Search results for ""author andrew morton""

'The best account so far of the most notorious woman... Andrew Morton presents a convincing picture of Wallis Simpson's rip-roaring sexual and social adventures and her curious marriage to the Duke of Windsor... His new research adds to our knowledge of her whole career.' Sarah Bradford, historical biographer'Remarkable. Supersedes and surpasses all previous Wallis biographies... Andrew Morton's crowning achievement.' – Christopher Wilson, author of Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue'[a] groundbreaking biography of Wallis Simpson... Morton has finally given her the biography she deserves.' – The Lady ____________________________________________Sunday Times bestselling author Andrew Morton reveals new information and sources that totally transform our perception of Wallis Simpson. Wallis in Love brings a fascinating new perspective on the 20th century's most controversial royal scandal. Andrew Morton's impeccable research and unerring skill for riveting storytelling combine to present a strong case for a startling reveal: that the woman who rocked the world with her uncompromising passion for the Prince of Wales may have fooled everyone by keeping the true object of her passion hidden away... From her relatively lowly beginnings in America, to her rise through the social ranks and her determination to one day beat men at their own game and the ultimate conquest of the Prince of Wales, Morton paints a vivid and multi-faceted picture of a woman, who may have won the jewel in the British crown but very possibly at the expense of her true happiness. Wallis in Love reveals the men Wallis truly loved, the men who broke her heart – and the hearts she broke in turn. In this vivid and fresh portrait of the Duchess of Windsor, Morton draws on interviews, secret letters, diaries and never before seen or heard primary sources.

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THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER-ONE BESTSELLER. AS FEATURED IN SEASON 5 OF THE CROWN.When Diana: Her True Story was first published in 1992 it changed the way the public viewed the British monarchy. Never before had a senior royal spoken in such a raw, unfiltered way about her marriage, her hopes and fears and her extraordinary life inside the House of Windsor. An icon in life and a legend in death, Diana continues to fascinate and now, more than twenty-five years on, Andrew Morton has revisited the secret tapes he and the late princess made, to reveal startling new insights into her life and mind.A unique literary classic, Diana: Her True Story is the closest we will ever come to her autobiography.‘The most carefully researched, authoritative book about the royal family ever.’ The Sunday Times

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In his new book, Andrew Morton reveals new information and sources that totally transforms our perception of Wallis Simpson. From the day she was born in a ramshackle cottage in the hills to revealing what really happened the night her husband died, Morton paints a fresh and enticing portrait of the Duchess of Windsor.

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In this entertaining and insightful biography, award-winning writer Andrew Morton, author of Diana, Her True Story and Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, takes you behind the scenes to uncover the woman and her world.For years she prayed for her mother to give birth to a son. She longed to be spared her destiny as Britain’s future Queen. Her dream was to live in the country surrounded by children, dogs and horses.But Elizabeth did her duty, the young princess pledging before her people that she would dedicate her whole life to the service of Britain and the Commonwealth. She hoped that that day would be a long way off. It was not to be. Only twenty-five when she became Queen after the premature death of her father, King George Vl, Elizabeth became the stuff of superlatives: the longest reigning, most travelled and, for a shy woman, the Queen who shook more hands and made more small talk than any other monarch in history. She was seen and believed by millions, either in person, on television or film.Elizabeth was set firmly on the road to becoming sovereign because of the D word – divorce. In 1936, her uncle David, King Edward VIII, wanted to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. When he couldn’t, he abdicated. After that national trauma, divorce and the fall-out from divorce shaped her reign. She witnessed her sister Margaret, three of her children and several grandchildren divorce. And she lived long enough to see the wheel turn full circle, watching as another American divorcee, Meghan Markle, walked down the aisle with her grandson Prince Harry.While her reign was defined by divorce, her private life was moulded by an irascible husband, an extravagant mother and a querulous eldest son. In the winter of her reign she refereed a war between two of her grandsons, brothers William and Harry who were once inseparable friends. As the first monarch to reign for seventy years, she became, following a once in a lifetime pandemic, the reassuring face of hope and optimism, the grandmother to the nation.

