Why am I passionate about this?

Robert Lacey is credited with changing the way that people read and write about the British monarchy. In 1977 his tell-it-how-it-is Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor overturned the clichés of the traditional ‘royal book’, hitherto the preserve of ex-nannies and obsequious court correspondents. As a Cambridge-trained historian of the first Elizabethan age – his biographies Robert, Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Ralegh won critical acclaim – the young journalist added the investigative techniques of his work on the Sunday Times to portray the monarchy in a fresh and analytical fashion. Robert is today Historical Consultant to the Netflix TV series The Crown.


I wrote

Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

By Robert Lacey,

Book cover of Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

What is my book about?

By every measure of reason and logic, monarchy has long outgrown its usefulness. So why does the modest, horse-and-corgi-loving Queen…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Queen Mary

Robert Lacey Why did I love this book?

The wittiest of royal biographers, James Pope-Hennessy listed the three consuming passions of Queen Mary (1867-1953) as the British Monarchy, Windsor Castle, and collecting dolls’ house furniture. She was also dedicated to the coaching of her granddaughter Elizabeth as a future Queen. The old Queen’s excursions with the "Little Princesses," Elizabeth and Margaret, to London’s art galleries and museums, were the closest the two girls came to serious education. So read this book if you want to understand Elizabeth II as a child. It remains possible to detect Queen Mary’s reserve and occasional severity in the dutiful style of her eldest granddaughter to this day.  

By James Pope-Hennessy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Queen Mary as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The official biography of Queen Mary, grandmother of the current Queen, originally commissioned in 1959 - with a new foreword by Hugo Vickers.

When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a Queen Consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a…


Book cover of Kings, Queens & Courtiers: Intimate Portraits of the Royal House of Windsor from its foundation to the present day

Robert Lacey Why did I love this book?

This gazetteer for monarch-aholics is the work of the witty and waspish Kenneth Rose (1924-2014), the royal biographer whose insights have set the standard for the rest of us. Embedded in the heart of the Establishment, Rose had the ability to skewer its every weakness. Duchesses, Diana, Dimbleby (Richard) and Charlotte, George V’s pet parrot – all are here, bearing out the words of Queen Elizabeth II’s non-royal grandmother, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon: "As far as I can see, some people have to be fed royalty like sea-lions fish."

By Kenneth Rose,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Kings, Queens & Courtiers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

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Book cover of The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen's Childhood by Her Nanny, Marion Crawford

Robert Lacey Why did I love this book?

"I really don’t know what we’re going to do with Margaret, Crawfie!" declared Lilibet anxiously to the original nanny diarist. "Poor Lil," responded Margaret, when rumours of her sister’s romance with Philip hit the papers. "Nothing of your own. Not even your love affair!" In the US, this first inside account of life with the modern royals boosted the circulation of the Ladies’ Home Journal magazine by half a million. But in Britain, Buckingham Palace complained that the letters quoted from the princesses breached royal copyright and insisted they be removed. Lilibet never forgave Crawfie for the betrayal embodied in this sickly, but oh-so-revealing tome.  

By Marion Crawford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Little Princesses as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Originally published in 1950, The Little Princesses was the first account of British Royal life inside Buckingham Palace as revealed by Marion Crawford, who served as governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

A twenty-two year old teacher recruited to look after the Duke and Duchess of York’s young daughters in 1931, Marion Crawford―affectionately known as “Crawfie” by her charges―spent sixteen years with the Royal family as the children’s governess. From King Edward VIII’s abdication of the throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson and King George VI’s subsequent crowning, through World War II, and all the way to…


Book cover of My Queen and I

Robert Lacey Why did I love this book?

Here is the finest and fiercest-ever fusillade of anti-royal protest – complete with weeping Queen on the cover. Just as Elizabeth II was settling to celebrate her first 25 years on the throne, the impertinent Scottish Member of Parliament for Fife, Willie Hamilton (1917-2000), rattled out this broadside of hard-hitting complaint against royal conceit and idleness. Hamilton combined compelling statistics on palace extravagance with his own radical sense of right and wrong. He grudgingly admired Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, as "a remarkable old lady." But he dismissed Princess Margaret as "a floozy" – and Prince Charles as "a twerp." The MP claimed that his busy postbag from the British public ran 7-3 daily against the Crown.   

By Willie Hamilton M.P.,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Queen and I as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

My Queen and I


Book cover of The Last Queen: Elizabeth II's Seventy Year Battle to Save the House of Windsor

Robert Lacey Why did I love this book?

From the Windsors’ Nazi leanings in the 1930s to the perceived chilliness of the royal family following the death of Diana in 1997, Clive Irving chronicles every detail in this analysis of the modern monarchy – while never losing respect for its most adroit exponent, Queen Elizabeth II. As founder of the renowned Insight team of the London Sunday Times that exposed Profumo and Philby, Irving directs his sharpest focus on the Crown’s relations with the tabloid media. But his book went to publication prior to the horse-loving Queen’s humorous reaction to Harry and Meghan’s notorious 2021 encounter with Oprah Winfrey – Her Majesty named her fastest new racing foal “Interview”. 

By Clive Irving,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Last Queen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A timely and revelatory new biography of Queen Elizabeth (and her family) exploring how the Windsors have evolved and thrived, as the modern world has changed around them.

 Clive Irving’s stunning new narrative biography The Last Queen probes the question of the British monarchy’s longevity.  In 2021, the Queen Elizabeth II finally appears to be at ease in the modern world, helped by the new generation of Windsors. But through Irving’s unique insight there emerges a more fragile institution, whose extraordinarily dutiful matriarch has managed to persevere with dignity, yet in doing so made a Faustian pact with the media.…


Explore my book 😀

Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

By Robert Lacey,

Book cover of Majesty: Elizabeth II and the House of Windsor

What is my book about?

By every measure of reason and logic, monarchy has long outgrown its usefulness. So why does the modest, horse-and-corgi-loving Queen Elizabeth II continue to exert such affection in hearts around the world? That’s the question I started trying to answer in Majesty – and I have been trying to answer it ever since. 

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Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Elizabeth Randall, William Randall,

Book cover of Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Elizabeth Randall Author Of Fire is the Test of Gold

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Why am I passionate about this?

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Elizabeth's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Tourists and local residents of St. Augustine will enjoy reading about the secret wonders of their ancient city that are right under their noses. Of course, that includes a few stray corpses and ghosts!

Secret St. Augustine: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

By Elizabeth Randall, William Randall,

What is this book about?

It is no wonder the ancient city of St. Augustine is steeped in secrets. St. Johns, the oldest continuously occupied county in America celebrated its 450th birthday on September 4, 2015. More like a European enclave than an urban landscape, it is a place of cannon fire, street parties, historical reenactments, concerts, and more. From admiring replicas of fine art at Ripley’s Believe or Not, to hunting haunts in restaurants and museums, to eating ice cream from a recipe originated by World War II bombardiers, St. Augustine has it all from beaches, gourmet dining, festivals, and attractions. A young and…


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