Kelly + Victor

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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.”

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. I personally would have liked to learn about the Queen's parents and grandparents. Kelley only briefly covers the Queens parents but she hints at even more juicy dirt involving them.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. As the great James Bond said, 'History isn't kind to men who play God.' How right the dude ended up being. The book talks about an affair that Prince Philip allegedly had, then in the next paragraph denies it — why include this, then? It also says that Princess Diana had a miscarriage. I’d never heard that, and looking a bit online, can’t find anything confirming it either. So, more speculation I suppose.

But now the Churchers must be reunited. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose.The book was published in 1997, prior to Princess Diana’s death. It slogged through the demise of the marriages of the queen’s children and ended with an unsure future for Prince Charles as King and a crumbling House of Windsor. So much has changed in the fifteen years since the book was written (William and Harry were children at the time, so barely mentioned), so in a way it ends at what we know now is probably the worst spot to create an ending in a continuing story. Of course, no one knew that at the time. It results in an interesting look at a point in history. She headed off to America in 1999 and went on to play for the New Jersey Lady Stallions, Philadelphia Charge and New Jersey Wildcats during her eight-year stint in the US. However, in 2012 Kelly returned to Arsenal and stayed with the club for five years. 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."

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. 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. " 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.” Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret had a very sheltered childhood. Princess Elizabeth knew she was becoming groomed to be Queen - even Margaret knew it. Margaret was a bit more wild of the two girls. The first act of independence from her parents was when Elizabeth accepted Prince Philip's proposal to marriage, much to her father's dismay. The King had to give permission to his daughter for her marriage. He finally relented to his daughter's wishes when Philip changed his name, nationality and his religion. 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. "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.

Kitty Kelley always delivers. If you want to read about the juicy scandalous lives of the rich and famous then you can't go wrong with Ms. Kelley.Obviously Kitty Kelley spends the majority of the book on the two most scandalous members of the royal family at that time Diana and Sarah Ferguson. I personally found Fergie the most fun to read about. She's wild! 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.”