Royal Style: An Intimate Look Inside the Palaces and Country Houses of Britain's Royal Family

FOR ALL CURIOUS ROYAL-WATCHERS, (like myself!), this is surely a MUST-HAVE BOOK! It was printed in 1988...so, it may have a few dated descriptions of royal life....but not too many! As the Royal Family of England has been in power since, (at least) 1066, some things...many things...never do change. It's fairly easy to discover what in this book is timeless, (a lot of it!), and what is no longer up-to-date information, but only nostalgia, (and nostalgia for, I daresay, both Royals and royal-watchers, alike!) As the publication date is, as I have said, 1988, the first piece of "nostalgic anachronism" is on the front of the dust-jacket, staring the reader head-on. It is a lovely picture of the then-perceived to be "perfect Royal couple", Prince Charles and Princess Diana. If there is sny hint in the body language of either in this photo, that things were going exactly "swimmingly" with the marriage at that point, I don't see them. Maybe an expert in body language could read more into this picture than I can, (OK, they aren't holding hands in the picture...but are both smiling, seemingly very happy...) Of course, by now, everyone knows the marriage was NOT going along "swimmingly", but was on the verge, (or into the verge), of "drowning" at this point. Royals, above all other English-people, truly know how to keep a "stiff upper lip!" (In the lower left hand corner of the jacket cover is another photo....of Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and their two sons...looking to be about 7 and 5. It is a picture taken outdoors, whilst the larger one, of the Prince and Princess of Wales alone, is indoors. Diana...wearing a peasant-like blouse and turquoise pants, lools even more relaxed than in the bigger picture, as she sits on the bench with little Prince Harry. Behind her, Prince Charles seems slightly less-at-ease here...(or is it only that the sun is in his eyes?)...and little Prince William, standing beside him on a low stone fence, looks at his mother and brother, rather than at his father. Hmmmmm....) This book purports to tell many royal secrets....and it does! INGRID SEWARD, author of many books on the English royals...and editor of "Majesty" magazine, besides, truly does know her subject. Leaf through any page in this book, and royal "secrets" are wonderouslu discovered.... For instance...the Royal family do not use four-letter words, but instead words like "fool" and "bloody". (page 4) . The Queen never breakfasts in bed, considering it a lazy habit,(page 22). The Queem believes implicitly in the slimming powers of grapefruits, and does nothing else to diet. (page 23).... The Queen never uses public transport, but uses the royal yacht, ((though no longer, as the Royal Yacht Brittania was put into dock as an economy measure, after this book was written)), the Queens Flight, and The Royal Train, ((both still used)), page 18.... The royals have their own special blend of coffee, which takes a long time to brew, as it is brewed b