Customer Reviews

Royal Affairs: A Lusty Romp Through the Extramarital Adventures That Rocked the British Monarchy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read both of Eleanor Herman's books ("Sex with Kings" and "Sex with the Queen"), as well as Michael Farquhar's book "A Treasury of Royal Scandals." Of all the books, I like Carroll's "Royal Affairs" the best. Why?

Although Herman gets points for the color photos in her books, and Farquhar has a very convenient timeline for reference in the back of his, overall I found Carroll's writing to be the most engaging and entertaining. Many passages are simply laugh-out-loud witty. For example, in referring to the Earl of Bothwell, Mary Queen of Scots's lover, Carroll describes him as "a somewhat simian-looking serial adulterer." Queen Caroline (married to George IV) she describes as although having a "pale, clear complexion that was much praised, she was also too fond of her rouge pot." Many of Carroll's descriptions give the reader an instant mental visual of what these people must have looked and acted like. There's not a dry or boring moment in this book.

I saw an earlier review that Carroll relies too much on web references. Although I had paid little attention to the bibliography when I read the book (I was reading for entertainment, not research), I did go back to see what the reviewer meant. Carroll's short list of web sites seems legitimate to me, since they are all either encyclopedic web sites or reputable British history sites. Carroll also cites 75+ other books and articles.

"Royal Affairs" is an exceedingly entertaining and quick read. I recommend it highly.

Royal Affairs is a 400 page book which discusses British monarchial infidelity from the medieval Angevin dynasty through the Plantagenets, Hanoverians, Saxe-Cothburgs to the present Windsor family. The author is Leslie Carroll who is capable of telling salacious anecdotes with humor, compassion and taste. Her book is sprinkled with witty and wise comments made by contemporaries commenting on the amorous goings on in high places.
She contains a bibliography which is made up of mainly secondary historical sources.
Among the book's many highlights were:
1. The long chapters devoted to Henry VIII and Charles II the two most interesting kings discussed in the book. Henry is notorious for wedding, bedding and beheading his wives. He sent Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard- to the bloody block. Henry's mistress Elizabeth Blount gave birth to Henry Fitzroy but the bastard died as a teenager. Henry's only legtitimate scion was Edward VI whose mother was the good queen Jane Seymour. Charles II (reigned from 1660-85) sired 17 illegitimate children by several high and low born women. His mistresses were fascinating and are well profiled by Carroll. These mistresses include the feisty English hussy Nell Gwynn, the sexy Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemain and Duchess of Cleveland and the cute French vixen Louise de Keroualle.
2. Even Queen Victoria who worshipped her spouse Albert had a male friend the Scottish gillie John Brown. Whether or not their friendship went beyond that is not certain.
2. Dorothy Jordan's life leaps off the page. She was an actress who lived with the man who became William IV for twenty years and gave him 10 children. He married another woman and left her to die in poverty in France in 1816.
3. Edward VIII who died in 1910 enjoyed a good cigar, horse racing, gambling, trips to gay Paree and conducting affairs with aristocratic married women. His two longest affairs were with Alice Keppel, Daisy Greville and the lovely Lily Langtry (the Jersey Lily).
4. Carroll recites the well known tabloid tales concerning the triangle of Charles and Di and Camilla. Nothing new here.
5. The Hanoverian Georges from Germany adored fat,foolish, fertile and ugly women who had body odor! Ugh!
6.Elizabeth I loved Robert Devereux and his wastrel son the Earl of Essex. She was also enchanted by Sir Walter Raleigh. We will never know if she died a virgin or not.
Royal Affairs can be read straight through or the reader can pick and choose chapters. The book shows the power of money, sex and the allure of royalty.
The author has written romance fiction but as a male I, nevertheless, enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It is well written and provides entertaining reading for a cold night before the fireplace. Readers have my permission to cast the tome aside, however, if someone as fetching as Lily Langtry walks in the door!

