Download or read book The Heir Apparent written by Jane Ridley and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-12-03 with total page 611 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND THE BOSTON GLOBE This richly entertaining biography chronicles the eventful life of Queen Victoria’s firstborn son, the quintessential black sheep of Buckingham Palace, who matured into as wise and effective a monarch as Britain has ever seen. Granted unprecedented access to the royal archives, noted scholar Jane Ridley draws on numerous primary sources to paint a vivid portrait of the man and the age to which he gave his name. Born Prince Albert Edward, and known to familiars as “Bertie,” the future King Edward VII had a well-earned reputation for debauchery. A notorious gambler, glutton, and womanizer, he preferred the company of wastrels and courtesans to the dreary life of the Victorian court. His own mother considered him a lazy halfwit, temperamentally unfit to succeed her. When he ascended to the throne in 1901, at age fifty-nine, expectations were low. Yet by the time he died nine years later, he had proven himself a deft diplomat, hardworking head of state, and the architect of Britain’s modern constitutional monarchy. Jane Ridley’s colorful biography rescues the man once derided as “Edward the Caresser” from the clutches of his historical detractors. Excerpts from letters and diaries shed new light on Bertie’s long power struggle with Queen Victoria, illuminating one of the most emotionally fraught mother-son relationships in history. Considerable attention is paid to King Edward’s campaign of personal diplomacy abroad and his valiant efforts to reform the political system at home. Separating truth from legend, Ridley also explores Bertie’s relationships with the women in his life. Their ranks comprised his wife, the stunning Danish princess Alexandra, along with some of the great beauties of the era: the actress Lillie Langtry, longtime “royal mistress” Alice Keppel (the great-grandmother of Camilla Parker Bowles), and Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston. Edward VII waited nearly six decades for his chance to rule, then did so with considerable panache and aplomb. A magnificent life of an unexpectedly impressive king, The Heir Apparent documents the remarkable transformation of a man—and a monarchy—at the dawn of a new century. Praise for The Heir Apparent “If [The Heir Apparent] isn’t the definitive life story of this fascinating figure of British history, then nothing ever will be.”—The Christian Science Monitor “The Heir Apparent is smart, it’s fascinating, it’s sometimes funny, it’s well-documented and it reads like a novel, with Bertie so vivid he nearly leaps from the page, cigars and all.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “I closed The Heir Apparent with admiration and a kind of wry exhilaration.”—The Wall Street Journal “Ridley is a serious scholar and historian, who keeps Bertie’s flaws and virtues in a fine balance.”—The Boston Globe “Brilliantly entertaining . . . a landmark royal biography.”—The Sunday Telegraph “Superb.”—The New York Times Book Review
Download or read book The Life of King Edward VII written by J. Castell Hopkins and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-07-18 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original: The Life of King Edward VII by J. Castell Hopkins
Download or read book Bertie written by Jane Ridley and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2013 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exciting new approach to biography by an acclaimed historian and biographer: King Edward Vll (Bertie) seen through the eyes of the women in his life. Entertaining and different, this enjoyable study of a flawed yet characterful Prince of Wales wears its scholarship lightly. Edward Vll, who gave his name to the Edwardian Age and died in 1911, was King of England for the final 10 years of his life. He was 59 when at last he came to power. Known as Bertie, and the eldest son of Victoria and Albert, he was bullied by both his parents. His mother, Queen Victoria, the first and most powerful woman in his life, blamed Bertie's scandalous womanising for his father's early demise. Although Bertie was heir to the throne, she refused to give him any proper responsibilities, as a result of which he spent his time eating (his waist measurement was 48 inches and his nickname was 'Edward the Wide'), betting on race-horses and shooting grouse. He was married off to Alexandra of Denmark, who was beautiful but infantile, lavishing her affection on her doggies and pet bunnies. Bertie's numerous mistresses included the society hostess Daisy Brook ('Babbling Brook') and the gorgeous but fragile Lillie Langtry (with whom 'played house' in a specially built hide-away home). The last of the women in his life was the clever and manipulative Alice Keppel. He always placed her at dinner next to his most important guests, because of her grasp of politics, her brilliant conversation and her formidable skills at the Bridge table. When Bertie finally became king, he did a good job, especially in foreign policy. This colourful book gives him due credit, while painting a vivid portrait of the age in all its excess and eccentricity, hypocrisy and heartbreak.
