About the Author:
PENNY JUNOR is a top London journalist who has covered the royal family for over twenty-five years. She is the author of previous biographies of both the Prince and the Princess of Wales and two British Prime Ministers. She is married with four children and lives in Wiltshire, England.
Review:
"... a solid analysis of the monarchy." --Booklist
London journalist and longtime Windsor-watcher Junor (Home Truths, Charles: Victim or Villian?, Charles and Diana: Portrait of a Marriage, etc.) considers the British royal family's continuation into the 21st century in this sympathetic account, covering Diana's death to the present day. The explanation, Junor believes, lies both in the "magic" of the monarchy and in the family's organization into the titular businesslike entity, a phrase coined by Prince Philip. She asserts that the value of the monarchy--during this era without hierarchy, deference and respect--is to act as "a fixture in this morass" of modern life. Junor has met nearly all the royals, as well as many of their associates, and her observations plus long excerpts from interviews give the book an insider feel. This is a favorable, respectful portrait: Junor tempers any criticisms with admiring descriptions of the royals' good deeds, especially their charity work. And despite the book's subtitle, she doesn't dwell on the r (Publishers Weekly)
JUNOR, PENNY. The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. 2005. c.464p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-312-35274-3. $25.95. HIST Readers of this interesting and occasionally jaw-dropping look at the world's most famous dysfunctional family will find plenty to engage them. Journalist and royal biographer Junor (Charles: Victim or Villain; Diana, Princess of Wales) tells the reader that "the Queen...believes that with few exceptions everything that has gone wrong for the monarchy in the last twenty years has been attributable to Mrs. Parker Bowles." And the reason Prince Harry wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party? "Today's young are blissfully unaware of history (some of them aren't even taught it in our schools)." The reader comes away from the book feeling that had this family ever actually sat down and talked to one another a lot of their very public misfortunes might have been avoided. However, Junor doesn't just dish the dirt. She goes to (Mellett, Elizabeth Library Journal)
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