The Palace Papers

Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil

By: Tina Brown

Narrated by: Tina Brown

Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “addictively readable” (The Washington Post) inside story of the British royal family’s battle to overcome the dramas of the Diana years—only to confront new, twenty-first-century crises

“Frothy and forthright, a kind of Keeping Up with the Windsors with sprinkles of Keats.”—The New York Times (Notable Book of the Year)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Elle, Town & Country

“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specif­ically, there could never be “another Diana”—a mem­ber of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the Brit­ish monarchy.

Picking up where Tina Brown’s masterful The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the trau­matic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

Brown takes listeners on a tour de force journey through the scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals that have buffeted the monarchy over the last twenty-five years. We see the Queen’s stoic re­solve after the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip, her partner for seven decades, and how she triumphs in her Jubilee years even as family troubles rage around her. Brown explores Prince Charles’s determination to make Camilla Parker Bowles his wife, the tension between William and Harry on “different paths,” the ascend­ance of Kate Middleton, the downfall of Prince An­drew, and Harry and Meghan’s stunning decision to step back as senior royals. Despite the fragile monar­chy’s best efforts, “never again” seems fast approaching.

Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevoca­bly change how the world perceives and under­stands the royal family.

©2022 Random House (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Zingers crisscross these pages like tracer fire. . . . [Tina Brown] becomes the ideal tour guide: witty, opinionated and adept at moving us smoothly from bedchamber to belowstairs while offering side trips to the cesspits of the tabloid press, the striving world of second-tier celebrities and the threadbare lodgings of palace supernumeraries.”—The Wall Street Journal

“[Tina Brown] deploys her sterling contacts and deeply embedded sources, her familiarity with British royal history and her personal encounters with royals, palace courtiers, politicians and journalists to serve up a luscious feast of . . . well, yes, gossip. But what elegant gossip, dressed up in Brown’s stylish sentences and erudite insights.”—USA Today

“Gripping . . . [The] real power of this book is the cumulative picture it builds of lives as they have to be lived by the rules and customs of the Windsor palaces.”—The Daily Beast

Interesting and informative for a US reader

I was a little worried since there were multiple comments (some unkind) about the narration of this book, but I needed to read for book club, so I purchased anyway. My response to those comments is to change the play speed on audible. For some reason this book started at a faster speed automatically, so I had to slow it down.

I am not someone who follows the royal family, celebrities, or really the news, but I don’t live under a rock completely, so I am generally aware of some of the big scandals surrounding the royal family. I thought the book did a good job covering those throughout the years, while also putting them into context by incorporating information about pertinent world/UK events, English culture, and the aristocracy in general.

Overall, I thought the book is balanced. No one really looked all good or bad, but are presented as complex humans who have strengths and flaws.

A very informative and sometimes moving story.

Despite Tina Brown's frequent, somewhat snarky assessments of Meghan Markle's motivations in her life as an actress and blogger, I found this book to be well written, well researched and organized. Very compelling and, at times, quite moving. A picture of the family with aspirations as well as frailties emerged which I found ultimately endearing.

AMAZING!

A book so good I wouldn’t know where to start. I truly don’t think a better book has been written regarding the Royals. As it was coming to an end I was thinking how perfect a tribute to the Queen. It makes me want to read more of Tina Brown.

Most of this book we already knew

Unless you never follow the Royals this may be new to you. Repetitive info.

Tina Brown should have had someone else do the audio….. I was disgusted with all the moisture that I could hear coming from her mouth.

With class and a little sass

A five star performance in word and voice. Balanced and fair with just the right turn of a phrase or word to set the record straight.

The life of a Queen in modern times

Queen Elizabeth kept her promise to her subjects for that I respect her and I enjoyed reading about her. All the young people made their own mistakes and blame the crown. She’s only one woman and always tried to follow the guideline’s come what May.
I liked Charles and wish him success as the next king of England.

Historic and Intriguing

The first half of this book was fascinating and a good listen. It seemed to veer more an more into what I thought was a ‘Megan Markle’ bashing throughout the second part. Lots of juicy gossip about the British Monarchy and a few laughs in between.

Interesting book, terrible narrator

It is a shame that the author chose to narrate what otherwise would have been a very enjoyable book. I frequently found it difficult to understand what she was reading. I have been a member of audible for a number of years and have never had this problem before. Due to the narration, I would recommend the book but definitely would not recommend the audible version of the book.

Who Knew!

Informative and interesting. Having the author read provided warmth and authenticity. The Royals are indeed people like all of us.

Balanced

I thought this was a balanced version of the story. I liked it better Revenge. It seemed to take both sides into account. It wasn’t just a bashing of Harry & Meghan.