Kelly: More Than My Share of it All

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When King George died Princess Elizabeth became Queen. The last curtsy she made was when she paid her respects to her father. Once Elizabeth became Queen she treated Philip differently. He was no longer the dominant, take charge husband - he suddenly became unmanned. She even refused his last name when she was Queen. She would become Queen Elizabeth II and would be compared to Elizabeth the I. The distinction she drew upon was that Queen Elizabeth I was blessed with neither husband or children and was never able to leave her shores. Queen Elizabeth II wrapped herself up in marriage and motherhood. In the years she would become respected as a dutiful monarch and most traveled but would fail as a wife and mother. Her priorities became the monarchy, her marriage and last her children. In the early years of her marriage faced with the choice between her husband or her children - Philip won out. Their children were raised like how the Queen was raised, by nannies. Their marriage produced 4 children. By 1992 all of the Queen's children who were married were legally separated and headed for divorce. But I did read it, feeling guilty about it most of the way through. The book is basically the world’s longest US Weekly article, focusing on little besides every bit of gossip and scandal surrounding the British monarchy for the last century. If not pulled from an old newspaper article, every story was either, “according to a former equerry of the prince” or “recalled a friend of the duchess.” God help anyone who has their story assembled based on reporters and the recollections of past friends, acquaintances, and enemies. At least I knew going into it that it was basically written by Rita Skeeter and therefore not to be entirely believed. The guilt was knowing that no one deserves their private lives intruded upon in such detail. It focused so much on the negative. I do feel sorry for Charles because of his miserable childhood with cold parents, but he has made big mistakes himself, all of which are known the world over.

according to a 1972 Harris poll, [most Britons] believed that it was the monarchy that set the standards of morality for the country, even more so than the church. Such confidence in the Crown prompted the Queen to send a "gracious message" to Parliament asking for a pay rise. Although one million people were out of work at the time, no member of Parliament, except one, wanted to deprive the sovereign of her tax-free allotment from the Civil List. " This was my first book on the "modern" royals and overall I felt it was a really well researched book but was perhaps played too heavily on the Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Now, it appears that much info comes from unnamed sources, many of whom seem to be a little angry and condescending. Downstairs wants to be upstairs, so to speak. I'm sure Kelley did her research, but I always take everything with a grain of salt when memories come with agendas. Still, I was never bored, although I wish there was more on George V, who for all his faults looks like Zeus compared to his children and grandchildren. Much of the book is focused on the current Queen and her brethren. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my.The book was a sensation. A community of treasure hunters called the Bonehunters formed, in frenzied competition, obsessed to a dangerous degree. People sold their homes to travel to England and search for Elinore. Marriages broke down as the quest consumed people. A man died. The book made Frank a rich man. Stalked by fans who could not tell fantasy from reality, his daughter, Nell, became a recluse.

Time magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley "too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos." In addition, Kelley has been described by Joe Klein as a "professional sensationalist" and her books have been described as "Kitty litter." Both Elizabeth and Philip were fond of one another during their courtship and the early days of their marriage. They had a great respect for one another. Philip was discreet with his affairs with other women - most of them being actresses or aristocrats. Philip was a handsome man and had no problem attracting women. It was rumored that he had many children from other women. There was another rumor, especially in Phillip's younger days that he also enjoyed the company of men. As my husband noted when I read him that section, we fought and won a war so we wouldn’t have to understand those titles or subtleties. But I love that as Americans, we stay obsessed.When Sarah “Fergie” was in the midst of a mess with her marriage to Prince Andrew, the book quotes Prince Philip as saying to her, “Look, you may like to know that there but for the grace of God go I.” I found myself wondering how the author had heard this exact quote (she even claims it was said “softly”). My secret double-life was finally catching up with me. Sorcha wanted a divorce. I was facing jail time for taking my orse out in a pub in Cork. And there was a very good chance that my sister-in-law's surrogate baby was actually mine? Kelly began her professional career on the pitch in 1996 with Wembley Ladies, before moving to Arsenal just two years later.

In the summer of 1980 Prince Charles reconnected with 19 year old Lady Diane Spencer. He dated briefly her older sister in 1977. Diane was practically more British than Charles was - the 16th cousin from King James I, five lines of descent from Charles II, related to Napoleon and related to 8 American President's including George Washington. What was possibly the most attractive feature of Diane was she was a virgin with practically no past. Everyone seemed to want them to marry - Charles felt the pressure most keenly from his father and would blame him years later when things began to go astray. Two months after Charles and Diane were married she was pregnant.

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The book was published in 1997, the year Diana died, but prior to her death. This makes some parts of it rather poignant. For instance, the book discusses several parallels between Diana and Grace Kelly, and mentions them meeting. Of course, now there are more parallels: both died young, and in car crashes. As the ex Arsenal player's romance with her former teammate comes to light, here we take a look at where Kelly is now and her marriage. Read More Related Articles Or how about this vivid description of Prince Charles, allegedly from a classmate: “He walks into a room like a dark cloud in a double-breasted suit.” The Palace press office announced the formal style for Lady Diana Spencer. “Following the wedding, she will be known as Diana, the Princess of Wales,” said an aide. “She’s not Princess Diana because she was not born a princess, and she’s not the Princess Diana because only children of the sovereign are entitled to ‘the’ before their title.” Americans, who did not understand titles or their subtleties, called her Princess Di.”

Kitty Kelley’s book “The Royals” ends with the famous quote from historian Walter Bagehot about royalty: “In its mystery is its life. We must not let daylight in upon magic.”

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King George VI had fertility issues despite how much the couple tried. His brother also suffered from the same issue, so it was clearly their fault. Manual fertilization was used to produce their first daughter Elizabeth in 1926 and her sister Margaret in 1930 (a quote I liked - "monarchs are not born; they are made by artificial hallucination"). As long as they produce children and keep the bloodline going...that's all that's required. Whether the bridegroom is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual doesn't matter, as long as the marriage looks good on the outside and is kept up for public appearances. It's worse for gay men in the aristocracy because it's the duty of the oldest make to produce an heir to pass on the family name, the property, and the title. So they've got to get married, no matter what their sexual orientation is, which accounts for the long established tradition in Britain of homosexual men marrying women simply to breed. Makes no difference what they do later on the side as long as they do it discreetly. That's the hypocrisy of it all. " After you choose the car, mileage and options and hit apply it goes to a rather useless screen called “Overview” which for every car I’ve looked up just has a pic of the car. Then I have to scroll right to see the values... confusing and not elegant. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the Windsors, or the Germanic family that changed its name during WWI so it would appear more British. It's a long book but if you're interested in the English ruling royals and their offspring, this is one volume to peruse.