A book I should have read BEFORE going to Great Britain.

While Mr. CR and I were in Great Britain in October, I was embarrassed because every time something came up about the royal family, I kept forgetting who was who, and who was the parent of who, and who the Queen Mother was, and how they were all related. I rather think Mr. CR expected me to know that kind of stuff, as I spend every possible moment I can reading about Great Britain, watching BBC programming, or looking at British online newspapers.*

What I should have done before we went was read Richard Hough's very interesting, very comprehensive, but not too overly detailed historical biography, Born Royal: The Lives and Loves of the Young Windsors. Now, the "young Windsors" he's referring to there are not William and Harry and Co.; he is in fact talking about the children of King George V and Queen Mary of Teck: David, Bertie, Mary, Harry, John, and George.

And that's where the confusion comes in. Who the hell are these people? Well, now, thanks to this book, I can clear that up for you: David is Edward VIII, who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson; Bertie is King George VI, who became the father of the present Queen Elizabeth. Bertie (King George VI) married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, also known as Queen Elizabeth, but when Elizabeth II (the current Queen) took over, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon became the Queen Mother. Whew. Got that? All of this leads me to believe that the English monarchy needs to 1. start picking some different names, and 2. stop calling their children by multiple names, and then having them change their names when they become the monarch. That's not too much to ask, right?

I really enjoyed this one. It's a very readable history, and, at 300 pages (and packed with pictures), it gives you just enough personal and family details to keep you interested. In a weird twist of fate, Mr. CR read this one before I did, and we've had a great time talking it over. We are in agreement that old King George V (father of the "young Windsors") was kind of a, well, it's late and I'm tired, so "prick" is the only word that's coming to mind. The book also includes a truncated family tree, and Mr. CR and I are also in agreement that we're stunned these royal families all turn out as well as they do (hemophilia notwithstanding) when you see how closely related they all are. Did you know that the present Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip are both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria and third cousins? Well, now you do.

*I can't help it. They're just more interesting than our newspapers. Plus that way I can pretend I live there.

Comments

[Rachael]

Added to my Goodreads list. Never going to catch up!

Do you watch the coverage of Parliament, too? It's actually fun to watch them bicker like children and insult one another.

[Citizen Reader]

Rachael,
I know just how you feel! Too many good books, too many interesting subjects, too many members of the British royal family, never going to catch up! Doesn't mean we can't try.
Oh, I forgot about the Parliament coverage. What are you doing to me? If I start watching that I'm never going to get anything done again! I have seen their "debates" and enjoy the way they snap at each other. I know they're all corrupt too but at least it seems a little more honest than all our politicians playing all nicey nice.

[Melanie]

Sounds like a great book, I love reading about the Royal Family. I think Vicki and Albert populated most of the Euopean thrones. Wasn't Queen Elizabeth's husband (dang, whatshisname?) critisized for being "German" when in fact he is a decendant of the very English Victoia?

[Donna]

Added this to my TBR list. I too get confused because everyone has the same and yet multiple names. Remember when Diana messed up at the wedding "Charles Phillip Arthur George".

All of my kids took Comparative Government in high school so we came to love our "homework" of watching Prime Minister's Question Time (in rerun) on Sunday nights. I usually get a good laugh out of it especially imagining our Presidents (especially a recent occupant of the office) coping with that format.

[sherry (nite swimming)]

I followed your link and ordered this book for my mom. My grandmother was one to follow the lives of the royals. She insisted that we were related (illegitimately, of course) via King George.

[Sarah]

I could have lent you my copy . . . this is why I need to catalog my personal library!

[Citizen Reader]

Donna,
I didn't know that about Charles and Diana's wedding! Funny. I learned just last night (thanks, Rick Steves) that they were married in St. Paul's Cathedral; for some reason I'd had in mind they got hitched in Winchester Abbey.
Oh, gosh, watching any of our presidents the past decades struggling to answer questions with any kind of honesty has been super painful. Maybe it's less painful to watch other countries' politicians because it's less immediate.

Sherry,
I'm so glad! I hope she likes it. It's an oldie but a goodie, in my opinion.

Sarah,
No worries. Actually, this is a book I found by accident. Sometimes when I'm requesting books from my library catalog, I look at the list of other titles near the books I'm requesting, alphabetically, and just order anything else that looks good. (This is why I would DIE with a system offering me less than 75 holds on my card.) I'll have to look at the catalog again and see what I was REALLY ordering when I found this one so serendipitously.

[Thomas at My Porch]

This sounds great. A few years ago, I was reading some stuff about Victoria and kept getting her kids confused (and their connections to other European dynasties. So I made a spreadsheet that showed them all graphically. That's how I spent my time before I started blogging.

[Citizen Reader]

Thomas,
I LOVE the idea of spreadsheeting the British royal family. Very smart. I can't get over how many kids Victoria had and how long she lived--she must have had a very good constitution.

I'm trying to remember how I spent my time before blogging. Probably making a living, cleaning the house, doing crosswords. (Yeah, right. I'm guessing lots more TV was involved.)

[Sarah]

There are quite a few royal genealogies now on the Internet:
http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/royal8d.htm
http://www.btinternet.com/~allan_raymond/QV_Descendants.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/gotha/greatbritain.html

Charles and Diana were married at St. Pauls instead of Westminster Abbey because it was bigger and could hold more guests.