Thomas Blaikie
Список книг автора Thomas BlaikieYou look awfully like the Queen: Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor
For fans of the ‘Windsors’ and ‘Now we are Sixty’: a beautifully illustrated collection of amusing and affectionate stories from inside the royal family.Arriving at the theatre, the Queen and the Queen Mother appeared to be having words. ‘Who do you think you are?’ demanded the Queen Mother. ‘The Queen, Mummy, the Queen.’About twenty years ago the Guardian first published two camp anecdotes about the Queen Mother. Readers reeled to see stories actually printed in a national newspaper that until then had had only an underground existence in certain circles. After that, tales about the royal family became respectable; they were also, quite rightly, believed. Taken as a whole they reflect the contradictory roles we like royalty to fulfil: unworldly and impossibly regal or engagingly domesticated and just like us, or camp, worldly and outrageous.In this affectionate tribute Thomas Blaikie has gathered together a compendium of stories, many of them never published before, which provide access to a unique world. How exactly does a Queen react when she finds her footmen draped in her jewels? What does she do to amuse herself as she whiles away the hours sitting for her portrait? And how did the Duchess of Windsor and the Queen Mother really get on? This beautifully illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor.
Corgi and Bess: More Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor
Following the success of ‘You Look Awfully Like the Queen’, this is a second anthology of hilarious and touching royal anecdotes, collected by Thomas Blaikie.An unfortunate culture clash occurred when a Geordie councillor was invited to one of the Queen’s informal lunches. As is the old-fashioned custom there were two puddings. The Queen enquired, ‘Would you like cake or meringue?’ ‘No, y’er not wrang, Your Majesty,’ the councillor replied. 'I'll have the cake.'On a Royal visit to St Albans Abbey in January 2006, the Duchess of Cornwall spied a ladder in a corner and attempted to make an unscheduled ascent. ‘Not in those shoes,’ her lady-in-waiting said firmly, bringing the runaway Duchess back into line.‘It’s for my nanny,’ Prince Harry thoughtfully explained to a somewhat wide-eyed assistant at Selfridges as she popped his purchase into a bag. It was a maribou-trimmed thong.The Royal Family has been a source of curiosity and amusement for centuries, and in this delightful little book, Thomas Blaikie takes a second fond look at the UK’s first family. Published to mark the Queen’s 80th birthday, this second instalment includes more stories of our favourite royals, along with newer additions to the adult clan, including the Duchess of Cornwall and Princes William and Harry.
