The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made

In this haphazard group portrait of the Kennedy clan and the British royals, Town & Country editor Hallemann recaps decades of the families’ interactions, which gave the Irish American upstarts access to elegance and class while burnishing the Brits with Camelot’s energy and glamor. President Kennedy’s assassination brought real pathos to the relationship, in Hallemann’s telling: Prince Philip marched somberly behind Jackie in the funeral procession, while Elizabeth dedicated a lovely Runnymede site to JFK’s memory. Moving on to the celebrity generation of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr., Hallemann focuses on their shared struggle against paparazzi. (Along with provoking the car crash that killed Diana, dread of photographers prompted JFK Jr. to pilot his own plane to Hyannis Port rather than fly commercial on the day of the deadly crash that killed him, the author suggests.) With next-generation Kennedy prestige subsiding, later chapters center on Windsor intra-family squabbles. (“According to Harry, the Cambridges... were upset over a lack of Easter gifts between the families and the overly familiar way Meghan referenced Kate’s hormones.”) Hallemann steadfastly emphasizes public engagements over private dysfunctions—scandals are but briefly and primly alluded to rather than dished up hot, while lengthy sections get bogged down in the formal meet-and-greets and tedious charity galas where Windsors typically encounter Kennedys. The result is respectful but stuffy and uninvolving. (June)