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Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, by Sally Bedell Smith
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The life and loves of Prince Charles are illuminated in a major new biography from the New York Times bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen—perfect for fans of The Crown.
Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than three hundred years. This vivid, eye-opening biography—the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus, and more, some speaking on the record for the first time—is the first authoritative treatment of Charles’s life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day.
Prince Charles brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities, and convictions. It begins with his lonely childhood, in which he struggled to live up to his father’s expectations and sought companionship from the Queen Mother and his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. It follows him through difficult years at school, his early love affairs, his intellectual quests, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his intense search for spiritual meaning. It tells of the tragedy of his marriage to Diana; his eventual reunion with his true love, Camilla; and his relationships with William, Kate, Harry, and his grandchildren.
Ranging from his glamorous palaces to his country homes, from his globe-trotting travels to his local initiatives, Smith shows how Prince Charles possesses a fiercely independent spirit and yet has spent more than six decades waiting for his destined role, living a life dictated by protocols he often struggles to obey. With keen insight and the discovery of unexpected new details, Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic, and compelling than we knew, until now.
Praise for Prince Charles
“[Smith] understands the British upper classes and aristocracy (including the royals) very well indeed. . . . [She] makes many telling, shrewd points in pursuit of realigning the popular image of Prince Charles.”—William Boyd, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] masterly account.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Thoroughly researched and insightful . . . In this profile, it is clear [Smith] got inside the circular barriers that protect the man and his position. The Charles that emerges is, as the subtitle suggests, both a paradox and a creature of his passions.”—The Washington Times
“[A] compellingly juicy bio . . . Windsor-philes will be mesmerized.”—People
“Prince Charles paints an affectingly human portrait. . . . Smith writes about [Charles’s life] with a skill and sympathy she perfected in her 2012 biography of Charles’s mother.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Comprehensive and admirably fair . . . Until his accession to the throne, Smith’s portrait will stand as the definitive study.”—Booklist (starred review)
“[A] fascinating book that is not just about a man who would be king, but also about the duties that come with privilege.”—Walter Isaacson
“Sally Bedell Smith has given us a complete and compelling portrait of the man in the shadow of the throne. It’s all here, from the back stairs of the palaces to the front pages of the tabs.”—Tom Brokaw
- Sales Rank: #2590 in eBooks
- Published on: 2017-04-04
- Released on: 2017-04-04
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
“[A] masterly account.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Thoroughly researched and insightful . . . In this profile, it is clear [Smith] got inside the circular barriers that protect the man and his position. The Charles that emerges is, as the subtitle suggests, both a paradox and a creature of his passions.”—The Washington Times
“[A] compellingly juicy bio . . . Windsor-philes will be mesmerized.”—People
“Prince Charles paints an affectingly human portrait. . . . Smith writes about [Charles’s life] with a skill and sympathy she perfected in her 2012 biography of Charles’s mother.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“A multidimensional portrait of a complex, sensitive, and often visionary man (his ideas about sustainable living were once considered eccentric), who has carved out a dynamic public role as he waits his turn to govern. Intimate but not gossipy, this highly accessible and thoroughly researched volume would do well in all collections.”—Library Journal
“Comprehensive and admirably fair . . . Until his accession to the throne, Smith’s portrait will stand as the definitive study.”—Booklist, starred review
“Astute . . . a sympathetic psychological study . . . [Smith’s] portrait is enormously touching and supported by wide-ranging interviews and research. . . . A thorough, timely biography.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Prince Charles is an eighteenth-century gentleman with a twenty-first-century mission. His love of tradition combines with an outlook that can be bracingly avant garde. Sally Bedell Smith captures his contradictions and his convictions in this fascinating book that is not just about a man who would be king, but also about the duties that come with privilege.”—Walter Isaacson
“For all we know about Prince Charles, there is so much we didn’t know—until now. Sally Bedell Smith has given us a complete and compelling portrait of the man in the shadow of the throne. It’s all here, from the back stairs of the palaces to the front pages of the tabs. Read all about it!”—Tom Brokaw
“No one writes about life at the top with more panache than Sally Bedell Smith. Her Prince Charles is a delicious blend of glamour and grandeur, jealousy and rivalry, greatness and human foible. Smith writes with wisdom and sympathy—and a sharp and knowing eye—about the struggles and maturation of the man who would be King.”—Evan Thomas
“This great biography is an indispensable guide for anyone eager to understand Prince Charles and the British monarchy in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. What an achievement—what work went into it, and all of it presented with such ease. It is so fair, while suggesting so much.”—Peggy Noonan
About the Author
Sally Bedell Smith is the author of bestselling biographies of Queen Elizabeth II; William S. Paley; Pamela Harriman; Diana, Princess of Wales; John and Jacqueline Kennedy; and Bill and Hillary Clinton.A contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1996, she previously worked at Time and The New York Times, where she was a cultural news reporter. She is the mother of three children and lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Stephen G. Smith."
