The Royals

Kitty Kelley

Oct 2009 · Sold by Grand Central Publishing

About this ebook

The #1 New York Times bestselling, controversial portrait of the British royal family -- as told from behind the palace walls -- for fans of Netflix's The Crown and all royal watchers

They are the most chronicled family on the face of the globe. Their every move attracts headlines. Now Kitty Kelley has gone behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace to raise the curtain on the men and women who make up the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Diana...here are the scandals of the last decades: the doomed marriages and the husbands, wives, lovers and children caught in their wake and damaged beyond repair. No one is spared.

Ratings and reviews

Expecting rumors and outrageous lies I half-heartily decided to read this unauthorized novel of the British Royal Family. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. Sure it's full of gossip and amazing tales, but Kelly tells you her sources and notes when it is unconfirmed. The author favors no one but tells the untold side of the Windsors. The media pushed the envelope and forced the Royals to air their dirty laundry on national TV. This is a microcosms of evolution of the press and the monarchy. The book begins with George V who is a grandson of Victoria, and ends with the divorce of Charles & Diana. The author adds a postscript featuring Diana's death. The royalty are only human, but what is wrong with these people? Divorce is a no no, but adultery is fine? And if there is a baby or two born out of wedlock then oh well. Is marriage that important? My thoughts on this isn't so much the act, but how odd it looks for this "society" to see marriage as the only thing that matters, nothing else seems important, as long as the marriage certificate stays firm. One thing seems very clear, Charles married Diana because he had to, not because he loved her. Sad how the strains of royalty force them to put on a happy face when their lives are falling apart inside. It seems that happiness should be more important than securing a life-long mate. 30-1999

The only thing Kitty Kelly does in this book is bring together rumors and gossip that have been swirling around the English Royal family for the past several decades into one place. If I were to take what's in here even halfway seriously, then I'd have no choice but to believe that every male who is a part of the family by blood or marriage is a bisexual nympho. Only a complete neophyte to English history would think the monarchy's been a bastion of heterosexual monogamy, but those royals who did deviate from the public image presented were consistent in their deviation, which is more than can be said for what's in the pages of Ms. Kelly's book. She traffics in scandal and titilation, not facts and truth.

If you're into the British royals, this is your book. I couldn't put it down.

About the author

Kitty Kelley attended the University of Arizona and the University of Washington. Kelley was a VIP hostess at the 1965 World's Fair, worked in Senator Eugene McCarthy's office in Washington, D.C. and was an editorial researcher at the Washington Post. Her claim to fame was Jackie Oh!, the tell-all biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Many other smut-filled scandalous biographies followed, including those of Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Nancy Reagan. She also authored The Royals, which was published during the same time as the Princess Diana tragedy.