Leslie Carroll chose an interesting subject to publish a book about, and she put in a good effort for what would essentially be an easy, gossipy read. Unfortunately for Mrs. Carroll, I found too many very similar/directly lifted phrases and became suspicious enough to flip to the "selected biography". There is only one primary source among the list (written within the last two centuries no less), and she references sources such as "A Treasury of Royal Scandals" by Michael Farquar and Eleanor Herman's "Sex with..." collection. Any of these books are fantastic and highly recommended reading, but they do not make for serious citation sources. And while I have nothing against websites as a starting point, it's disconcerting to see an entire list of them as part of the final cut. History undergrads are held to far higher standards than this when writing basic term papers and I suspect that this book was published without comment because the publisher is Penguin (a trade press as opposed to an academic university press).

The tone of the book is awkwardly chatty, with random exclamation points and paragraph breaks that could have been more fluidly constructed. The information given is also rather superficial, and she takes liberties with her subjects. Her bits about Mary, Queen of Scots/Bothwell and Henry VIII and the wives were a couple of examples that really stood out to me. Both contained glaring errors that were a product of her trying to create a dramatic picture; sadly these were only two among many. You can read any one of Mrs. Carroll's bibliography sources to see in-the-moment done accurately without sacrificing the human factor.

I can't say this is a great book. I can say that I wish Mrs. Carroll the best of luck if she chooses to write another historical biography. Next time, delve deeper into the research rather than gleaming a surface view and merely reproducing what biographers before you have said. I'm giving this book two stars: one because I am giving this book away as soon as I am done, and one because I hope whoever finds and reads this book is intrigued enough to do their own further reading and discover the facts behind a cool new subject they would have never imagined liking to begin with.

this book is fascinating and hard to put down -- I actually had a student go out and get herself a copy after I read a selection from it in class.

A witty and humorous nonfiction chronology of "Royal Affairs" throughout the history of British monarchs. What a great read, Leslie had me going from section to section wondering what witty perspective she had on that particular historical figure. My favorite quote was her "use it or loose it" policy on Edward IV, hilarious and oh so fitting. Opening with Henry II and Rosamund de Clifford all the way down to the current prince of wales Charles and Camilla Bowles. I knew that I loved her style and confirmed we are like minded when she refereed to Isabella (Edward II wife) with "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned in bed", so true.

I found really helpful the section on Mary Queen of Scots. I had so many question and all were answered in short and to the point, not being over shadowed by the details. Her husbands murder, and what happened to Bothwell? Well the answer is he was thrown into a deep dark remote fortress of Dragsholm castle in Denmark. He lived a decade there before dying of madness. She even found out that his remains are mummified and still preserved under glass at Farevejle church, near Dragsholm. My other favorite that I have to mention was the heart wrenching story of Caroline of Brunswick and George IV daughter the princess Charlotte who married prince Leopold. She died after a fifty hour delivery of a still born son. The reference to Charlotte was brief but it built up the whole history in her family and why the loss was so tragic. I received this book for review from the publisher.

As noted in its title and subtitle, this book is an account of various extramarital affairs that British monarchs and royals have engaged in over the past eight-plus centuries. The book's over four hundred pages of main text are divided into eight major sections - each one devoted to a ruling dynasty, from the Angevins in the twelfth century to the Windsors in the twentieth. Each such section, in turn, is divided into a series of chapters - one for each featured individual and his/her paramour(s). Due to the astonishing amount of historical detail that fills every page, performing the research for this book must have been a monumental task.

The writing style is clear, lively, friendly, entertaining, often witty, quite accessible and generally quite engaging. The book contains so many affairs that occasionally the reader may sense a certain amount of general repetitiveness; I did. However, each affair has its own little twists and quirks that differentiate it from the others. This book should appeal to most history buffs as well as general readers interested in royal extramarital intrigue and its evolution over the centuries.

