18 Books About the Royal Family
Whether you have a new-found interest in the British royal family following the death of Queen Elizabeth, or you've watched every episode of The Crown, there's a book out there that will inspire your curiosity. Here, some of our favorites, from a stunning coffee table book of photos from Queen Elizabeth's life to a fictionalized look at royal love stories.
Crown Publishing Group (NY)
amazon.com
$20.50
The latest addition to this list is Tina Brown's The Palace Papers, which promises "the truth and the turmoil" of life inside the House of Windsor.
Anne de Courcy
amazon.com
$20.60
This semi-authorized biography offers unprecedented insight into the life of Princess Margaret's husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones. Anne de Courcy spoke with Lord Snowdon for the book (along with several others close to him), and it's a no-holds-barred look at both his art and his often-scandalous relationships.
Angela Kelly
amazon.com
$29.99
Very few people know what life is really like inside Buckingham Palace, but a new book titled The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, offers readers a window into that world. Queen Elizabeth granted personal permission to Angela Kelly, who has served as her dresser and confidant for 25 years, to write not only about royal fashion, but also about their experience working together. If you've already read this book, you might want to pick up a new copy; Kelly has written additional chapters for the text, which detail what life was like during the pandemic for the royal household.
Victoria Murphy
amazon.com
$29.99
Released just in time for the Queen's 95th birthday in 2021, this stunning coffee table book marries gorgeous photography with thoughtful insight into the British monarch's remarkable life and reign.
Celadon Books
amazon.com
$27.99
Robert Lacey
amazon.com
$14.55
If you tend to pause The Crown after every scene to look up exactly what historical event the characters are talking about, this book, by the show's historical advisor Robert Lacey, is the one for you. This volume addresses seasons 2 and 3, but hopefully a season 4 version will arrive soon.
Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks
amazon.com
$16.99
Prefer your royal reading to be a work of fiction? Consider picking up The Royal We. Written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan of "Fug Girls" fame, which chronicles American Bex Porter as she falls in love with the heir to the British throne.
amazon.com
$13.99
This special edition of Town & Country highlights the Queen's 70+ year relationship with Prince Philip, revealing their love story with rarely seen photos of the royal couple.
Craig Brown
amazon.com
$12.19
Craig Brown's Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is a royal biography unlike any another. Come for the Instagram-worth cover, and stay for a few chapters where Brown veers away from history to dwell in what could have been for the Queen's sister.
Sally Bedell Smith
amazon.com
$9.99
Prince Charles plays an even larger role in The Crown during the show's fourth season. To supplement the show's take on Charles, take a look at Sally Bedell Smith's biography of the heir to the throne, who has spent his whole life waiting in the wings.
Andrew Morton
amazon.com
$9.41
The Duchess of Sussex is now one of the most widely-known women in the world, but she didn't grow up in the royal spotlight. In his aptly titled tome Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Andrew Morton shares her story before she met Prince Harry.
amazon.com
$19.99
It's easy to forget just how profound Lord Mountbatten's influence over the royal family truly was—but this dual biography will disabuse you of any notion that he might be a peripheral figure in the House of Windsor's ever-complicated story. And on top of that, The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves rescues Edwina, Mountbatten's remarkable wife, from obscurity. You might dislike "Uncle Dickie" even more after reading this book, but you'll have gained a newfound appreciation for the inimitable Edwina.
Tina Brown
amazon.com
$14.69
Two decades after her death, Princess Diana's enormous influence on the modern royal family is still evident, and Tina Brown's biography of the late Princess of Wales is a must-read for anyone with even an inking of curiosity about the House of Windsor.
Anne Glenconner
amazon.com
$13.59
This memoir by Princess Margaret's lady-in-waiting, Anne Glenconner, reveals exactly what the royal family is really like when the cameras stop rolling.
Anne Edwards
amazon.com
$16.99
Princess Margaret's interactions with her sister, Queen Elizabeth, bring about some of the most intriguing plot points in The Crown, and this book focuses solely on their wholly unique sibling relationship.
Ashley Hicks
amazon.com
$50.97
If you're more interested in the royal real estate than the major players in the Queen's family, consider picking up this gorgeous coffee table book, which takes readers inside the monarch's London residence.
Dey Street Books
amazon.com
$11.49
For a more modern tale of royal drama, look no further than Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's deep dive into Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's infamous exit from the Firm.
Simon & Schuster
amazon.com
$10.99
Season 4 of The Crown introduces viewers to a young Lady Diana Spencer. This book about Diana's time in the royal family caused quite the stir upon its release, as it paints an intimate, and difficult, portrait of royal life.
18 Books About the Royal Family
Whether you have a new-found interest in the British royal family following the death of Queen Elizabeth, or you've watched every episode of The Crown, there's a book out there that will inspire your curiosity. Here, some of our favorites, from a stunning coffee table book of photos from Queen Elizabeth's life to a fictionalized look at royal love stories.
Now that you've finished binge-watching season three of The Crown keep obsessing over Queen Elizabeth and all her relatives with these page-turning books about the royal family.
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