All Royal Books Are Not Created Equal

Robert Hardman's new book gives unfettered access behind Palace Walls

Hello Dear Readers!

Lots and lots of royal tea to cover today. Denmark has a new monarch, King Frederik and a new Queen, Mary! Crown Prince Leka of Albania announced his divorce from his wife Princess Elia after eight years of marriage and scrubbed his Instagram account of pictures of them together. Brunei has a new Princess, Pengiran Anisha Rosnah binti Adam. But the news on everyone’s minds in the royal community is the new book “Charles III: The Inside Story” by royal historian, Robert Hardman. So for this newsletter, I’m going to give some background on royal biographies in general as well as my thoughts on some of the biggest revelations thus far. I’m splitting this into two because there are many things to discuss. But first, please subscribe below!

To make sure we’re all on even footing: It’s very obvious this book was written with the express buy-in and cooperation of King Charles and Buckingham Palace. Anyone claiming otherwise or denying this fact clearly has a sophomoric familiarity with how all of this works. History is written and passed down through stories and the Royal family knows this better than anyone. We learned more about the final years of the King George VI’s life through “The Reluctant King”by Sarah Bradford back when it was published in the 1970s and the book was written with the cooperation of his daughter Queen Elizabeth.

“My Husband and I: The Inside Story of the Royal Marriage” written by Ingrid Seward was released on the 71th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip’s marriage. It contained yet-to-be-known details and anecdotes about their union and how it helped shape Britain into what it is today. Hardman wrote “Our Queen” in preparation for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2012 and “Queen of Our Times” in the lead up to her Platinum Jubilee. Each of these books are known for their impeccable sources. Access was granted to the authors to tell the monarch’s story. And this practice wasn’t restricted to just the monarch. Other royals have cooperated in books about their lives.

Prince of Wales: A Biography was a book then-Prince of Wales, Prince Charles cooperated with to disastrous results.

And even Prince Harry got into the mix.

“Conversations with Prince Harry” written by Angela Levin was published in May 2018 and included exclusive interviews with the Prince and received cooperation from Buckingham Palace:

“Once a reckless rebel, now a respected role model, Prince Harry is one of the world’s most popular royals and the force behind giving the British royal family a twenty-first century makeover.”

The book “unwrapped the real man behind the camera, explores his rebellious teenage years and the key defining moments that have enabled him to face his demons and use this experience to help others who struggle with mental, emotional and physical pain. Angela Levin found a complex man who has inherited his late mother's extraordinary charisma and is determined to ‘make a difference’.”

And we can’t forget about Finding Freedom, the book Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was forced to apologize to the court for forgetting she cooperated with the book. (For more on Finding Freedom, click to read the below free post.)

I provide all this information to make clear that royal family members working with authors is a very normal practice.

The Other Side of the Coin, one of the books written by Queen Elizabeth’s confidant and dresser, Angela Kelly. The Queen gave her express permission for these books

The British Royal Family, due to their standing, is written about in history books. The PR arm of Buckingham Palace has worked with authors for centuries to ensure said history books have their side of the story. Robert Hardman’s Charles III: The Inside Story is meant to fill the gaps, from the Palace’s point of view. It aims to be the premiere book used for source material down the road. When The Crown makes a comeback in 2040 to dramatize the events from the 2010s to the 2020s, or a prestige film gunning for an Oscar is made detailing the week before and after Queen Elizabeth died, The Inside Story will undoubtedly make the list of go-to source material. It’ll be one of the main accounts that guides writers and directors. It will influence consumers of history as a whole. Why? Because we know who it’s coming from. The author Robert Hardman’s also wrote the King Charles III BBC special that aired on Boxing Day. This is someone who was not only the granted access some could only dream of, but he was there in the thick of things for a year. Surely he made his own observations on what the past year has been like and forged relations with his interviewees. Lets unpack the Royal Tea shared thus far and dig into the insight Hardman provides into Queen Elizabeth’s last days, King Charles transition to monarch, what angered the Prince of Wales most about Spare and the truth about why the Princess of Wales did not fly up to Balmoral to see the Queen.