English Royalty Biographies

The year was 1832, a cholera pandemic raged, and the French royal family was in exile, driven out by yet another revolution. From a drafty Scottish castle, the duchesse de Berry - the mother of the 11-year-old heir to the throne - hatched a plot to restore the Bourbon dynasty. For months, she commanded a guerilla army and evaded capture by disguising herself as a man. But soon she was betrayed by her trusted advisor, Simon Deutz, the son of France's Chief Rabbi.

The British Royal Family is held in awe across Britain, and they have captured the interest of people around the globe. Queen Elizabeth II is respected for her stately demeanor, Prince William and his new wife, Kate Middleton, are deemed trendsetters and attract attention from media starved for gossip, and nobody has held as unique a place in pop culture as the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald delivers a stunning account of Elizabeth I that focuses on her role in the Wars of Religion - the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism that tore Europe apart in the sixteenth century. Elizabeth’s 1558 coronation procession was met with an extravagant outpouring of love. Only 25 years old, the young queen saw herself as the nation’s Protestant savior, aiming to provide new hope, prosperity, and independence from the foreign influence that had plagued her sister Mary’s reign. Given the scars of the Reformation, Elizabeth would need all of the powers of diplomacy and tact she could summon.

From the author of The Sisters, a chronicle of the most brutal, turbulent, and exuberant period of England's history. Bess Hardwick, the fifth daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have an auspicious start in life. Widowed at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married three more times, built the great house at Chatsworth, and died one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in English history.

This is Britain's first family and yep, they are not even British. But let's not hold that against them, it may even be a plus! Many truly great people are not even British, but who cares about them? These people know how to throw a party, put on a wedding and without doubt, they have the BEST funerals. Please, Hollywood, do you know how to draw an audience of half the world's population to one of your lame movies? Best box office weekend, six million?

Do you want to learn more about the great rulers of history, but don’t have time to listen to huge, long books? Then let The History Journals take you on an hourly history tour of the life and times of some of the most famous and infamous (and some forgotten) men and women that have ruled as Kings, Queens, and Conquerors. Tintagel, Cornwall, England on a wild and windy day is a spectacular place to be, however, for anyone with an interest in King Arthur, Tintagel is far more than a dramatic landscape.

The whole question of women in history is an elusive one as the most written about ladies tend to be Queens, born or married into positions of power. Some, like the very English Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, built on their birthright with the power of their personalities to enjoy long and successful reins, while others made the history books for all the wrong reasons. And it is to this latter category that the subject of our journal, Marie Antoinette the most famous Queen of France, belongs.

During an age of heightened religious conflict, Catherine de' Medici lived her life at the center of sixteenth-century European and French politics. Catherine de' Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen is Mary Hollingsworth's evocative, authoritative biography of the most extraordinary woman of the sixteenth-century.

For millions of people, both in Britain and across the world, Elizabeth II is the embodiment of monarchy. Her long life spans nearly a century of national and global history, from a time before the Great Depression to the era of COVID-19. Her reign embraces all but seven years of Britain's postwar history; she has been served by 15 UK prime ministers from Churchill to Johnson, and witnessed the administrations of 13 US presidents from Truman to Trump. The vast majority of Britons cannot remember a world without Elizabeth II as head of state and the Commonwealth.

From the palaces of Austria to the mirrored halls of Versailles, Marie Antoinette led a charmed life. She was born into royalty in 1755 and married the future king of France at age 15. By 21, she ascended to the throne and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of masquerade balls, sky-high wigs, and extravagant food. But her taste for excess ruffled many feathers. The poor people of France blamed Marie Antoinette for their poverty. Her spending helped incite the French Revolution. And after much public outcry, in 1793 she quite literally lost her head because of it.

Shehnaz was a beautiful, erudite woman from the royal family of Bhopal who was almost cast to play Anarkali in K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam. Her daughter Sophia Naz tells her story as she heard it from her.

It was the most influential marriage of the 19th Century - and one of history’s most enduring love stories. Traditional biographies tell us that Queen Victoria inherited the throne as a naïve teenager, when the British Empire was at the height of its power, and seemed doomed to find failure as a monarch and misery as a woman until she married her German cousin Albert and accepted him as her lord and master. Now renowned chronicler Gillian Gill turns this familiar story on its head, revealing a strong, feisty queen, and a brilliant, fragile prince working together to build a family.

At the age of 25, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress and little more than a year later, she became royalty. Stunningly beautiful, elusive, and aloof, Grace Kelly captured our imagination and affection throughout her storybook career and royal marriage. Raised in Philadelphia in an atmosphere of great wealth and greater expectations, Grace transformed from an aristocratic conforming beauty into a sensual, recklessly daring woman. In Grace, Robert Lacey breaks through the glittery façade of her public image and reveals a complex, surprisingly conflicted woman.

This is a combo of eight biographies contained in one book: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Hannibal Barca, Napoleon Bonaparte, Suleiman the Magnificent, Vlad the Impaler, and William the Conqueror. Get this great deal now.

Powerful. Influential. Captivating. Royalty fascinates us. Luxurious portraits of kings and queens showcase their riches and power. Tales of daring rulers transform monarchs into almost divine figures. And tragic stories underscore the high stakes for royals. The life of a royal was not always roses. Child monarchs, royal imposters, and political upheaval could change the course of history–and steal away the crown. Royal Life is a backstage pass to 5,000 years of royal history.

From having three top-40 hits before he was 20, to being an in-demand studio musician recording with hit artists, Jimmy Ryan tells about his early years with The Critters, sharing the playbill with pioneers of rock 'n roll like The Rascals, The Ronettes, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Jay and the Americans; and, later, collaborating and recording with megastars such as Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, Elton John, The Doors, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and many others.

There is a reason why there have been countless books penned over the years about Queen and their legendary singer, Freddie Mercury - they were unquestionably one of the greatest and most universally beloved rock bands of all time. However, most of these books can be neatly filed into one of three categories - a recounting of the band’s history, an examination of the singer’s life story, or a collection of photographs.

The 12th Duke of Beaufort, known to his friends as 'Bunter', inherited his Dukedom and Badminton House in 2017, at the age of sixty-five. But he is also a singer and songwriter with the rock group The Listening Device. Now he combines his responsibilities as Duke with his life as a rock performer. In this lively and anecdote-filled memoir, Harry Beaufort takes us behind the scenes of his varied life: from playing poker with politicians, to partying on Ibiza with film stars to people watching with The Queen from a balcony at Windsor Castle.

Born on Christmas Day, 1936, Princess Alexandra's birth was almost overshadowed by the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII. Yet public affection for this new addition to the Royal Family has only grown during a lifetime of dedicated royal service. In this biography, Helen Cathcart chronicles the first thirty years of Princess Alexandra's life, from the tragic death of her father when she was just five years old to her wartime childhood at Badminton living with her grandmother Queen Mary.

A fascinating, in-depth look at international relations and interpersonal intrigue, Royal Audience peels back the curtain on the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. as embodied by the Queen herself—charting Elizabeth II’s distinctive brand of one-to-one diplomacy through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand.