on the royal wedding, but also on the royal engagement and biographical information on Prince William and the former Catherine Middleton.  

Informative and well laid-out, which is the norm for Pitkins publications.  The price is $14.99 in Canada and in the United States.   The edition sold in the United Kingdom was published by Pitkins.

This is one of the better produced books on the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

In fact, both books are highly recommended.

William and Kate a Royal Love Story by James Clench

Fluff yes, but this book turned out to be a delight.  Not scholarly, nor earth-shattering, but a delight nonetheless.  James Clench, The Sun's royal correspondent, has an easy, comfortable style, which makes William & Kate Royal Love Story easy to read, and enjoyable.




This book was published shortly after the engagement was announced,  which meant a rush to get into print, as other publishers were also readying similar books.   

The photos are largely the result of Sun photographers, including the first kiss (in public) in Switzerland in 2006.


William & Kate A Royal Love Story is an enjoyable read, certainly not earth shattering, and no real new information.  A rehashing with style.    The American publisher is Sterling ($19.95.)  The British publisher is Harper Collins (£12.00)

William and Catherine Their Story by Andrew Morton

Oh dear, another Andrew Morton book!  One would think Morton, who wrote Diana: Her True Story, would have given up the royal ghost a long time ago.   Surely, he has mined every source, every nugget of information for his royal books!  

Wait a minute,  no decent source is going to feed Morton a worthwhile piece of information.   The doors are closed, no one is going to talk to Andrew Morton.  Check the acknowledgements in the back of the book.  He references people such as Patrick Jephson,  good for the past, good for one more Diana quote, but the sources are woefully inadequate for a book about William and Catherine, their story and their wedding,

Let's be honest.  Apart from what has been released by the press and uncovered by the media, we know very little about the former Catherine Middleton.  She remains an enigma.  She has barely spoken a word in the public since the engagement was announced.  The Duchess of Cambridge, as the wife of the second in the line to the throne, will remain in the background as she is eased, gently into royal duties.



She is a star, nonetheless.

Morton has nothing new to say.  He has culled all the appropriate news clips to pad the text -- and inserts Diana's name at every possible moment, which can be rather disconcerting at times.   Andrew Morton goes off the rails when he quotes a Scottish nobleman, "speaking on condition of anonymity."   The alleged Scottish nobleman was quoted as saying that William was expected to marry someone among the aristocracy or European royalty.

Balderdash!  The British royals largely do not mix and mingle with their now distant cousins on the Continent.  William was largely expected to marry an English rose, not a European. The British are not too keen on their royals bringing home a foreigner.
William & Catherine: Their Lives, Their Wedding

Lady Diana  Spencer was the daughter of a wealthy earl.  She grew up with royals as neighbors.  But as it turned out, genealogy and royal neighbors does not necessarily mean a successful royal marriage.  Catherine may not be an earl's daughter, but she has a better education than Diana.  She was raised in a two-parent household, two hard working parents, millionaires who made sure their three children received the best education possible.

Unlike Diana,  Catherine has the confidence to shine as a royal bride.  She and Prince William were friends first.  Affection and love followed.  They have built a strong, loving relationship.  William and Catherine are equals.

William & Catherine Their Story (St. Martin's Press: $29.99/$34.40) is not going to one of the books that future biographers of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be consulting.  Far too much rehashing of other people's information.

Memo to Andrew Morton: time to move on from the royal scene.  You did your thing with Diana: Her True Story.   This newest book is awful.    The photos are nice, though, but  it should be noted that wedding is discussed in the final chapter.

This book was also published in the UK by Michael O'Mara.

William & Kate Celebrating a Royal Engagement by Robin Nunn

Robin Nunn's career as a royal photographer took off with the ascent of Lady Diana Spencer, the future wife of the Prince of Wales --- and mother of Prince William.   Now Nunn, who runs a photo agency, turns to Prince William and Catherine Middleton with the publication of William & Kate Celebrating a Royal Engagement.

This book was published shortly after the engagement was announced, and  provides a synoptic biography of Prince William of Wales  from his birth through childhood and the death of his mother to the university years and his military career ... and the entrance of Catherine Middleton into William's life.

Nunn's photos shine throughout the book.   Many of these photographs have not been seen before including some rather stylish ones of Kate.

One of the angles that Nunn has latched upon is the commoner-royal marriage.  He includes a chapter on the marriages of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark,  the Prince of the Asturias, the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Brabant and the Crown Princess of Sweden, all of whom married commoners.  The Duke of Brabant's wife, Mathilde, comes from a noble family, but she had no title of her own.  Her father was elevated to the title of Count when Mathilde married Philippe.

But Catherine is not the first commoner to marry into the royal family.  William's mother had a courtesy titlle due to her father being a peer of the realm,  but legally, the late Lady Diana Spencer was a commoner.   The Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex married  commoners.  So did the Duke of Gloucester.   The Duchess of Kent is the daughter of a baronet, but she was a mere Miss when she married. 

Camilla Parker Bowles is also a commoner although she descends from the aristocracy and Charles II.

This is a  nice book to look through, but do not expect a work of scholarship.  When Prince William's engagement was announced,  writers and photographers went into overdrive to produce commemorative books. 

 I have to say that the publisher did a very nice job combing the text (Nunn was partnered by Jonathan Hayden) with very fine photography.

William & Kate:  Celebrating a Royal Engagement (Pavilion: £14.00/$24.95). 144 pages.

If you are looking to decide on which William and Kate books to keep in your library, please note this one is a keeper. Superb photographs, and the Nunn and Hayden largely avoid purple prose.

Some new Royal DVDS - Region 1 NTSC

Here is a selection of new William and Kate (the duke and duchess of Cambridge) DVDS for Region 1 NTSC. US and Canada.