Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals

by John Pearson

Overview

From the author of All the Money in the World, now a major motion picture, comes a history of Lady Diana's family, the Spencers, a dynasty that rose from sheep farmers to the ranks of upper aristocracy and, finally, royalty.

When Lady Diana Spencer married the Prince of Wales in 1981, very little attention was given to her feudal family. The once powerful Spencer dynasty was in disarray and seemed to have outlived its usefulness. In the years following Diana's death, however, the spotlight turned to and remained on the Spencers. Members of what appeared to be a dysfunctional aristocratic family more than came into their own.

Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals addresses the questions surrounding the Spencer family story: their chequered history, their intriguing character, and, through the influence of Prince William, their future role within the monarchy. For while Diana left an indelible mark on the British nation and on those who loved and admired her around the world, she also left an indelible mark on the royal family of Windsor: her Spencer genes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448207770
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Pearson is the author of All the Money in the World (previously titled Painfully Rich), now a major motion picture directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg and Christopher Plumber (nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). He is also the author of The Profession of Violence, on which the Tom Hardy film Legend is based, and the follow-up, The Cult of Violence.

Born in Surrey, England in 1930, Pearson worked for Economist, The Times, and The Sunday Times, where he was the assistant of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Pearson published the definitive biography of Fleming, The Life of Ian Fleming in 1966.

Pearson has since written many more successful works of both fiction and non-fiction. Biographies remain his specialty with accomplished studies of the Sitwells, Winston Churchill and the Royal Family.
John Pearson is the author of All the Money in the World (previously titled Painfully Rich), now a major motion picture directed by Ridley Scott film and starring Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg and Christopher Plumber (nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). He is also the author of The Profession of Violence, on which the Tom Hardy film Legend is based, and the follow-up, The Cult of Violence.

Born in Surrey, England in 1930, Pearson worked for Economist, The Times, and The Sunday Times, where he was the assistant of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Pearson published the definitive biography of Fleming, The Life of Ian Fleming in 1966.

Pearson has since written many more successful works of both fiction and non-fiction. Biographies remain his specialty with accomplished studies of the Sitwells, Winston Churchill and the Royal Family.

Editorial Reviews

Those who admire the late Princess of Wales and those who are drawn to accounts of English dynastic history will find the story of the Spencers engrossing.

Publishers Weekly

Sure to appeal to Royal watchers...a robust family history.

Booklist

The late Princess of Wales, formerly Lady Diana Spencer, is probably the Spencer readers know best, but the family also includes the names Churchill and Marlborough and a number of fascinating stories. From the ancestor known and almost universally despised as ‘Shameless Sunderland’ and ‘the great apostate of Althorp’ to the legendary Sarah Marlborough...and Diana herself, the Spencers are an extremely interesting family. Here, Pearson makes it obvious why Diana Spencer could never be the quiet and complaisant wife Prince Charles and the Royal Family were expecting. The story is entertaining and involving....Strongly recommended.

Library Journal