cover image The Private Lives of Britain's Royal Women: Their Passions and Power

The Private Lives of Britain's Royal Women: Their Passions and Power

Unity Hall. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary, $0 (232pp) ISBN 978-0-8092-4293-1

Although this examination of England's royal women offers little new information, it presents an entertaining picture of the monarchy's accommodation to contemporary mores. Divorce is no longer the impediment or stigma it was in the celebrated cases of the Duchess of Windsor and Princess Margaret. Hall ( Royal Style ) discourses on arranged marriages, ``suitable'' marriages, and the few marriages in which the couple remains in love (Fergie and Andrew). Gossip abut Diana, Fergie and socially aggressive Princess Michael, observations about intimate lifestyles, and a retrospective glance at prominent royal wives and mistresses suggest a gradually emerging quasi-feminism among the women of today's royalty. Photos not seen by PW. (June)