The King: The Life of Charles III

by Christopher Andersen, Simon Vance (Read by)

Overview

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Christopher Andersen comes a vivid and unsparing yet sympathetic portrait of one of the most complex and enigmatic figures of our time: Charles, who has taken his place on the throne after being the oldest and longest-serving heir in British history.

Since the day Charles Philip Arthur George was born, he has been groomed to be King. After more than seventy years of waiting, he finally ascends the throne.

The King examines the private life of this historically important and controversial figure, set against the grand, thousand-year sweep of the British monarchy. This richly detailed biography covers it all, from his military training to his marriage to Lady Diana, through their separation and her tragic death to his marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles. In the process, it provides a balanced but fully honest look into the life of the new monarch. This book will tell you what the King—a man who has remained something of an enigma, shrouded in speculation and intrigue—is really like.

The King is the first biography of Charles since he has become monarch and serves as an authoritative chronicle of his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797157108
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 6.10(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Christopher Andersen is the critically acclaimed author of eighteen New York Times bestsellers which have been translated into more than twenty-five languages worldwide. Two of his books—The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died (about JFK Jr.)—reached #1. A former contributing editor of Time and longtime senior editor of People, Andersen has also written hundreds of articles for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, Life, and Vanity Fair. Andersen has appeared frequently on such programs as Today, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning, 20/20, Anderson Cooper 360, Dateline NBC, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, 48 Hours, and more.

Simon Vance is the critically acclaimed narrator of approximately 400 audiobooks, winner of 27 AudioFile Earphones Awards, and a 12-time Audie Award-winner. He won an Audie in 2006 in the category of Science Fiction and was named the 2011 Best Voice in Biography and History and in 2010 Best Voice in Fiction by AudioFile magazine. 

 Vance has been a narrator for the past 25 years, and also worked for many years as a BBC Radio presenter and newsreader in London.  Some of his best-selling and most praised audiobook performances include Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies (an Audie award-winner), Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series (all 21 titles), the new productions of Frank Herbert’s original Dune series, and Rob Gifford’s China Road (an AudioFile 2007 Book of the Year). Vance lives near San Francisco with his wife and two sons.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One: Phantoms, Bullies, and a Tunnel of Grief


Prince Charles is the loneliest human being on earth.

—Charles’s friend Patti Palmer-Tomkinson

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 Phantoms, Bullies, and a Tunnel of Grief 1

2 The Little Prince 39

3 Daylight Upon Magic 63

4 "I'm Holding Out for a King" 93

5 "You Will Never Be King!" 121

6 Jealousies and Intrigues and Backstabbing and Plots 181

7 "Oh, Stop Complaining. We All Have Problem Parents" 227

8 "Our Manifold Sins and Wickedness" 265

9 "Off with Their Heads!" 337

10 The Nation Came to a Standstill 365

Acknowledgments 419

Sources and Chapter Notes 425

Bibliography 445

Index 451

Editorial Reviews

2022-11-16
A new biography of the monarch.

Andersen has written about the British royal family for 40 years. In his latest book, following Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan, the author concentrates on the main protagonist in the family’s story after the death of Queen Elizabeth earlier this year. Having waited in the wings for decades to ascend to the throne, Charles promises to be an activist king at a time of enormous change in the U.K. He hopes to take the monarchy from an “enduring but politically toothless symbol of imperial grandeur and national unity” to one that is relevant, politically engaged, and even “dissident.” Among other issues, the author notes, Charles seeks to address “education, architecture, organic farming, wildlife preservation (from the Chatham albatross to the Patagonian toothfish), badger hunting, herbal medicines, [and] overseas funding to restore huts in the Antarctic used in the early twentieth century.” While much of his young life is well documented, often in the prince’s own words, Andersen shows the “strangulated psyches of the Windsors” and the relentless bullying Charles endured at his Scottish boarding school, Gordonstoun. Throughout his life, notes the author, Charles lived under the pall of his parents’ emotional diffidence. The pressure to marry Diana Spencer ended in disaster, and the whole affair led to the monarchy being seen as dispensable and reduced the then Prince of Wales to the most hated member of the family. His rehabilitation—and that of his consort Camilla, regarded by the queen mother in much the same light as Edward VIII’s divorced paramour, Wallis Simpson—has taken years of effort and the late queen’s grudging acceptance. Ultimately, the author concludes, much about Charles is essentially unfathomable, but Andersen provides a generous portrait.

A largely honest portrayal of a flawed leader at the dawn of his reign.

Kirkus Reviews