"Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles" by Tom Bower (2018)

[Denville]

Faults, sure, but from what I have read in many books, he makes it clear that he thinks he is not like everyone else. This book seems more hard-hitting than my other royal books, the Sarah Bradfords, Angela Kelly, William Shawcross, etc,

I didn't know Sarah Bradford had written a bio of Charles... and of course it is more hard hitting than a book by the Queen's dresser or someone who has written an authorised biogrpahy of a royal.. like Shawcross. Its mean to be hhard hitting and critical...

 

[Leopoldine]

I didn't know Sarah Bradford had written a bio of Charles... and of course it is more hard hitting than a book by the Queen's dresser or someone who has written an authorised biogrpahy of a royal.. like Shawcross. Its mean to be hhard hitting and critical...

I don't think she has either, but as thorough as she is, she does describe his personality at length in her book about HM.

I didn't realize how much of Bower's book is about the Paul Burrell legal matter regarding Diana's belongings.

 

[Curryong]

I have bios of Charles by Bedell-Smith, Catherine Mayer, Tom Bower and Robert Jobson, (as well as books about Charles and Camilla by Penny Junor, Chris Wilson and Giles Brandrith.)

Disregarding the last three I found Mayer quite mild and admiring, Bower savagely critical and Bedell Smith and Jobson (who wrote for Charles’s 70th birthday) reasonable and balanced.

I primarily bought Jobson’s bio because it contained material on Charles’s relationship with his adult sons (in mid 2018) which was thin on the ground in previous biographies.

 

[Leopoldine]

Bedell-Smith wrote a very enjoyable book about Pamela Harriman which inspired my purchase of her bio of Charles.

 

[Curryong]

I’m sure it was. Pamela Harriman led a fascinating life. Not sure that her first marriage was completely enjoyable though!

 

[ladongas]

I’m sure it was. Pamela Harriman led a fascinating life. Not sure that her first marriage was completely enjoyable though!

I loved the fact that her career peaked when she was 75 years old- quite unusual for anyone. And, G-d bless her, when she died, it was at the Ritz swimming pool. Chic until the very end...

 

[Leopoldine]

I’m sure it was. Pamela Harriman led a fascinating life. Not sure that her first marriage was completely enjoyable though!

The surname she acquired upon that marriage became something of a meal ticket for her. Plus, her father-in-law enjoyed her company very much.

There are some parallels with Betsey Cushing Roosevelt (later) Whitney, in that the two ladies were in marriages that were unsatisfactory, but both ladies were very close to their fathers-in-law, who happened to be influential statesmen. The two ladies were also friends.

There's a good bio of Betsey and her 2 sisters, "The Sisters" by David Grafton.

That book is a great snapshot of mid-century American wealth and the advent of the jet-set.

 

[Leopoldine]

I loved the fact that her career peaked when she was 75 years old- quite unusual for anyone. And, G-d bless her, when she died, it was at the Ritz swimming pool. Chic until the very end...

She put Bill Clinton in the WH. She got him launched.

 

[Leopoldine]

I finished the Bower book. That is a dour portrait of HRH for sure.

There is a bit of a parallel with something I read about HM The Queen. I forget which book, but there was a notion put forth that HM, while her mother was still alive, was very conscious of being generationally "in the middle" of two very popular figures -- her mother QEQM and Diana, and her own popularity perhaps suffered a bit in comparison.

Charles might very well be experiencing something like that now, in-between HM and The Cambridges. The book refers to poll data quite a bit.

 

[Curryong]

Yes, I agree it’s dour all right. Bower is reluctant to give much credit to his subjects for anything. As for the QM it is a truism that the British supposedly like their sovereigns very old and venerable or young and rather glamorous, while the between years suffer. However, although the QM was certainly popular as a Consort (the War and all that) and people were certainly rather fond of her I’m not sure that what the Queen believed was true.

I do think that she was criticised a bit in her middle age and older for ‘being dowdy’ and not particularly modern I don’t believe that her mother’s ‘wild popularity’ was so much to blame as the Diana years. The Diana decades have been responsible for a real adjustment in the way the British veiwed the BRF, and the shadow of Diana has loomed over Charles and Camilla as well as his perceived eccentricities IMO.

 

[Leopoldine]

Yes, I agree it’s dour all right. Bower is reluctant to give much credit to his subjects for anything. As for the QM it is a truism that the British supposedly like their sovereigns very old and venerable or young and rather glamorous, while the between years suffer. However, although the QM was certainly popular as a Consort (the War and all that) and people were certainly rather fond of her I’m not sure that what the Queen believed was true.

I do think that she was criticised a bit in her middle age and older for ‘being dowdy’ and not particularly modern I don’t believe that her mother’s ‘wild popularity’ was so much to blame as the Diana years. The Diana decades have been responsible for a real adjustment in the way the British veiwed the BRF, and the shadow of Diana has loomed over Charles and Camilla as well as his perceived eccentricities IMO.

Just saw a squib in Sir Alan Duncan's diaries that might help explain the vituperative tone of Bower's book about the PoW.

"Tom Bower interviews me for a book he is writing on Boris Johnson. I cut it short and won't do another one, as all he wants are black and white answers, invariably of condemnation, which are not what I wish to say about Boris."

And Sir Alan is a ferocious critic of Boris.

This does make one think that the interviewing techniques of Mr. Bower are aligned for negative quotes.

 

[Curryong]

Yes I get the impression overall that Bower looks for the dark and shady aspects of his biographical subjects on which to hang the hook of his books. And to be fair as many of them have been people of power and influence for years, he is rarely disappointed. However humans have many facets to them and Bower never seems interested in exploring the sunnier side.

Are Sir Alan’s diaries interesting? Kindly, a bit waspish, forthcoming? If so I might join you and buy them.

 

[Alison H]

Unfortunately, this seems to be what sells, these days. A book which actually said something nice about its subject probably wouldn't get any attention. Nastiness leads to a lot of media coverage, which leads to a lot of sales. Same thing with, say, autobiographies written by film stars or pop stars, which inevitably include stories about how horrible their ex was or how they had a secret affair with someone who was married.

 

[Leopoldine]

Yes I get the impression overall that Bower looks for the dark and shady aspects of his biographical subjects on which to hang the hook of his books. And to be fair as many of them have been people of power and influence for years, he is rarely disappointed. However humans have many facets to them and Bower never seems interested in exploring the sunnier side.

Are Sir Alan’s diaries interesting? Kindly, a bit waspish, forthcoming? If so I might join you and buy them.

Waspish, no doubt. He has a fine talent in way of description when he likes someone or something, but woe betide a less than elegant or graceful or titled person he comes in contact with. If you like insights on UK/Middle East foreign relations, he's your man. He seems mean. Good succinct writer, though.

Sasha Swire's diary is more entertaining. Unlike Sir Alan, she dishes on everyone. BRF, former Cameron cabinet members, she seems upset about her lowly wife role when her hub Hugo was in Cameron's cabinet. She thought she deserved more attention for being smart. Her diary in a way is more interesting for me than Sir Alan's, as I could care less about his meetings in Oman and Turkey. It's more fun to read about Sasha and her fellow Cameroon wives joking about their grace-and-favor government weekend houses.