Favourite and recommended royal books

[Marengo]

Didn't Dominique Paoli write a biography of princess Clementine of Belgium? It was translated to Dutch so I was able to read it. Her other books probably were only written in French and were not translated into English?

 

[Alberto2244]

Didn't Dominique Paoli write a biography of princess Clementine of Belgium? It was translated to Dutch so I was able to read it. Her other books probably were only written in French and were not translated into English?

Yes, she wrote a bio on princess Clementine.
As far as I know her books were not translated into English but Charlotte Zeepvat quoted one of her books for Charlotte´s article on prince Baudouin of Belgium (brother of king Albert I).
By coincidence I talked to Dominique on the telephone yesterday and she is preparing now a book divided in many parts about the royals during the second war. Princess Mafalda, the Wittelsbachs and the Hohenbergs.
She´s trying to find a copy of the memoirs by the prince Enrico d´Assia (Heinrich von Hesse Kassel) "Lampadario di Cristallo".
She was at the wedding of the duke of Vendome and she parked her car very far from the Cathedral and she got a carriage to go to the Cathedral and the crowd assumed she was a royal and applauded her...it was great FUN!!!!
She said the mayor of Senlis is a fervent royalist and pronnounced an emotional monarchist speech after the religious ceremony. Interesting.

 

[RubyPrincess168]

My favorite royal books are Mary Princess with Style, and the variety I have related to royal jewelry.

 

[Sereta]

So far my favorite is Queen Victoria's Descendents by Marlene Eilers.

 

[frank22]

Check my page about books dedicated to royals and aristocracy:

Libros sobre la realeza y aristocracia - Cotilleos y Actualidad Personajes Famosos y del Corazón, Monarquia.

 

[jonnydep]

my favorire royal books

i have a great many in fact....a few of which are
burkes royal families of the world-volume one europe and latin america
the lines of succession & heraldry of the royal families of europe (jiri louda and michael maclagan)
the last courts of europe (jeffrey finestone and robert massie)
debretts kings and queens of europe (david williamson)
the camera and the tsars, queen victoria's family (charlotte zeepvat)
grandmama of europe, the crowned descendants of queen victoria , a family of kings, the descendants of king christian IX of denmark (theo aronson).
alexandra-princess and queen (david duff)
well i could go on.....

 

[ChantalC]

I have the sames books like yours : Burkes royal families of the world
& The last courts of Europe.

 

[Zonk]

I just received Tiaras Past and Present and Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece by Hugo Vickers. Both great books. I also read Memories of Princess Alice, it was okay. I like the style in which she wrote the book but I would love more information especially about her relationship with Prince Henry,Duke of Gloucester.

Based on the some of the recommendations in the past couple of pages, I am going to check out the Leslie Field book and the The Royal Encyclopedia.

I would love to read books about other royal famillies especially the Belgian and Danish royal families, but are any of them in English?

 

[Connie Cutmantle]

good Bios

Queen Victoria's letters are absolutely fascinating and really do provide one with an insight into her character! It is a tragedy that Princess Beatrice was allowed to censor and and in some cases destroy great sackfuls, but nevertheless the remaining papers are still worth the time for anyone interested in seeking an intimate insight into the development, character and opinions of the Grandmama of Europe!

I still find Robert K Massie's masterful duo bio of Nicholas and Alexandra astonishingly well written and beautifully crafted! A lifelong Passion which incorporates a glut of letters and diary entries is also a fascinating and enthralling addition to any aficionado of turn of the twentieth century royalty in private!

James Pope Hennessey's bio of Queen Mary, though written shortly after that illustrious Royal Magpie's passing and subsequently rather reverential in tone, is nevertheless one of the finest examples of a biography that provides a complete and thorough documentary of Queen Mary's life from cradle to grave and does not stint in its magisterial style and handling of a vast amount of primary sources spanning more than eighty five years years and providing equal attention to childhood, adolescence and Mary's life before her first engagement in a way that so many biographies fail to do! I can not recommend it enough!

 

[MelinaB.]

Almost every book I read about Diana belongs to my top favorite royal books.

 

[scooter]

It's hard for me to pick an absolute favorite...I have a whole wall of bookshelves in our library on the subject. I will say I was so happy to have discovered ebay and amazon....far more economical than retail. I frequently buy lots of multiple books. That's were some of my 'best ones' come from...those that are older and out of print!

