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Title details for Game of Crowns by Christopher Andersen - Available

Game of Crowns

Elizabeth, Camilla, Kate, and the Throne

by Christopher Andersen
ebook
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1 of 2 copies available
A moving and compulsively readable look into the lives, loves, relationships, and rivalries among the three women at the heart of the British royal family today: Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Kate Middleton—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Good Son, These Few Precious Days, and The Day Diana Died.
One has been famous longer than anyone on the planet—a dutiful daughter, a frustrated mother, a doting grandmother, a steel-willed taskmaster, a wily stateswoman, an enduring symbol of an institution that has lasted a thousand years, and a global icon who has not only been an eyewitness to history but a part of it.

One is the great-granddaughter of a King's mistress and one of the most famous "other women" of the modern age—a woman who somehow survived a firestorm of scorn to ultimately marry the love of her life, and in the process replace her arch rival, one of the most beloved figures of the twentieth century.

One is a beautiful commoner, the university-educated daughter of a flight attendant-turned-millionaire entrepreneur, a fashion scion the equal of her adored mother-in-law, and the first woman since King George V's wife, Queen Mary, to lay claim to being the daughter-in-law of one future king, the wife another, and the mother of yet another.

Game of Crowns is an in-depth and exquisitely researched exploration of the lives of these three remarkable women and the striking and sometimes subtle ways in which their lives intersect and intertwine. Examining their surprising similarities and stark differences, Andersen travels beyond the royal palace walls to illustrate who these three women really are today—and how they will directly reshape the landscape of the monarchy.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 1, 2016

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781476743974
      • File size: 28519 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781476743974
      • File size: 29760 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      April 15, 2016
      A conjecture of what the future holds for the British monarchy, combining the scholarship of a dissertation with the dishyness of a tabloid.Readers will feel like a palace insider as former People senior editor Andersen (The Good Son: JFK and the Mother He Loved, 2014, etc.) begins with a vivid report of what he imagines will occur the day Queen Elizabeth II dies. Given his knowledge of every major and minor character involved, most readers will find the account wholly believable. From there, the book goes back in time, building on the perspectives (and schemes) of the women of the royal family. We get portraits of the duty-bound Queen Elizabeth, tragic and shattered Diana, calculating Camilla, and a not-so-coincidental Kate. The main question is, what will become of the monarchy? Will the queen abdicate at a certain time, as is the custom for other European monarchs? Will the late Diana get her wish, with the crown skipping Prince Charles in favor of William? Will the Prince of Wales break his promise and crown his second wife queen rather than consort? The guessing game is intriguing but not nearly as fascinating as what Andersen tells us about these women's pasts: Camilla's involvement in selecting Diana to marry Charles, Diana's paranoia, and Carole Middleton's exhaustive efforts to put her daughter in the future king's bed. (When William decided on a university, Carole "flew to Florence to persuade her in person that St. Andrews offered something no other university in the world offered: proximity to the future King of England.") The future Queen Catherine's story, alas, seems less a fairy tale and more a calculation, just like all the rest of the players on the royal stage. With gaspworthy and laugh-out-loud moments revealing scandalous and sympathetic details of the royal family, Andersen humanizes this privileged yet embattled group.

      COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from May 1, 2016

      When the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) comes to an end, either through her death or choice to step down, what will happen to England's monarchy? This question serves as a focal point to Andersen's (The Day Diana Died) dishy biography of the queen herself; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Kate). Andersen's network of sources is extensive, and his thorough investigation reveals a great deal about the royal family, much of it unflattering. For example, the author intimately details Prince Charles and Camilla's affair and love life, the late Princess Diana's breakdowns, and schemes by Kate's mother to keep her daughter close to Prince William. Unsurprisingly, Camilla and Charles receive the most damaging publicity while Elizabeth, William, and Kate seem to be the most reasonable. VERDICT With hints of sensationalism, Andersen's fun, light read delivers lots of juicy gossip about the monarchy. This is more celebrity biography than serious history but enjoyable nonetheless.--Stacy Shaw, Orange, CA

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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