Wow! Just Wow! In this book about the British Royal family, no one comes off smelling like a rose. The book focuses mainly on the last 40 or so years of the Firm, touching on the marriage and life of Charles and Diana before concentrating on the more recent royal relationships and marriages.
Unless you are THE Monarch, the lives of all others royals is to support, but not outshine, the Monarch. That was Diana’s downfall – her overwhelming popularity. Brown dissects the tawdry and sorted affair of Charles and Camilla before, during and after Charles’ first marriage. Camilla is seen as shrewd and calculating as she repaired her reputation to elevate her status to now Queen consort. Her friends were in on the game as well. (The book was published shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth.)
None of the senior royals escape Brown’s lens. Nor do Prince Harry and Meghan escape unscathed. The royals are seen as rude, ruthless, calculating, cold, and, in some cases, just stupid. Many in the family are quite clueless about how the other 99.9% of the population lives. Many family members come across as extremely spoiled and pampered. We knew that didn’t we? Just not to the extent that they think their privilege extends.
Brown notes that the media, which Harry has so often complained about, does, indeed, get leaks from various members of the family. Thus, the family and the press have a rather cruel symbiotic relationship. It is the double-edged sword that Firm uses to its advantage at times and despairs at others.
The rich are truly different.
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