Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Royal Follies: A Chronicle of Royal Misbehavior

Author: David Randall
Stars: 1
Review by: MandyApgar

 OK - let's get three things straight.
1. Anne Boleyn did not have an 11th finger.
2. She did not have a gigantic near disfiguring lump on her neck.
3. She did not, as far as legitimate history has recorded, have a third nipple.
 
That may seem like a really odd way to review something but that is just one of many examples of myths and half truths represented as fact in this book. Instead of doing much fact checking the author seemed more determined to print whatever he felt like irregardless of truth. The one statement that I found most offensive was that Gandhi presented Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with a loincloth on their wedding as a sort of wink wink type gift. Although it is true that Queen Mary at first thought the tea tray cover was such an object, the rest of the story is complete fabrication and the item now is one of the Queen's most revered treasures. For a much more accurate, well written (this tries a bit too hard to be funny, but instead just comes off as snarky), and actually interesting account read Farquhar's Treasury of Royal Scandals.

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