A new book that claims to shed a whole new light on the royal family has been released by Tina Brown, the author of the definitive 2007 biography on Diana, the Princess of Wales.
The formerVanity Fair editor’s new book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil, continues where Brown left off in her previous book, The Diana Chronicles, just after the princess’ untimely death in a car crash in Paris.
It details the next 30-odd years of the lives of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Brown spoke to more than 120 sources to put her new book together and writes in great detail about the betrayals, love affairs and scandals that Britain’s most important family has weathered in modern times.
She chronicles the Queen’s stoicism in coming to terms with the deaths of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother and, most recently, Prince Philip in the years since Diana’s tragic passing.
The book also explores Prince Charles’ controversial relationship with Camilla, which became public a year after Diana’s death in 1997. It also delves into William and Harry’s increasingly-strained brotherhood and the allegations surrounding the Duke of York and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Some of the most explosive claims include how Prince Charles may never get his mother’s approval because of his “vulnerable, self-centred” character, and that Buckingham Palace did not take the issue of race “seriously enough” until allegations of racism from Prince Harry and Meghan emerged.
The author also writes about the nickname allegedly given to Andrew during his time as a pupil at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, as well as how the duke apparently reacted to his separation from his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
The Independent’s reviewer Sean O’Grady described The Palace Papers as a “vivid and richly-embroidered” book and a “mother lode of delectable royal gossip”.
Brown promises that her new tome will “irrevocably change how the world sees the British royal family”.
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - The Truth and the Turmoil by Tina Brown is available from 26 April 2022.