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The first in-depth dual-biography of Elizabeth & Margaret, written by the bestselling royal biographer, Andrew Morton.They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called ‘Lillibet’. And bow to her wishes.Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister’s antics with a kind of stoical amusement but Margaret’s struggle to find a place and position inside the royal system – and her fraught relationship with its expectations – was often a source of tension. Famously, the Queen had to inform Margaret that the Church and government would not countenance her marrying a divorcee, Group Captain Peter Townsend, forcing Margaret to choose between keeping her title and royal allowances or her divorcee lover.From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden wartime lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father’s death and Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. Andrew Morton, renowned bestselling author of Diana: Her True Story, offers unique insight into these two drastically different sisters – one resigned to duty and responsibility, the other resistant to it – and the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family and the way it has adapted to the changing mores of the twentieth century.

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Following her death in September 2022, the outpouring of affection and admiration for the Queen was as touching as it was remarkable. She had been a matriarch to the nation for over seven decades, and tens of millions of people – in Britain and across the world – poured forth their heartfelt respect for this extraordinary woman in the ten days of mourning that followed. Including a queue of up to twenty-four hours’ wait, momentous ceremonial processions across two countries and emotional coffin-side vigils from the monarch’s closest family members – these were events the scale of which are unlikely to be repeated.In this insightful biography, veteran royal biographer Andrew Morton charts Elizabeth’s life, from her ascent to the throne at twenty-five, through fifteen Prime Ministers; the turmoil and tragedies of family life that dogged her until the end; a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, during which she became the reassuring face of hope and optimism, solidifying her status as grandmother to the nation; and on to her record-breaking Platinum Jubilee, the first UK monarch to reign for over seventy years.Now updated with a compelling new epilogue bringing the Queen’s story to its close, this definitive account offers revelatory insights into the life of an inimitable woman, the likes of whom we will never see again.

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From the internationally renowned bestselling author of Diana: Her True Story and Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, comes the sensational and captivating biography of Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret.They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would have to curtsey to the sister she called ‘Lillibet’. And bow to her wishes.Elizabeth would always look upon her younger sister’s antics with a kind of stoical amusement but Margaret’s struggle to find a place and position inside the royal system – and her fraught relationship with its expectations – was often a source of tension. Famously, the Queen had to inform Margaret that the Church and government would not countenance her marrying a divorcee, Group Captain Peter Townsend, forcing Margaret to choose between keeping her title and royal allowances or her divorcee lover.From the idyll of their cloistered early life, through their hidden wartime lives, into the divergent paths they took following their father’s death and Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, this book explores their relationship over the years. Andrew Morton’s latest biography offers unique insight into these two drastically different sisters – one resigned to duty and responsibility, the other resistant to it – and the lasting impact they have had on the Crown, the royal family and the way it has adapted to the changing mores of the twentieth century.

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‘Highly readable and compelling’ Daily Telegraph _______________What an extraordinary journey it has been for Meghan Markle. In this fully revised and updated biography, Andrew Morton navigates the at times baffling twists and turns of a royal saga that has both engaged and enraged those inside and outside the palace walls. It has taken just three short years for Meghan and Harry to be transformed from golden couple to royal outsiders living in a sprawling mansion in Montecito in California and cutting multi-million-dollar deals with media moguls.From the frothy fun and laughter of her wedding day to darker days and the isolation, loneliness and prejudice she experienced, amplified by what the couple considered to be the sexism and racism of the mass media. Add to that the high and lows of motherhood –the joy of the births of her two beautiful children and the sadness of a miscarriage late into her second pregnancy – it has been nothing less than an emotional rollercoaster.Morton draws on exclusive interviews with those closest to Meghan to uncover the story of her life, from her fractious childhood growing up in the Valley in LA, through her previous marriage and divorce, her struggles in Hollywood, her work as a humanitarian ambassador, her life as the Duchess of Sussex – and the seemingly bottomless rift that has developed between the Sussexes and the House of Windsor.

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