Most helpful customer reviews
120 of 130 people found the following review helpful.
Comprehensive & Highly Readable
By L. M. Keefer
If you are looking for a comprehensive and sympathetic portrayal of Prince Charles, you may want to pick this book up. It doesn't attempt to camouflage Charles' flaws. And it chronicles Charles' strengths. For too long the Royal Family wasn't able to marry the people who might have been best suited for them such as a divorced person, a commoner, or a woman with a past. Thankfully, in part to Charles and Diana's disastrous marriage, that has changed for William and Harry.
My two primary take-aways from this book - and I've read all 600+ pages of it - regarding Charles is that self-pity may triumph over gratitude occasionally over his lot in life. Yes, he's been waiting 60 plus years to be King of England, but he has had extraordinary opportunities. To Charles' credit, he has made much of those opportunities in original ways. And that's the second take-away. I was amazed at the amount of endeavors he has been involved in to benefit others, and most of them have been successful except for when a staff member embezzles large amounts of money. Because Charles is involved in so many enterprises, the oversight has been lacking in a few instances. But the net gain is positive.
The enterprise which fascinates me as a designer is the community which Charles has been involved with: Poundbury. Poundbury is an experimental newly constructed town on the outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset. The land is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. If you google images of it, it is charming. We need more Poundbury's in the world. It was inspired by Seaside, Florida.
You learn in this book that Charles has funded at-risk youth opportunities. One youth became a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. The actor Idris Elba also was schooled through Charles' programs. Some other interesting observations gleaned from this book:
* Charles kept asking Duchess Debo of Devonshire of Chatsworth for some art of Lucian Freud's until she gave in
* a PR initiative was undertaken to integrate Camilla into Charles' life publicly so that public opinion would finally approve of their marriage
* the experimental community in Scotland near Dumfries hasn't thrived as much as Poundbury due to the economy there
* Charles felt let-down when his parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, only stayed 20 minutes to view Poundbury, one of his most successful projects
* Charles lays on the floor at Highgrove by an open window to listen to folks' comments upon visiting his beautiful garden
* William and Harry approach philanthropy as a team focusing on three main categories: conservation, mental health and the military. Their initiatives are much more short-term compared to Charles's.
* There is friction occasionally between Buckingham Palace and Charles' team
* Charles doesn't spend much time with Prince George - Charles is too busy
What you have to admire is that even though Charles was pretty much straight-jacketed into choices about his life by his parents - especially Prince Philip who is the opposite of his son and chose activities and experiences for Charles which would have suited Philip the best - Charles has eventually carved out a life which suits him. Some of Charles's melancholy is perhaps pent-up from a fairly miserable childhood about which he didn't have much affection or happy experiences. Gourdonstuon School sounds like torture which could have caused a mental breakdown in a less mentally sturdy individual. Charles stuffed most of his early misery, and it comes leaking out occasionally in some of his comments I think. Rejection or criticism now feels like the original pain of criticism in Charles' early life when Philip may have wanted Charles to be more like him kind of thing. Psychologists tell us that our subconscious doesn't distinguish between a hurt now and a hurt from an early life when we were more powerless, so we may respond as we would have liked to when we were a child and fairly defenseless.
