When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court members and retainers around Europe. The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years. Now published in full for the first time and edited by the highly admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers, this is a riveting, often hilarious portrait of the eccentric aristocracy of a bygone age.
Giving much greater insight into Queen Mary than the official version, and including sharply observed encounters with, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Duke of Gloucester, and a young Queen Elizabeth, The Quest for Queen Mary is set to be a classic of royal publishing.
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529330618
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 276 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 25 mm
'Arguably the most riotously funny volume published this year' - Max Hastings, The Sunday Times
'A complete delight, conjuring up, with a few sharp strokes of the pen, a mad, exotic species from a world gone by . . . one of this year's funniest and most eccentric books' - Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
'Intoxicating, frank and often hilarious anthology of interviews . . . what this fine book demonstrates with wit, candour, and unassailable force, is that royal persons are not at all like ordinary people' - Alexander Waugh, New York Review of Books
'Illuminating, intriguing and boundlessly entertaining' - Martin Williams, Country Life
'Superbly edited ... like all the best interviews, these are stories about the hunter circling his prey, and they reveal as much about the interviewer as his subject ... a splendid book' - Jane Ridley, Spectator
'Wickedly indiscreet . . . one of those rare books that will fascinate and amuse' - The Herald Scotland
I expected to learn a lot about Queen Mary through snippets and facts that various people had given James Pope Hennessy but instead I learned little about Queen Mary. The facts I did get were sparse. However I was... More
Have read part of this book but left to read something easier in the meantime as it is not easy going. Will go back to it though as it is interesting.
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