The Women of Windsor: Their Power, Privilege, and Passions

The Women of Windsor: Their Power, Privilege, and Passions
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Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5Average rating of 3.5/5

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780060765859
ISBN: 0060765852
Label: Harper Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2007-04-01
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Release Date: 2007-03-27
Studio: Harper Paperbacks
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Editorial Reviews:

Who are the women of Windsor?

Queen Elizabeth: Born to duty, adored by her parents, she swore as a teenager to serve her country above all else . . . and she has lived up to her promise, even when her crown has been a burden.

Elizabeth, the Queen Mother: Hitler was afraid of her, the English people adored her. Her kind, sparkling blue eyes and cheerful manner belied a backbone of steel.

Princess Margaret: Beautiful, talented, vivacious, and complex, the Diana of her day. But the promise of her youth was destroyed when she was betrayed by her sister, now the queen, who needlessly forced her to give up the man she loved.

Princess Anne: Hardworking, hard-headed, and hot-tempered, arguably the most intelligent of the queen's four children and her father's favorite—yet she is forever forced to take second place to her older brother, Charles.

Catherine Whitney takes readers behind the palace doors to give us an intimate glimpse into the private lives of the women of the British royal family—four women who have shaped the world, each in her own way. Now, at last, their stories can be told.



Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Mostly chatty with a few new gems
Comment: This is mostly the same old story with a new cover. Some real light is shed on Princess Anne, and some new additions shed on the late Princess Margaret, but by & large its hard to separate this book from so many in the past. Check this book out from the library or borrow it from someone before buying it, unless your knowledge is basic, then its perhaps a great start to extending your knowledge and library on the Windsors.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5Average rating of 1/5
Summary: A FACILE FOLLY
Comment: THE WOMEN OF WINDSOR has numerous inaccuracies...to confuse this book with a carefully researched history would be a major mistake for the serious reader. It is not true that Edward VIII "took the name of Edward when he came to the throne", Edward was the first of his given seven names, David being the last and employed by the royal famiy. The author tell us that the Duke of Edinburgh had Michael Parker stand as best man at the wedding...no indeed... the best man was a Mountbatten cousin, David, Marquess of Milford Haven. The Duchy of Cornwall is NOT amongst the Queen's estates...her income derives from the Duchy of Lancaster...Cornwall belongs to The Prince of Wales. Barbara Cartland is not "the step- grandmother of Diana's step- mother, Raine"...Cartland was Raine's mother, thus Diana's step grandmother. The author indulges in a tirade against the eulogy given by Earl Spencer at Diana's funeral, omitting the fact that the congregation and thousands gathered outside the Abbey cheered his words. This poorly researched book was a disappointment. This book is facile, it is a folly.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Windsor "Lite" Indeed
Comment: Having said that, and speaking as an Anglophile, I still found the book hard to put down. It doesn't purport to be an in-depth history of any of these women and the only revelation that was new to me was the fact that Princess Margaret could indeed have married Peter Townsend after all by merely giving up her place in the royal line of succession. I did note with dismay, however, that the author stated Prince William's birthday as June 22 when in fact it is June 21. Might that mean there are other, more serious, errors?

If you're looking for juicy bits of gossip, this is not for you but if you want a short walk through the House of Windsor, I would add this to my reading list.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: They actually DO like men!!!!!!
Comment: As an English Expat I thought the book quite well written and all in all quite fair tho I think this author did not do full justice to our hardworking Princess Royal by dragging up the old chestnut about her not being attractive. I saw Princess Anne in her 20,s and she was stunning, not chocolate box pretty like Princess Diana but a truly regal beauty and of course like most of the Windsor Women she does not photograph well.She was and still is very attractive to men. speaking of which I really do think Ms Whitney did a total hatchet job on the Windsor men especially The Prince of Wales whose Princes Trust is one of the best charities in the World, He is a wonderful man.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5Average rating of 3/5
Summary: Same old history, poorly repackaged. It's Windsor 101 (again).
Comment: Don't be deceived by the cover of this book. This is the same old Windsor tale, written in a light and breezy manner. The idea of focusing specifically on these four women is an interesting idea, but the author only seems to remember the point in the last chapter. Instead, what we get is a pretty good portrait of the Queen Mother's early years, and then plow right into Windsor Lite-- standard fare, but certainly nothing new. A good book for starters, but don't be deceived here-- Princess Margaret and Princess Anne are not studied to any degree of depth, nor is Queen Elizabeth II probed and examined as any solid biography would demand.

Interestingly, Diana is in full force throughout the second half of the book because of her obvious impact on the Windsors. Also examined to some degree is Wallis Simpson, and this is important-- although she's an ambiguous character, her impact on the royals was perhaps greater than any other woman in that she literally shifted the course of the accession-- assuming Edward VIII was capable of fathering children, in which case the crown would have fallen to Elizabeth II anyway (as George V well knew).

Nearly invisible in the book is the indomitable Queen Mary, very much a Windsor, and largely responsible for setting the tone of the royal court in the first half of the 20th century-- and for moulding her granddaughter, Elizabeth, into the monarch she is today. This was probably some sort of marketing scheme-- the idea of putting the most well known women on the cover must have been too appealing. And sadly, the intelligent, complex and duty-bound Princess Anne, who truly does deserve a body of work dedicated to her own life, gets little more than superfluous treatment (as does Princess Margaret, who is basically written off as misunderstood, but superfluous in her own right-- haven't we heard all this before?).

Think of this book as Windsor Lite, a current "simple history" starting with Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon's youth and teen years, through her marriage to Bertie and ultimate accession to Queen Consort, through the highs of the coronation and declines of the 80s, ending with the death of Princess Diana. Nothing new here, and disappointing treatment of women who should be examined far more closely, but a decent job for those just getting to know the history of the royal family in the current century. Otherwise, move on.
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