Download or read book Edward VII written by Catharine Arnold and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2017-07-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Victorian England: We know what that was supposed to mean — all priggish prudery and "we-are-not-amused" harrumphing. Except now we know it wasn't all that . . . [Catharine Arnold’s] new biography focuses — deliciously — on the women who shared the scandalously plentiful sex life of Queen Victoria's eldest son, the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.” —USA Today Edward Prince of Wales, better known as “Bertie,” was the eldest son of Queen Victoria. Charming and dissolute, he was a larger-than-life personality with king-size appetites. A lifelong womanizer, Bertie conducted his countless liaisons against the glittering backdrop of London society, Europe, and the stately homes of England in the second half of the 19th century. Bertie’s lovers were beautiful, spirited, society women who embraced a wide field of occupations. There was Lillie Langtry, the simple Jersey girl who would become an actress and producer; “Daisy” Brooke, Countess of Warwick, the extravagant socialite who embraced socialism and stood for Parliament as a Labour party candidate; bisexual French actress Sarah Bernhardt, celebrated for her decadent appeal and opium habit; and by total contrast the starchy Agnes Keyser, who founded a hospital for army officers. One of Bertie’s most intriguing liaisons was with American heiress Jennie Churchill, unhappy wife of Sir Randolph Churchill and mother of Sir Winston. While the scandals resulting from his affairs—from suicides to divorces—were a blight on the royal family, Bertie would become a surprisingly modern monarch. His major accomplishment was transforming the British monarchy into the modern institution that we know today and ensuring its survival in a period when every other European dynasty collapsed in the wake of WWI.
Download or read book King Edward the Seventh written by Sir Philip Montefiore Magnus and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Life of King Edward who Rests at Westminster written by Frank Barlow and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anonymous Life of King Edward written about the time of the Norman Conquest, is an important and intriguing source for the history of Anglo-Saxon England in the years just before 1066. It provides a fascinating account of Edward the Confessor and his family, including his wife Edith, his father-in-law Earl Godwin, and the queen's brothers Tostig and Harold (who became king in 1066). The foundations of the legend of St. Edward the Confessor are apparent from the version of the work supplied by the unique manuscript of circa 1100. Barlow explores the problems raised by this anonymous and now incomplete manuscript and examines the development of the cult of St. Edward. He also investigates the life and works of Goscelin of St. Bertin, a possible author. For this second edition, Barlow has not only undertaken a complete revision of the book, but recent discoveries have enabled him to reconstruct in part the lacunae in BL Harley MS 526 with texts closer to the original.
Download or read book Edward VI written by Chris Skidmore and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2011-07-21 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The struggle for the soul of England after the death of Henry VIII In the death of Henry VIII, the crown passed to his nine-year-old son, Edward. However, real power went to the Protector, Edward's uncle, the Duke of Somerset. The court had been a hotbed of intrigue since the last days of Henry VIII. Without an adult monarch, the stakes were even higher. The first challenger was the duke's own brother: he seduced Henry VIII's former queen, Katherine Parr; having married her, he pursued Princess Elizabeth and later was accused of trying to kidnap the boy king at gunpoint. He was beheaded. Somerset ultimately met the same fate, after a coup d'etat organized by the Duke of Warwick. Chris Skidmore reveals how the countrywide rebellions of 1549 were orchestrated by the plotters at court and were all connected to the (literally) burning issue of religion: Henry VIII had left England in religious limbo. Court intrigue, deceit and treason very nearly plunged the country into civil war. Edward was a precocious child, as his letters in French and Latin demonstrate. He kept a secret diary, written partly in Greek, which few of his courtiers could read. In 1551, at the age of 14, he took part in his first jousting tournament, an essential demonstration of physical prowess in a very physical age. Within a year it is his signature we find at the bottom of the Council minutes, yet in early 1553 he contracted a chest infection and later died, rumours circulating that he might have been poisoned. Mary, Edward's eldest sister, and devoted Catholic, was proclaimed Queen. This is more than just a story of bloodthirsty power struggles, but how the Church moved so far along Protestant lines that Mary would be unable to turn the clock back. It is also the story of a boy born to absolute power, whose own writings and letters offer a compelling picture of a life full of promise, but tragically cut short.
