- Description
- xxii, 596 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), map; 25 cm
- Summary
- Prince Charles is the oldest heir to the British throne in more than three hundred years. This biography -- the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus, and more -- is filled with fresh insights into Charles's life, in and out of the public eye. 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 relationship 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. His life is dictated by protocol, yet he often struggles to obey it. He seeks influence and authority, yet he lives perpetually in the shadow of his mother and the beloved next generation of royals. Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic, and compelling than we knew, until now.
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [515]-569) and index.
- Contents
- The lonely schoolboy -- Cold showers in the morning -- Heir to a fortune -- Nixon plays matchmaker -- The shadow of Camilla -- Wild oats -- Searching for meaning -- Prince without a princess -- Diana snares her man -- Glamour and heartache -- Naming and shaming -- A marriage in shambles -- Dangerous liaisons -- Butterfly mind -- Midlife melancholy -- Timeless principles -- Love tape -- Diana's revenge -- Wounded feelings -- Scarlet A -- Three in a marriage -- Breathing the same air -- Tragedy in Paris -- No ordinary pilgrim -- Media makeover -- Out of the shadows -- Cracking the ice -- Deaths in the family -- Blackadder's revenge -- Hitched at last -- Camilla joins the firm -- Royal infighting -- A prince in full -- Rising sons -- On the defensive -- The magnificent seven -- Rehearsing new roles -- The shadow king's legacy -- "Don't ever stop."
- ISBN
- 9781400067909
- 1400067901
- 9780812988437 (canceled/invalid)
- 0812988434 (canceled/invalid)
- LCCN
- 2016031117
- OCLC
- YBP 2016031117
- Author
Smith, Sally Bedell, 1948- author.
- Title
Prince Charles : the passions and paradoxes of an improbable life / Sally Bedell Smith.
- Publisher
New York : Random House, [2017]
- Edition
First edition.
- Type of Content
text
- Type of Medium
unmediated
- Type of Carrier
volume
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [515]-569) and index.