Word: royal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...their fans around the world, the British Royal Family seems wholly unworthy of the decorum and severity that surrounds its every public move. People simply adore this bunch of misfits, and it's hilarious to watch crowds cheer the Queen's tiny wave, the Queen Mother's vacant smile, and Prince Charles' shyness as the troupe arrives at Ascot tin open carriages each summer...
...Royal-watcher knows that there's more to these ceremonies than meets the eye. Ascot a horse racing festival created by Edward VII, gives most of the family a hefty dose of boredom. They all have to indulge the Queen's love for the ponies. Prince Philip, forcing a smile for the crowds, conceals a radio in his top had to listen to a cricket match, before disappearing backstage to catch up on work. Princess Diana complains about having to go. The Queen Mother slyly slips two pounds to a footman to wager on a horse. If the steed wins...
...find a weal ht of such stories in Royal Secrets, the latest addition to the library of behind-the-scenes books published since he 1981 wedding made the Royals into a worldwide fad. These recollections of Stephen Barry, Prince Charles' former valet, tell about the Buckingham Palace staff, the exhaustive preparations for all forms of Royal ceremonies, and inside chatter about the sheltered, affluent lifestyle of the world's richest people...
...gossip and scandal, there are many better places to look. For example, most of the above tidbits about Ascot come from a much newsier source, the classic 1983 Book of Royal Lists Barry, who apparently was fired by Princess Diana shortly after the marriage, pulls too many punches in this, the second volume of his memories of 15 years of laying out clothes for the Prince of Wales...
...ROYAL SECRETS TAKES US step-by-step through the "downstairs" of Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, and the other Royal residences, dropping harmless chit-chat at every turn. Prince Philip, we harm, visits the kitchen regularly to berate the cooks. Prince Charles hung out there as a child, but by the time he reached 30 he had forgotten the way. Lady Diana, captive in the palace before her wedding, spent so much time in the pantry that The Yeoman of the Glass and China finally threw her out. "Through there is your side of the house. Your Royal Highness," he said, pointing...