The good news is that the Royal Family has learned from past mistakes, and William and Harry have benefited to live happier lives which suit their personalities and the 21st century. This book is highly readable, and didn't seem overly-long if you read a few chapters a night. It's not sensational, but it doesn't gloss over mistakes and read like a hagiography either. If you like Charles, or the Royal Family, you should enjoy it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Much Told Tale, Overlong and Dull
By Eileen Pollock
If you know nothing about Charles and the British Royal Family, you will learn quite a bit from this book. That's because two-thirds is devoted to Charles's childhood, youth, and the Saga of Diana and Camilla. If you follow the royals, you know all this already. The last third was a detailed account, a never-ending account, of Charles's intended benevolent and innovative projects, their cost, his financing from billionaire friends (does a Prince of Wales have any other sort of friends?), and the small triumphs he gleans from his personal frugality (funneling his used bath water to water his plants) and generosity with other people's money. In return, the billionaires can casually drop the Prince of Wales's name to their friends in Texas. The grandiose projects seem to run into one another and you soon wish he had a few less grandiose plans. But he can finance those plans.
This is a man without a sense of proportion, with no sense of the value of a pound (dollar) and who never carries money. He has others to supply his needs.
Charles comes across as weak and insecure. His grand projects are to me a compensation for an inner sense of emptiness. So he fills his life with outer excitement, nonstop and compulsive.
One can't help but feel the author was intent on rehabilitating Camilla so she will be Crown-Ready when the time comes, and on stroking Charles's vanity. The author, too, like the billionaires, wants to say she is a close personal friend of the Prince of Wales.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
the most beautiful princess, the dance with John Travolta
By carilynp
Sally Bedell Smith has done it again. Royal watchers, royal enthusiasts, royal wannabes, have your cup of tea ready and settle in for PRINCE CHARLES: THE PASSIONS AND PARADOXES OF AN IMPROBABLE LIFE. It is unfair to judge someone you don’t even know. In the past, I have done just that when it comes to Prince Charles. As a fan of Lady Di, and come on, who wasn’t, she was the loveliest, the fairytale crushed, the most beautiful princess, the dance with John Travolta, the mother who could have shoved off her children to nannies but she was so there, and when she toured minefields and visited with land mine victims and people with grave illnesses, she represented not only a true lady but a human with the utmost kindness. What else could we think of this man who divorced her who seemed so aloof. But then you read about how he grew up with nannies while his mother, the Queen, and his father left him for months on end while they traveled the world, rarely hugging the poor boy, sending him off to boarding school when he was just a child and he was so homesick. Poor, poor little Charles.
He did grow into his role and seemed to be quite interested in many things, so sporty and so charitable, but what did he love, what was he passionate about? Then there was Camilla. Forever Camilla. I judge again. But she married another man. Give it up. But he could not. They were both admitted cheaters. No excuses. Smith goes into detail about the Queen Mother, whom Charles adored and she him, the Queen, who formed quite a bond with her son and he still often refers to her as Mummy, and naturally Diana. And so much Camilla. You really get a sense of all of these women and what part they play in the Prince’s life. Fortunately, he seems to have a nice relationship with his sons. I’m not saying that I don’t like the guy. He clearly has a sensitive side and cared very much for many people in his life who played very important roles, who were both loyal to him and him to them, some who sadly have passed away. I enjoyed reading it very much and I highly commend Smith on the amount of research that clearly went into writing it. There is so much interesting information about the rich history about the royal family, those who were and are devoted to them. I can’t even imagine how long this must have taken her to assemble and write-. I just winced every time there was an unkind word said about Diana. I am not shooting the messenger, however, as I understand it’s like reading a history book. I put my full on trust in the author. I don’t want to Cliff Notes here. If you want to give me a pop quiz, I will gladly take it.
To Smith, I say, brilliant!
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