Royalty Revealed

by Unity Hall, Ingrid Seward

very interest book

Genres: British Literature

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1989

Reviews

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

In every single one of my history classes, when my teachers have told me to write a research paper, there's always a few things I have to remember while evaluating sources, one of which is bias. The image of the Royal family of Great Britain changed greatly before and after the divorce between Charles and Diana. Published in 1989, this book offers an insight into the lives of the Royal family before they were tarnished by infidelity and accusations of apathy.

It was extremely interesting to read an account of Charles and Diana's marriage written before their divorce. Don't get me wrong. Diana was an amazing woman, full of such joie de vivre and a genuine love for her subjects. I don't think there will be another like her again. However, I will also say that after her divorce, she began to paint herself as a martyr. Most historians will agree that she knew how to manipulate the press, and her connection with the people allowed them to be manipulated too. After their divorce, the blame was placed entirely on Charles, and none of it on herself. After reading this book, and reading other books, I've come to the conclusion that this isn't quite fair on Prince Charles. Yes, he cheated. Yes, perhaps he could have done more to help her fit in. Yes, he wasn't the easiest man to live with. Has anyone read Julius Caesar by Shakespeare? It offers a great quote.

"The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;"

This applies quite aptly towards Prince Charles. Before the divorce, he was the golden boy of the Royal family. Beloved by the majority of his subjects, any faults he had were ignored or simply accepted. But after the divorce, he was demonized by the press, and by Diana herself. Everyone forgot all the good he had done, all the charity he had done over the years, and everyone forgot that he had never done anything truly wrong until the divorce. Suddenly, his whole character was based solely on the fact that his ex-wife said he and his family had mistreated him. Honestly, I feel badly for him. Again, he cheated, and I know that is unforgiveable. However, one must also remember that he never really wanted to marry Diana. He was in love with another woman, Camilla. Deeply in love, and his family tore them apart because she was deemed unsuitable. In a novel, this would be a great love story. Yet because Diana was involved, and because this is real life, everyone turned against him. I think this is highly unfair.

Now, let's tie this into the novel, shall we? I'm not saying Diana lied in her interviews. I will say that she may have twisted the truth at times. She says that the Royal family never helped her acclimate to Royal life; never tried to help her fit in. People took her word as truth. Yet in this novel, untainted by the acrimonious divorce, a different picture is painted. This novel isn't really a list of facts, rather, it's a mixture of facts with true stories and accounts to back them up. One that appealed to me was when the author was describing the many, many, many uniform each male member of the Royal family owns. At least 4-8 for each branch of the military he is a member of. One day, Charles asked for the key to uniform room. When the valet asked why, Charles said that he wanted to show Diana a taste of how great her duties may be.

Another story. One day, the Queen called all the editors of the major newspapers to the Palace, and she asked them to tone down the press coverage of Diana. She told them that Diana couldn't even pop down to the supermarket without being robbed. One newspaper editor said something along the lines of, "Why should she? It's our job to report what the people want to know." The Queen replied, "Because sir, no one can live like that." Now, does that sound like a family that doesn't care? Indeed, use common sense. The Queen is known to be compassionate in all walks of life. She gives to charities at all times of the year, has a very large and extended family whom she never forgets their names, and attempts to read each and every letter sent to her. Does it really seem that she wouldn't even attempt to reach out to Diana. Really? But when it comes to Diana, people don't attempt to use common sense. I'll be the first one to say it. She was beautiful, and so, so kind. And what happened to her was tragic, and she was far too young to take on the duties that she did. But no one forced her to marry Charles, and as this book points out, she wasn't the easiest person to live with.

She loved shopping; Charles was frugal. She loved busy London; Charles loved quiet Balmoral. She hated hunting; Charles loved it. She was rash, and passionate, and young. They just simply weren't right for each other. And he loved someone else. So he cheated. And as the people are apt to forget, she cheated as well. With multiple people. At least he only ever cheated with the person he had loved all along, who he ended up marrying someday.

Okay, so, I think I've made my point with Charles and Diana. If anyone ever reads this review, I hope they'll reconsider their opinions about the whole thing, which was simply tragic. I don't think anyone was truly to blame. Anyway, the rest of the book. The charm of this book is that by the end, you feel a strong connection to the Royal family. Their little idiosyncracies feel familiar to you, and by the end you can almost predict their actions. Their individual personalities become apparent, and you can begin to see the reasons for their actions. The novel is full of charming anecdotes about the Royal Yacht Britannia, and Prince Charles' batchelor party, and the Queen's penchant for gossip. A nice thing that I enjoyed doing was comparing things then, with things now, 20 years later. Britannia is gone, and the Queen has begun to reign in her spending habits. She is not quite so cold with the people, and her vacation time has been cut considerably. What is interesting, is that after 20 years, instead of doing less engagements, she has done more. Her and Prince Philip attend over 400 engagements each year. That's more than one per day. Imagine doing all that yourself, being 85 and 90 years old. It's incredible, and it only makes me respect Her Majesty's family even more.

Last thing, which I thought was interesting to read. In the beginning of the book, I don't remember when, the author points out that the people always need a royal family member to hate. Sometimes it was Princess Margaret. Sometimes it was Princess Michael of Kent. Sometimes it was Prince Andrew. It always changes, and many times it is partly unjustified. Ten years ago, it was Camilla and Charles. Now, I see people finally softening to her. They hated Charles because he supports green energy and talks to his plants (God forbid we have a King who cares about the environment, and I'd like to point out that I talk to my plants all the time, it totally helps them grow), and because after all this time, people still blame him for what happened. Surely if Princes William and Harry can forgive him, his own sons, than the public who knows Charles and Diana worse that them can forgive him? Right now the hated is Prince Andrew and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, who, from what I've read, have done nothing worse than do what the Queen was doing twenty years ago. And perhaps ten years from now, the public will turn against Harry? Or William? Or Kate?

[Vikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secrets of the British Royal Family. Not much new, but good.