Download or read book King Edward VIII written by Ted Powell and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-23 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before he fell in love with Wallis Simpson, Edward VIII had fallen in love with America. As a young Prince of Wales, Edward witnessed the birth of the American century at the end of the First World War and, captivated by the energy, confidence, and raw power of the USA as it strode onto the world stage, he paid a number of subsequent visits: surfing in Hawaii; dancing with an American shop-girl in Panama; and partying with the cream of New York society on Long Island. Eventually, of course, he fell violently in love with Wallis, a Southern belle and latter-day Scarlett O'Hara. Forceful, irreverent, and sassy, she embodied everything that Edward admired about modern America. But Edward's fascination with America was not unreciprocated. America was equally fascinated by the Prince, especially his love life, and he became an international media celebrity through newsreels, radio, and the press. Indeed, even in the decades after his abdication in 1936, Edward remained a celebrity in the US and a regular guest of Presidents and the elite of American society.
Download or read book The Life of King Edward VII written by Marie Belloc Lowndes and published by e-artnow. This book was released on 2018-11-02 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. This incredible biography gives us a deep insight into to life of the royal family during the greatest era in British History! Edward VII (1841-1910), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. Before his accession to the throne, he was heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political power, and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, but despite public approval his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.Content:An AppreciationBirth and Early YearsThe King's BoyhoodOxford, Cambridge, and the CurraghThe King's Visit to Canada and the United StatesDeath of the Prince Consort—Tour in the EastThe Wedding of King Edward and Queen AlexandraEarly Married LifeTheir Majesties' Tour in Egypt and the MediterraneanThe Franco-Prussian War—The King's Illness1873-1875The King's Tour in IndiaQuiet Years of Public Work, 1876-1887—Visit to Ireland—Queen Victoria's Golden JubileeSilver Wedding of King Edward and Queen Alexandra—Engagement and Marriage of Princess LouiseThe Baccarat Case—Birth of Lady Alexandra Duff—The King's Fiftieth Birthday—Illness of Prince GeorgeThe Duke of Clarence and AvondaleChapter XVII. The Housing of the Working Classes—Marriage of Prince George—The Diamond Jubilee—Death of the Duchess of TeckLater Years—A Serious Accident to the King—Gradual Recovery—The Attempt on the King's LifeThe King as a Country SquireThe King in LondonThe King and State PolicyThe King and the ServicesThe King and FreemasonryThe King as a PhilanthropistThe King as a SportsmanDeath of Queen Victoria—The King's Accession
Download or read book The King in Love written by Theo Aronson and published by Lume Books. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An all-embracing account of the loves of that royal womaniser, Edward VII, as Prince of Wales and King. Spanning three decades, the story is set in the extravagant and hypocritical world of late Victorian and Edwardian society.
Download or read book The Royal Victorians written by Christopher Hibbert and published by Philadelphia : Lippincott. This book was released on 1976 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biography of King Edward VII of England (1841-1910).
Download or read book Queen Victoria Her Gracious Life and Glorious Reign written by John Coulter and published by Guelph, Ont. : World Publishing Company. This book was released on 1901 with total page 690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book King George VI written by Hourly History and published by Hourly History. This book was released on 2017-04-13 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Britain the phrase ‘an heir and a spare’ refers to the imperative for members of the royal family to provide both an heir to take on their title and a spare. In this equation King George VI was ‘the spare’, the second son of King George V and Mary, and never expected to sit on the throne. King George VI, or Albert as he was known prior to his kingship, had a career in the Royal Navy and served during the First World War before King Edward VIII’s decision to abdicate his throne. Determined to restore the British Royal Family in the eyes of the people, King George VI played a pivotal role in the victory of the allied nations in the Second World War. Inside you will read about... ✓ Early Years ✓ Prince Albert in the Navy ✓ The Great War ✓ The Reign and Abdication of King Edward VIII ✓ Becoming King George VI ✓ The Second World War ✓ Post-War Years And much more! King George VI ruled long enough to oversee the tumultuous post-war years in Britain, the collapse of the British Empire and the emergence of the Commonwealth. Succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth at just 55 years old, King George VI had a deep sense of honor and duty and was completely dedicated to his turbulent role as King.
Download or read book Gay Monarch written by Virginia Cowles and published by . This book was released on 1956 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wallis in Love written by Andrew Morton and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Wallis in Love is a vivid, fresh and frankly amazing portrait of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Morton draws on interviews, secret letters, diaries and never before seen or heard primary sources.
Download or read book The Life of King Edward VII written by J. Castell Hopkins and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original: The Life of King Edward VII by J. Castell Hopkins
Download or read book The Life and Times of Edward VII written by Keith Middlemas and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
