Customer Reviews

Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads of Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe

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I have been studying royalty and royal genealogy for more than twenty years and when I heard that this book was coming out, I wanted to purchase it. But instead I borrowed it from the library and I am so grateful that I did. My main complaint actually is that the book is too short and superficial.

For each of the claimants addressed the author goes into a brief history of either that particular royal family or its throne. That is where its brevity and its superficiality are its downfall. The history of these families and their thrones are often complex, and despite the fact that I was already familiar with the material, it was often delivered in a manner that was confusing. In the process of trying to cram many years of royal history into small chapters a great deal of information is omitted that would clarify the events that are described within. For example, in many royal families there are often members of different generations and lines with the same name. The author dose not distinguish clearly whom they are referring to at times. For someone who does not have a strong grasp of the genealogical information that could be confusing.

I also did not learn anything new about the claimants to the vacant thrones. I have had particular interest in the Hohenzollern family which used to occupy the thrones of Imperial Germany and Prussia. But once the history of the Prussian royal family was expounded, I learned nothing new about the claimant H.R.H. Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia. In fact there was a great deal of information that was not included. First of all, it elaborates nowhere in the book that since the 1919 constitution of the Weimar Republic all former German royalties no longer legally obtain their titles. Their former titles have been regulated as a part of their surnames. In Germany the claimant is legally known as Georg Friedrich Prinz von Prussen. But despite the German law, much of it is ignored and the former titles of the German royals are used socially. Also, the book does not tell you that H.R.H Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, in his position as head of the Prussian royal family, has attended many state occasions within Germany with the full cooperation and support of the German Chancellor.

The maps are indeed amateurish and the genealogy charts are simplistic. If you are someone who is new to the subject of royalty then this book could give you some basic information. But if you are a student of this subject who already has knowledge about formerly reigning monarchs then this book will be a disappointment.

Just finished Olga Opfell's ROYALTY WHO WAIT, and was not very impressed. The book does a good job providing a brief overview of the various European royal families, but that is about it.

I purchased the book primarily for the historical context in which these families lived. It provided very limited historical context, little of which was useful if one is trying to better understand the life and times of these families.

The book describes various kingdoms that no longer appear on modern maps, but the maps provided are very poor. They need to be overlaid against a map of modern Europe so as to put these kingdoms in context, but they were not.

The organization of the book is also hard to understand. For example, the book lists two Royal Houses of France, and one Imperial House of France. The author made these discussions in three different chapters, but there was no continuity between the three chapters. More detail on how one family was deposed and how the next one was installed would have provided better continuity.

The family trees provided could also use some additional detail. Ms. Opfell concentrated only on the Head of the Houses. To make them more useful, the trees should have included children, siblings, and parents. Again, additional detail would have been helpful to understand the various Royal houses and how they are related to other Royal houses. There were alot of marriages between a prince of one house and a princess of another house, and thus the various royal families are related - but it was impossible to understand this from the family trees provided.

There was also alot of talk about the British Royal Family, and how some of the various deposed Houses are related. Ms. Opfell made briefs mentions that some houses were related to the British royal family, but provided no additional detail.

The discussion on the Russian Royal Family seemed to contradict the conclusion of THE FLIGHT OF THE ROMANOVS by John Perry and Constantine Pleshakov. Both books agree that Romanov family is complex with various claims. It was interesting to note that the person supported by Olga Opfell was rejected by Perry and Pleshakov. The Perry and Pleshakov book is a much better book if one wants to understand the Romanovs. The detail is much greater and is thus a more satisfying read.

Sorry to be so negative on ROYALTY WHO WAIT. It was just too shallow on too many fronts.

Reading other reviews of this book, I have discovered I
don't know as much about royalty as I thought I did!
Although I did know some of the information included, I
certainly learnt more than I already knew! Many of the
stories are very thrilling, others are very sad. But
all are very real!

Making the book even more real and interesting are
the PHOTOGRAPHS....one photograph of each head of every
royal house mentioned! These pictures add a genuineness
and trueness to the text -- one realizes one is reading
about REAL people, and not fairy-tales! I only wish that
there were more photos in this book...but the tantalizing
one for each royal house is very, very welcome, nonethe-
less!

The book contains a list of Monarchist Organizations,
an extensive bibliography, and a full, (and long!) index.
The paper is the best available, the print-style large
enough to be readable, and very well spaced. This book
a trade-paperback, and has the best paperback binding
available, (with superiour glue, and a slightly rounded
spine.) All that is missing is a hard cover, with
gold engraving!

Definitely a great book, both in content and present-
ation!

Once the primary form of political governance, today there are only seven European monarchies still intact. All of them are constitutional monarchies which have survived the disappearance of four European empires and sixteen European kingdoms during the last two centuries from the Bourbon kingdom in France which ceased to exist in 1830, down to the Greek kingdom ending in 1973. Ex-kings still consider themselves to be kings, along with their extended family groups of princes, dukes, and counts. Two world wars caused the greatest attrition in monarchies, leaving exiled heads of royal families to seek their fortunes in business, and some still managing substantial estates. Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Heads Of Formerly Regnant Houses Of Europe is arranged in the chronological order in which these kingdoms disappeared and profiles twenty-one heads of the formerly royal houses of Europe's nobility. All are set in historical perspective and recount varied life styles, occupations, and interests of the current monarchial inheritors. At the end of each chapter is a chart or set of charts depicting the line of succession to the headship of a royal house. Royalty Who Wait is a unique and highly recommended reference for students of royal European heredity and genealogy.

Sadly, what could have been a good book turns up very poor. First of all, did anyone EDIT the book? I can't even count the mistakes in the book, especially the absolute murdering of names and places. Parts of the book were written as if the target audience was comprised of 5th graders; elsewhere it was a family tree mess. And worse, parts of the book were misleading and apologistic. Wikipedia did a better job here.

The title of the book is misleading. Not all "dethroned" Royal Families
of Europe are included in this study. Missing from the short list are the
German and Italian Royal Families.

This is an exceptionally interesting book because it details all the more obscure monarchies in Europe. I was fascinated by how these particular monarchies were formed, who ruled, what the political situation were and how the monarchies were dissolved.

The information given about former rulers and who are still pretender(s)

was very informative. I liked this book because it filled in a lot of the gaps that I have read briefly about. Now, the gaps have been filled in.

A must for anyone who interested more obscure royal houses.