The Royals [Mass Market Paperback]

Kitty Kelley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Biography of the British royal family; includes new chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The killer quill of Kitty Kelley, who skewered Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Reagan, goes for royal blood in her latest tell-all biography, The Royals. Fans of the 1992 book Diana used to bash her in-laws--Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story--and Prince Charles's 1995 riposte--Jonathan Dimbleby's The Prince of Wales--will detect much familiar material. So will anyone who's ever read a newspaper. Even so, Kelley has a great eye for the salable quote and anecdote, and her book makes for handy one-stop gossip shopping.

Here are a few of the nasty allegations Kelley collects in a history of Britain's top dogs: though the royals may love their corgis more than their children and spouses, they pinch the poor pooches' posteriors to make them bark into the phone to amuse the royals at the other end of the line. Also, the Queen Mother may have been born out of wedlock, and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, may have been conceived by artificial insemination.

There are dozens of other stinky zingers in Kelley's book, mostly from anonymous sources. The late Princess Diana comes off the best, even though Kelley suggests that she may have shoved her 58-year-old stepmother down the stairs. Diana met her last lover, Dodi, after The Royals went to press, so there's nothing in it about them--though Kelley does relate previous 100 m.p.h. chases and press encounters ending in gore. It was a long, sad story leading up to the last crash, and Kelley tells the family's worst enemies' account of it in a tone colder than the royals themselves. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Gossipmonger Kelly narrates her latest unauthorized biography, this time targeting Britain's royal family. She has included some interesting factual information about the royals, describing the early-20th-century history of the family and its ties to Germany. But the biography is a mix of fact and tawdry, unsubstantiated innuendo (Phillip may be bisexual, one son may not be his, etc.). Wherever possible, Kelley's inflections as narrator make events seem naughtier still. There are two obvious flaws: not once are sources cited clearly, and most of the slurs are based on what someone says without scrutiny of motives. Of the family, the Queen comes out of the fray best, and Charles definitely gets the worst of it. Throughout, schlock rules over scholarship. Not recommended.?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, N.C.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605786
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605786
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.4 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Europe > England > General

More About the Author

Among the awards that Kitty Kelley has been honored with by her professional peers are the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for her "courageous writing on popular culture," the Philip M. Stern Award for her "outstanding service to writers and the writing profession," the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club in New York City, and the 2005 PEN Oakland Literary Censorship Award. She has also been selected as a member of Vanity Fair magazine's Hall of Fame. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why are the British people not allowed to read this book?, August 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Royals (Mass Market Paperback)

I tried to purchase this book through Amazon, but I was told that it could not be shipped to UK addresses. This is apparently due to an official ban imposed by the British Government. By chance, I then found a copy when browsing in a local 'bargain' bookshop; the book cannot be obtained from large bookstore chains in the UK such as Waterstones etc. I found it to be reasonably well researched, and far more intelligently written than articles one might read about 'the royals' in the British tabloids. Ms Kelley rightly indicates throughout her book the huge amounts of money that the various post- war debacles of the Mountbatten- Windsor family have cost the British people. How ironic, then, that we are the only people in the world who are officially not allowed to read this book! What do the international community think about this? Opinions please!

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A positive review, October 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Royals (Hardcover)

Having read this book I feel that it has been unfairly maligned. It is neither a trashing of the individuals in the house of Windsor nor is it a tabloid-esque scandal sheet. Ms. Kelly paints a complex psychological portrait of the members of the royal family in a way that does not excuse their well documented ill-behavior but rather allows the reader to have insight into their personal motivations. In a way the royal family of Britain are painted as very real and human characters with flaws and many emotional injuries. I wonder if the negative reaction to this book is due to the timing of its release and the fact that the narrative humanizes characters that Britain, for the sake of its history and system of governance, needs to be more that human. And for the rest of the world to serve as a mirror for our fantasies. For me this book elicited pathos for this family--the queen's coldness and inhumanity caused by the early death of her father and the trauma of the second world war with all of the incipient pressures that would befall her. (what a potentially terrifying childhood knowing that your destiny may require you to "save the nation" though the strength of your character). As for Charles (for whom I personally had a storng antipathy towards prior to reading this book) the childhood he had left him quite incapable of being a loving sympathetic man despite the fact that he apparently has a tremendous need to be so. Diana was bound to be crushed by the institution of royalty and the monarchy. Her "loony' behavior makes perfect sense when you consider that she as a 19 year old girl had just steeped though the looking glass and into a world with no allies. Also, don't kid yourself, while there some epistemological problems and some quotes must clearly be fabricated, a technique of historians going back to Herodotous, this is an exceedingly well crafted book.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious gossip, served with a silver spoon., December 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Royals (Hardcover)

The outraged royalists crying "shame" on Kitty should take a reality check- particularly the reviewer from Dublin who expressed such contempt for Miss Kelly. Is Princess Margaret to be defended after issuing such public statements as "The Irish are all pigs?" Yes, this book was a cold, hard slap in the face of the house of Windsor- and this reader has no sympathy. I felt that Miss Kelly's book showed the house of Windsor to be what it is- a crumbling institution that serves no purpose, except for the amusement of the tabloids. Miss Kelly presented a portrait of self serving parasites out of touch with their land and people, and she did it with skill. It was a fast paced, entertaining read, not always unsympathetic, but always fascinating. A revealing portrait of those who consider themselves our "betters," but, sadly and obviously, are not.