Showing titles in Royalty

An informative and entertaining look at royal weddings through English history. The excitement surrounding the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton has prompted four of Britain's top historical biographers to look closely at Royal Weddings.

In fairy tales, dreams do come true...little girls can grow up to marry handsome princes, and live happily ever after in beautiful palaces, where they have delightful children of their own, and in time become queen, to rule with wisdom and grace. But in real life...even when it appears a fairy tale is being played out in the full glare of our modern media age, things never seem to go quite to plan. Such was the life of Diana Spencer.

t her vivid life, Elizabeth I was the center of a complicated web of political intrigue that made up the Elizabethan constitution. Elizabeth Jenkins, in her classic biography, reveals the woman behind the skillful politician, showing her belief in personal sacrifice to secure peace for the country she loved more than any man.

The names of few medieval monarchs and their queens are better known than Eleanor of Aquitaine, uniquely queen of France and queen of England, and her second husband Henry II. Although academically labeled "medieval," their era was the violent transition from the Dark Ages, when countries' borders were defined with fire and sword. If princes fought for their succession to crowns, the princesses were traded—usually by their mothers—to strangers for political power without the bloodshed.

Penned by a lifelong “Henry Head”, The Lazy Historian's Guide to the Wives of Henry VIII combines Jillianne Hamilton's sassy, fun, and snarky storytelling with one of history's most alluring eras. Focusing on the lives of the wives, and less about the dudes around them, The Lazy Historian's Guide to the Wives of Henry VIII gives the six unfortunate queens the biography for which they almost certainly wouldn't have asked.

In 2017, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanl Bolkiah, celebrated his Golden Jubilee, marking his 50th year in power. Bolkiah negotiated Brunei's independence from the British Empire in 1978, a freedom which they achieved in 1984. The first sultan to also serve as Prime Minister, Bolkiah has ruled over this prosperous nation ever since. He is officially the world's wealthiest monarch thanks to his country's oil and gas reserves. Whether you know him for his extravagant lifestyle or his political work establishing Shari'ah Law, the Sultan of Brunei is a powerful leader.

Las fascinantes vidas de seis reinas marcadas por la tragedia que no pudieron elegir su destino y que dejaron una profunda huella en la Historia. Excéntricas, caprichosas, rebeldes, ambiciosas...Más allá de un mundo de privilegios, riqueza, y poder, todas fueron mujeres de carne y hueso obligadas a llevar sobre sus hombros la pesada carga de un imperio.

A fresh, witty, accessible life of Queen Victoria. Not since Lytton Strachey has the irony, contradictions and influence of this Queen been treated with such flourish or biographical insight. Reigning over a lifetime, Queen Victoria embodied the spirit of the contradictory era to which she lent her name.

Although he didn’t create absolutism in France, King Louis XIV seemed to embody the divine right of kings better than anyone had before him. Louis XIV directly correlated his own private good with that of the public good, but not everyone in France had the same sentiment. The resistance from the French nobles and aristocrats that Louis depended on to raise armies gave these nobles increasing autonomy and independence from the king, which would one day come to a head.

Since 1066, when William the Conqueror took the throne, English and Scottish kings have sired at least 150 children out of wedlock. Many were acknowledged at court and founded dynasties of their own. Others were only acknowledged grudgingly or not at all. In the 20th century, this trend for royals to father illegitimate children continued, but the parentage, while highly probable, has not been officially recognized. This book is a genuinely fresh approach to British kings and queens, examining their lives and times through the unfamiliar perspective of their illegitimate children.

This relatable Churchill-Queen Elizabeth II book talks to the listener instead of lecturing them. The moment you become immersed in the first chapters, you are transported back to what it must have felt like for a young queen to suddenly lose her father and have the elderly Churchill step in to guide, assist, and comfort her, and also tell a great many jokes along the way!

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Charles I: An Abbreviated Life by Mark Kishlansky, read by John Sackville. The tragedy of Charles I dominates one of the most strange and painful periods in British history as the whole island tore itself apart over a deadly, entangled series of religious and political disputes. In Mark Kishlansky's brilliant account it is never in doubt that Charles created his own catastrophe, but he was nonetheless opposed by men with far fewer scruples and less consistency who for often quite contradictory reasons conspired to destroy him.

All Henry VI "The Mad" ever wanted was peace. But everything kept going to hell around him, till his mind broke from the pressure of having to rule two kingdoms, wage a war, and survive countless cabals all the while having not a single clue how rulership worked. Henry VI was thrown into power at the tender age of nine months, and kept being let down by everyone around him, while he struggled to understand what was going on.

The Queen of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years, Queen Victoria’s life was one of magnificent proportions. Victoria’s childhood was difficult and lonely, but from the time she took the throne aged just 18, she blossomed into a powerful woman, both frivolous and formidable. In her later years, Victoria struggled to find balance between her wish to live a very private life as a widow and her duty to live the very public life of a queen and later empress.

“What a joyous childhood we had!” wrote Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. These were no mere words and it was a sentiment shared by many of her siblings. Far from being the tyrannical or neglectful parents presented so often by the sensational press, Albert and Victoria devoted themselves to their children, doing their utmost to secure their happiness while preparing them for a future of personal fulfilment and service to their people in a rapidly-changing world.

From the spectre of Queen Victoria, to Mary Queen of Scots’s picky ghost, and from Henry VIII and the restless phantoms of his many wives, to Oliver Cromwell, who claimed to have conversed with the ghosts of Kings long gone, we are going to be exploring the haunted history of the Royal Family.

Alexandra Feodorovna was one of the most tragic figures of the 20th century. Born in the wrong time, giddy with power, married to a man who ruled one-sixth of the world, she was murdered with her family in 1918.

È stata una delle più strazianti immagini del Ventesimo secolo: due ragazzini, due principi, che seguono il feretro della madre sotto gli occhi addolorati e inorriditi del mondo intero. Mentre si celebrava il funerale di Diana, principessa del Galles, miliardi di persone si chiedevano quali pensieri affollassero la mente dei principi, quali emozioni passassero per i loro cuori, e come si sarebbero dipanate le loro vite da quel momento in poi. Finalmente Harry racconta la sua storia. Con la sua cruda e implacabile onestà, "Spare. Il minore" è una pubblicazione epocale.

A dazzling account of Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family. A magnificent tribute to the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II and a celebration of the British royal family. This audiobook is a stunning guide to the world's most famous royals, from the Queen's Norman predecessors to her great-grandchildren. It features events such as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and profiles on key people such as Princess Diana and Prince Harry.

In lively, absorbing prose that rivals the finest literary fiction, prize-winning historian Carolly Erickson re-creates the life of the notorious Tudor king Henry VIII. In his youth as a charming national hero, his reign as a monstrous king, and his final days as a tottering old man, Erickson draws a thoroughly convincing portrait of one of English history's most notorious characters.