 

[Westminster]

One of my favourites are the memoirs of the Duke of Windsor. I know this book may not be too correct, but I love autobiographies.

 

[jen121419]

I love the biography of Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessey

 

[carlosmgallo]

Hines

Marian, I'm his descendant too.

I liked to read four interesting books: first, "The Windsor story", of Charles J.V. Murphy and of J. Bryan III, a book really wonderful: "The secret diary of Anne Boleyn", of Robin Maxwell, it is a special book for me. For a royal romance, I recommended the story of "Michael and Natasha", he was really the last zar of Rusia, because Nicholas II abdicated to him, but he didnt want the throne and only he was zar one hour. He was killed before the royal family. His wife had two husband before him and she had a daughter, with one of her husbands, and she had a son with Michael. This book is of Rosemary and Donald Crawford. And a last book, "La corona hecha pedazos" of Horacio Bustamante, talk about the story of Michael Hines, the bastard son of George IV of England. He is my hero for me, his story is very sad. He didnt want to be King of England to the death of his father, for love. The writer of this book, Bustamante, is his descendant.

 

[rmartin345]

I have read many books.But my Favourite royal books are Queen Victoria and Her Decendants by Charlotte Zeepvat.I like also The Queen's Jewel's by Leslie Field book.This is one of my all-time favorite books.

 

[Elly C]

My favourite reference books are Field's "The Queen's Jewels" & Munn's "Tiaras A History of Splendour" (thanks to this forum for recommending the latter). I particularly enjoyed "Palace" by Christian De Massey for his take on the Rainier & Grace years. Another old favourite is Antonia Fraser's "Mary Queen of Scots".

 

[Grandduchess24]

So far I have read the royal diaries series when I was young
Czarina Alexandra biography,
Josephine de beauharnais biography ,
Hidden diary of Marie Antoinette by carolly erickson
Some Romanov books
"we two " is the title but author ?
Marie Antoinette:the journey
A biography of Madame royal Marie Therese
The first two books of the princess series,a memoir of a princess if the house of al saud
The Romanov prophesy by Steve berry .

 

[pgm1952]

I have been rereading Miranda Carter's "Nicholas, George, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I" for about a year now and no matter how many times I read it it still sounds fresh and interesting. Political and royal history are woven together in a unique and engaging way that makes you want to learn more about these men and that time in history for the royals.

 

[UselessRoyal]

I need your book ideas

Hello,

I am brand new, and the name pretty much gives it away....I can be rather useless at most things.

I am out of books to read, and since I am brand new on this forum...I want to read something "Royal"

So does anyone want to shoot a Royal book title my way?

PS
It is strange that I am writing this from the Library, but I am just not in the mood to start roaming the stacks....I need some guidance gosh darnit

 

[nascarlucy]

There are many types of Royal books, history, biographical, wedding books, etc. If you go in the history section of the library you will find some of these.

There are also romantic novels. A couple of years ago Harlequin Present had a series of books about a fictious royal family present day. The name of the royal family was the House of Karedes. There was about 8 books in the series. I've read them all.

Some royal novels are fictious and occur back in the 17th century. Some of these are hard for me to read because I don't like the way women were treated back then. However, this is the reality of what was and you can't sugar coat it because it is what it is. In these books you usually have a woman whose a strong character who overcomes a lot of things.

Well, hope this has helped you. Good Luck on your search.

 

[pgm1952]

There are plenty of royal books out there but you will have to judge for yourself what ones are worth reading. It will take time to distinguish good from bad quality but if you care enough you will make good choices.

I should say now I can only speak for books in English and generally English authors.

Be warned, go for established royal authors like Sarah Bradford, Philip Ziegler, the late Elizabeth Longford, the late Theo Aaronson, Christopher Warwick, Gyles Brandreth, Greg King and Penny Wilson (they cover the Romanovs mostly) and John Van Der Kiste.

Biographers include Kenneth Rose, James Pope- Hennessay, and again Bradford, Ziegler, and Longford.

Some one off books by notable historians include "The Last Days of the Romanovs" by Helen Rappaport and "George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm" by Miranda Carter (my personal favorite).

Be particularly scrupulous about Diana books (if you are into her life and saga). I would read Christopher Anderson's books on her, Sarah Bradford's biography on her, and Ingrid Seward, the editor in chief of Majesty Magazine, wrote a good one called "The Queen and Di".

