Customer Reviews

William's Princess: The Love Story that will Change the Royal Family Forever

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

 

 

At the time of writing this book, the author was taking a punt on an impending marriage between the subjects, Prince William and Kate Middleton. Seasoned royal watchers would know that a book of this kind is unusual in that there has been no engagement announcement. Regardless, the title is a misnomer since only around 10% of the books 250 odd pages relate to the relationship! The rest is a rehash of old ground. The author tops and tails each chapter with a Kate and William sum-up and then proceeds to write about Charles and Camilla or Charles and Diana. There are a few snippets in the book about the W & K relationship, but not enough to sustain a whole book. Only for the real British royal fanatics. Wait until there is a marriage before writing another book, Mr Jobson and then you may have some material to work with.

I had mixed feelings before I bought the book, and I still have mixed feelings after reading the book! The book itself was well written, (although in the first couple of chapters the author focused more on Charles and Camilia), it left me wanting to ask the author quite a number of questions!

The type of questions I would ask Mr. Jobson would be for an example: "Why would you write a book when Prince William and Kate Middleton are not even engaged yet?" or "Just how reliable are you're 'sources'?"

I will say this about the author, Mr. Jobson has a lot of courage to write a book before Prince William and Ms. Middleton are even married, and he is also taking a chance, as well as possible risking his career, that he will eventually be proven right (or wrong)about his predications.

This book is about the author's self-proclaimed genius in tracking down William and Kate and breaking stories on them (including unsubstantiated tips he got from other sources). The second most prevalent topic is how great the media are. The third is a tie between Prince Charles and the Queen. Finally, it is a book about William and Kate--but barely.

What kind of book is it when the author talk about his own perspective of the topic covered--instead of covering the topic? A lame one.

So many paragraphs in the book contain phrases such as "The issue now, one on which royal observers including myself...," "I revealed....," "I had exclusively broken the story...," etc. It is arrogance at its finest, and irrelevant, especially since (having been written in 2006) his conclusion that an engagement announcement was imminent was 100% wrong.

Tellingly, there is no bibliography--the author is his own source for all of the information, stale and superficial as it was.

Prince William and Kate Middleton had dated for many years and actually lived together for a while also, but considering the track record of the royal men up till now I think that the author should have waited to see if this relationship would lead to marriage (which it oviously did not) before writing a book with this title.

I didn't think it was necessary to write this book until - and if - William and Kate are married. I enjoy reading about Diana, William and Harry, but it just wasn't as interesting as I expected.

William's Princess by Robert Jobson

John Blake Publishing Ltd, 2006

254 pages

Non-fiction; Royalty

3.5/5 stars

Despite the title, the focus of this book is not so much Catherine Middleton and her relationship with Prince William as it is about the future of the monarchy in particular the rather unpopular Prince Charles and how Will and Kate's relationship will affect the monarchy.

While I was disappointed because I do want to learn about the future Princess William, I thought that the broader focus helped the book. Instead of just giving a biography of their relationship (and this was published in 2006 so it misses a lot), the book examines Diana, Charles, and how Queen Elizabeth is slowly but surely cutting back on her engagements to give her self some breathing space as she ages and to help prepare for the transition to Charles. Jobson writes continually of the unpopularity of Charles, especially in comparison to his mother and son. I wonder if that is still the case now, five years later. I suspect he is still less popular than them but that the division is not as extreme as it was.

I also enjoyed Jobson's intrusions in the story; unlike Nicholl's work, the entire book was framed that way and did not jar me whenever he appeared to explain his own involvement. Occasionally he elucidates on the story he broke and emphasizes the credibility of his anonymous sources. I am also pretty sure I've seen Jobson on television, which made him feel more familiar and endeared him to me.

I was all excited to read this. I discovered, to my dismay, that Mr. Jobson is so excited with the idea that he has finally gotten a bit closer to royalty than he was before, that he is too scattered in his writing. He spends an inordinate time talking about Diana and Charles. There is minimal time spent on William's childhood. I got 2/3 of the way through and STILL hadn't seen more than a small chapter on the subjects of the book.

My royal collection is extensive, and I have read each book in the collection, so I feel reasonably assured in my comments about this book. It is, frankly, not the best there is. I would not recommend it to anyone.

Sorry. (I have probably 250-300 books in the collection and there has been only 1 other that was bad, and I threw it out.)

WILLIAM'S PRINCESS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE ROMANCE THAT WILL CHANGE THE MONARCHY is a pick for any who love the British Royal Family and want to know the latest. Such an audience may already be aware of Prince William's love life; but WILLIAM'S PRINCESS delves deeper into the romance and what it will mean for the monarchy overall, and is a satisfying exclusive account of how it happened. Public libraries will find it a popular leisure lend.

As an American living in London, I am treated to Robert Jobson's Royal coverage in the Evening Standard. Now, after reading his book, I am really looking forward to his articles covering the surely soon to be royal marriage of William and Kate. I hope before long he will share with us his speculations on her engagement ring. Will it be an heirloom or a new design? The intrigue of a Royal Wedding!