In Royal Affairs, author Leslie Carroll, chronicles the many scandalous infidelities of the English Monarchs. From Henry II in the 12th century to the current heir to the throne, Prince Charles, Royal Affairs is an entertaining excursion through the lives of our favorite salacious sovereigns!

Due to the fact that royal marriages were for solidifying political alliances between countries and strengthening royal families and NOT designed with love in mind, there comes the unfortunate by-product of infidelity. For the most part, neither the bride nor groom wanted each other and were just doing their royal duty. And infidelity is not only on the part of the the Kings, but Queens also.

Royal Affairs covers staples such as Edward II and his two lovers - Piers Gaveston and Hugh le Despenser, Henry VIII and his gaggle of mistresses, Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley and Mary, Queen of Scots and Earl of Bothwell.

Also included were a few interesting tidbits that I didn't know prior:

Every English monarch from 1461 is descended from Katherine Swynford, the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt. Mary II was in love with a woman in her youth. And one thing I found particularly amusing was that King James, who lent his name to the English-translated King James Bible, was a homosexual.

Carroll lends her incredible sense of humor to each story and it makes for a much more engaging read. Non-fiction can be stuffy and fact-filled, but not so with Royal Affairs! For example, she compares the 2 mistresses of George I to the ugly step-sisters in Cinderella and speaks about the fabulous upper "assets" of Caroline of Anspach - wife to George II.

With concise and succinct chapters, Royal Affairs is great to pick up when you have a few minutes or equally awesome to devour in one sitting - trust me when I say, it's not easy to put down! I heartily recommend to anyone who likes a juicy story!

Many thanks to Leslie Carroll for sending me this fantastic read! Be on the lookout for her upcoming release called Notorious Royal Marriages!

I've read quite a few books about various British Monarchs...some about the things they had actually accomplished during their reins, and some about their 'extracurricular' activities. This book was a fantastic addition to my collection! Ms. Carroll has a wonderful sense of humor that can be found sprinkled throughout the entire book. The chapters are neat, informative, and stick to their point...the Mistresses.

If you're a fan of British history, or the royals, then I definitely recommend picking this up. Ms. Carroll covers a HUGE amount of ground here (over 850 years), starting with King Henry II in 1154, and ending with Charles, the current Prince of Wales. I absolutely wouldn't hesitate to pick up another Leslie Carroll book in the future. I really enjoyed her writing style, and even though this is a pretty long book, I didn't even notice...the chapters just flew by!

This book spans about 800 years of affairs of the English/British Royalty. From Henry II in the 1100s to Prince Charles Lesley Carrol gives information about the relationships of Kings Princes and Dukes of England.

The only problem I had with the book was the inaccuracies that I found while reading it.
The first was while discussing the death of Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount, the mistress to Henry VIII. Ms. Carrol said that she died between 1539-1541 and that her former lover was in the process of changing the monarchy trying to wed Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn married Henry VIII in 1533 and died in 1536. By 1539 Henry VIII had already married Jane Seymour, who died giving birth to their son Edward.

The second was while discussing Henry VIII and his relationship with the French King Louis XII. Henry's sister Mary had married Louis XII when she was 18. Louis had been married two times before and in one section Ms. Carrol tells the reader that he did not have any sons. Then when discussing Mary Boleyn she says that Mary Boleyn was a lady in waiting to Queen Claude "The wife of Louis' son Francois." This is incorrect. Claude was actually Louis' daughter. She married Francois-who was her cousin knowing that when her father died the couple would be King and Queen of France. During this section she also mentions some 20th century descendants of Mary Boleyn. She mentions that Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson and Elizabeth II's mother as Mary Boleyn's descendants. The problem with this is she refers to the mother of Elizabeth II as Mary Bowes-Lyon instead of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Even with the mistakes it is an interesting book.

This is a very entertaining "fluff" book. I read the different royals in between other books for a brain cleanse.