I say be scrupulous because some people have twisted facts and have written an over sentimental and sensationalized account of her life based on little research and bad sources. Stay away from Andrew Morton's "Diana, Her True Story" it does not give facts as they happened and was done with Diana's help. Above all, find a good objective author who trys to tell her life as it happened, not for the sake of any big revelations.

Check source material, if they mention royal archives (personal letters and diaries) that is a good sign. Contemporaries and known diarists of the era are usually good sources. Other earlier books and personal memoirs by the royals are ok as well.

Again do some homework on the quality of sources and the point of view of the author. Are they objective enough? Does it talk too much of politics and not enough background on who they were? Is it biographical or historical? What family do you like most?

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

At this moment I am overcome with excitement over Robert K. Massie's legendary Nicholas and Alexandra, and I regret not having read this ealier. Everyone who have somewhat harsh feelings about Alexandra Feodorovna should read this book and find out that she was a totally different person than what most people think. I'm so glad that my library owned this book and it's definitely going directly to both my Christmas wish-list and my list over favourite royal books

 

[Nerofly]

The Definitive Royal Bookshelf

Hi all,

I recognise this is terribly presumptuous being as how I'm very new here, but I'd like to collate a list of the best books on the different European (and others if there's call for it) Royal families.

I'd like to be pretty ruthless and just have 1 book on each topic, be it a history of a royal house, or a biography of a Royal person. For biographies they have to have had a recognised reign at some point (although I might slip in some 'honourable mentions at the end').

So if anyone has any suggestions, please post them below, and if anyone has a counter suggestion for a book which should be featured rather than somebody else's suggestion, be prepared to fight you corner!

My first suggestion would have to be Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra which is a fascinating read about the end of the Romanov dynasty. Despite its intimidating size, it's superbly paced and really difficult to put down.

France

Catherine de Medici ~ Leonie Frieda

Russia

Nicholas and Alexandra ~ Robert K. Massie

Miscellanous

The Queen's Diamonds ~ Hugh Roberts

 

[Artemisia]

I think this is a pretty good idea.
I'd like to recommend to books that should definitely be on the bookshelf of anyone even remotely interested in British Royal Jewellery.


Britain - Jewellery

1. "The Queen's Diamonds" by Hugh Roberts
It's a bit pricey, but worth every penny. Haven't been able to put my copy down ever since it arrived. The pictures are absolutely breathtaking.

2. "Queen's Jewels: The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II" by Leslie Field
A wonderful book on the Queen's jewellery collection. What I loved most is how the jewels are shown as worn by different royal ladies who had adjusted them to their taste.

3. "The Crown Jewels" by Anna Keay
Most of the jewels in the book are obviously very well-known, but it's still great for reference, and of course, because of the great pictures.

 

[Nerofly]

Cheating! You have to choose just one on the subject!

 

[Artemisia]

Ah, I hadn't noticed the rule. In that case, I'll have to go with:

Britain - Jewellery
1. "The Queen's Diamonds" by Hugh Roberts

 

[An Ard Ri]

Catherine de Medici by Leonie Frieda is an excellent biography of that infamous French Queen and Regent,it also gives a great insight into the French Valois Dynasty during its last days.

 

[Warren]

As we already have a thread for what is virtually the same topic, the two threads have been merged.

 

[sarahedwards2]

Are there any books about Princess Anne? My library only has one, and I put a request for it.

 

[Hayli]

I thought I might add to this list. Some of my favourites:

The Kasier's Daughter by Princess Viktoria Luise (in collaboration with someone else)
Grandmama of Europe by Theo Aronson
Northern Crowns by John Van der Kiste
Queen Victoria's Children by John Van der Kiste
Kings of the Hellenes by John Van der Kiste
An Uncommon Woman: Empress Friedrich by Hannah Pakula
The Camera and the Tsars by Charlotte Zeepvat
Queen Victoria's Family by Charlotte Zeepvat
Queen Victoria's Gene by DM Potts & WTW Potts
The Romanovs by John Van der Kiste
Prinny's Daughter: Princess Charlotte of Wales by Thea Holme
Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece by Hugo Vickers
Princess Victoria Melita by John Van der Kiste

I have others, but these are ones in my personal library that I love to reread.