Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family
£10.40
For as long as the British monarchy has existed, royal children have been brought up in ways that seem bizarre and eccentric to the rest of us. From medieval wet nurses to today’s Norland nannies and elite boarding schools, princes and princesses have endured parental abandonment for centuries as their parents farmed out childrearing duties to paid staff.
And as this marvellous romp of a book demonstrates, dysfunctional childhood experiences produce emotionally damaged adults, as evidenced by Edward VIII – who was horribly mistreated by his nanny – and his marriage to his substitute mother figure, Mrs Simpson; by alcoholic party girl Princess Margaret; and by rebellious Harry and his desperate desire to adopt Meghan Markle’s world view, to the detriment of his relationship with his brother.
Interweaving exclusive testimonies from palace staff with historical sources, Tom Quinn also uncovers outrageous tales of royal children misbehaving, often hilariously – from Edward VII smashing up his schoolroom to the Queen mischievously pranking unsuspecting visitors with dog biscuits to Prince William pinching a teacher’s bottom.
Amusing and shocking in equal measure, Gilded Youth examines how the royal family has clung to outmoded traditions that centre on emotional coldness and detachment, and how, when it comes to children, the British royal family is still living in the Dark Ages.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Biteback Publishing (28 Feb. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1388 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 260 pages |
by Charlie
Am utterly appalled that someone thinks it’s acceptable to grift money and sell lies using an image of a little boy doing nothing more than behaving as a little boy! How dare Quinn select that particular image to flog his tripe! Is this where they start painting Louis as the naughty one? The rebel? The bad boy? Leave these kids alone, stop scamming money using toddlers and hang your head in shame, Tom Quinn. If I was the Waleses I would sue over this book cover alone, never mind the heinous attacks inside! Anyone buying this is supporting the abuse of royal children which their parents are trying so hard to protect them from.
by Carpe Diem
Would have thought that a book on royal family children would have contained countless photographs but not one! The content of the first few paragraphs were close to boring, so have given up. Very disappointing.
by Deborah Lovett
If you want to spend your money on the ramblings (random, repetitive, and surprisingly irrelevant musings) of a writer who claims Charles complained to Earl Mountbattan of Burma about Diana’s reaction to hiring a particular nanny for William–when William wasn’t born until 1982 and Earl Mountbatten of Burma was fatally blown to pieces by IRA terrorists in 1979–then by all means buy this book. Mr. Quinn also claims George V changed the royal family house from Battenberg to Windsor in 1917. Before they were the Windsors, they were the Saxe-Coburg and Gothas. And Mr. Quinn describes the Windsors as the descendants of Elizabeth I (who died childless) but says not one of George III’s sons was able to sire a male heir which would have been news to George III’s sons the Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (and later King of Hanover) and Prince of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, both of whom fathered sons who inherited their titles and estates. You might call this trivia but he uses these incorrect “facts” to make his points, rendering his points meaningless.
by helen
Another person trying to cash in on the royal family by jumping on the bandwagon, more old stories rehashed to make it sound like something new. Wouldn’t recommend