The Royal Tour: A Souvenir Album

The Royal Tour: A Souvenir Album is just what it says- a souvenir album. This book is a wonderful addition to your royal book collection. Its focus are the various tours Queen Elizabeth II has embarked on throughout her reign. It contains pictures of the various outfits and evening gowns she's worn, as well as her jewels and gifts given to her by the host countries. You also get fabulous text on each and every tour . A lovely keepsake for any British Royal Family fan!

I had been looking for a book on the Royal Tour of South Africa, 1947, when I happened to come across THIS book. I should have realized it was NOT about the 1947 tour, from the photograph on the cover, (which shows QUEEN, not Princess Elizabeth, accepting flowers from a little Fijian girl, in 1953-54. (The clothing the Queen wears is NOT like any of her outfits on the 1947 trip. I should have realized that.) However, the book's title: "THE Royal Tour, A Souvenir Album", does suggest it is about THE most memorable tour, (at least in my own estimation), the Royal Tour of South Africa in 1947, when King George VI was yet alive, and not only Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), was there, but BOTH of his daughters were there as well, to lend extra charm and charisma to the visit. A happy, family-centered tour, indeed! However, time marches on for all of us -- and the book herein reviewed, details not just one Royal Tour, but many of them! The words, "The Royal Tour", as used in the title of THIS book, is a generalized heading for ALL Royal Tours. Published in 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the British Commonwealth of Nations, it is contains a description of the Royal Tours undertaken by the Queen from the beginning of her reign until 2002, with many copious illustrations -- several, in fact, on each and every page of the book, (except for the "Summary/Index" pages at the back of it), depicting the Queen's wardrobe, gifts given to her, and, (especially at the beginning of every chapter), a memorable scene from each particular tour area. Upon opening the book, the reader is given a picture of a delightful chess-set, given to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1996, on a tour of South Africa, depicting members of the Zulu and Ndebele tribes, in native dress. On the endpapers, and pages facing them, at both the beginning and end of the book, are myriad small picture of flags of the Commonwealth nations. On the next page, facing the title page, is a beautiful view of one of the Queen's many evening gowns, this one a creme lace, full-skirted, off-the shoulder gown. The title page has a picture of two miniature thrones. one slightly smaller than the other, the larger one with a miniatrue footstool. given to the Queen on a tour of Nigeria, in 1956. On the back of this age is copyright information, (the book is an Official Publication of Royal Collection Enterprises, Ltd.), and below it is a wonderful coulour picture of another of the Queen's gifts -- a statue group in what looks to be of gold-painted wood, depicting a royal personage being accompanied, behind, by a sword-carrying servant, with both of them shaded by an umbrella, whilst being carried in a sedan-chair by eight other servants, led by a ninth, and accompanied by a tenth, on the side, carrying the umbrella. Given to the Queen in 1961, it depicts a Ghahanian royal procession -- and, in my own humble opinion, it is truly artwork worthy of a Pharaoh's tomb! The tours

This book is interesting because it shows some of the gifts the Queen received during tours as well as photos from those times. The book seemed a bit shallow in that more could have been shared in the story line. I gathered that it had been written to be a compilation of information from years gone by in response to questions (that's what I think); however, the depth that could make it a really interesting book isn't there.