What a Thing to Say to the Queen: A Collection of Royal Anecdotes from the House of Windsor

About thirty years ago the Guardian first published two amusing anecdotes about the Queen Mother. Readers reeled to see stories actually printed in a national newspaper that until then had had only an underground existence in certain circles. After that, tales about the royal family became respectable; they were also, quite rightly, believed to be true. Taken as a whole they reflect the contradictory roles we like royalty to fulfil: unworldly and impossibly regal, engagingly domesticated and just like us, or camp, worldly and outrageous. In this affectionate tribute Thomas Blaikie has gathered together a compendium of stories, many never published before, which provide access to a unique world. How exactly a Queen reacts when she finds her footmen draped in her jewels? What does she do to amuse herself as she whiles away the hours sitting for her portrait? And how did the Duchess of Windsor and the Queen Mother really get on? This beautifully illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor.

THOMAS BLAIKIE is the Manners and Etiquette Correspondent of The Lady magazine. He is the author of two previous best-selling books of Royal anecdotes, You Look Awfully Like the Queen and Corgi and Bess. He is also the author of 'Blaikie's Guide to Modern Manners'. He lives in London.