The killer quill of Kitty Kelley, who skewered Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Reagan, goes for royal blood in her latest tell-all biography, The Royals. Fans of the 1992 book Diana used to bash her in-laws--
Here are a few of the nasty allegations Kelley collects in a history of Britain's top dogs: though the royals may love their corgis more than their children and spouses, they pinch the poor pooches' posteriors to make them bark into the phone to amuse the royals at the other end of the line. Also, the Queen Mother may have been born out of wedlock, and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, may have been conceived by artificial insemination.
There are dozens of other stinky zingers in Kelley's book, mostly from anonymous sources. The late Princess Diana comes off the best, even though Kelley suggests that she may have shoved her 58-year-old stepmother down the stairs. Diana met her last lover, Dodi, after The Royals went to press, so there's nothing in it about them--though Kelley does relate previous 100 m.p.h. chases and press encounters ending in gore. It was a long, sad story leading up to the last crash, and Kelley tells the family's worst enemies' account of it in a tone colder than the royals themselves.
From Library Journal
Gossipmonger Kelly narrates her latest unauthorized biography, this time targeting Britain's royal family. She has included some interesting factual information about the royals, describing the early-20th-century history of the family and its ties to Germany. But the biography is a mix of fact and tawdry, unsubstantiated innuendo (Phillip may be bisexual, one son may not be his, etc.). Wherever possible, Kelley's inflections as narrator make events seem naughtier still. There are two obvious flaws: not once are sources cited clearly, and most of the slurs are based on what someone says without scrutiny of motives. Of the family, the Queen comes out of the fray best, and Charles definitely gets the worst of it. Throughout, schlock rules over scholarship. Not recommended.?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, N.C. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Amazon.com Review
The killer quill of Kitty Kelley, who skewered Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Reagan, goes for royal blood in her latest tell-all biography, The Royals. Fans of the 1992 book Diana used to bash her in-laws--
Here are a few of the nasty allegations Kelley collects in a history of Britain's top dogs: though the royals may love their corgis more than their children and spouses, they pinch the poor pooches' posteriors to make them bark into the phone to amuse the royals at the other end of the line. Also, the Queen Mother may have been born out of wedlock, and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, may have been conceived by artificial insemination.
There are dozens of other stinky zingers in Kelley's book, mostly from anonymous sources. The late Princess Diana comes off the best, even though Kelley suggests that she may have shoved her 58-year-old stepmother down the stairs. Diana met her last lover, Dodi, after The Royals went to press, so there's nothing in it about them--though Kelley does relate previous 100 m.p.h. chases and press encounters ending in gore. It was a long, sad story leading up to the last crash, and Kelley tells the family's worst enemies' account of it in a tone colder than the royals themselves.
From Library Journal
Gossipmonger Kelly narrates her latest unauthorized biography, this time targeting Britain's royal family. She has included some interesting factual information about the royals, describing the early-20th-century history of the family and its ties to Germany. But the biography is a mix of fact and tawdry, unsubstantiated innuendo (Phillip may be bisexual, one son may not be his, etc.). Wherever possible, Kelley's inflections as narrator make events seem naughtier still. There are two obvious flaws: not once are sources cited clearly, and most of the slurs are based on what someone says without scrutiny of motives. Of the family, the Queen comes out of the fray best, and Charles definitely gets the worst of it. Throughout, schlock rules over scholarship. Not recommended.?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, N.C.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.