Review by Booklist Review
Junor, longtime royal watcher and biographer of the family, here offers a look at the woman who may one day be England's queen, the much reviled Camilla, wife of Prince Charles. Much of her persona was defined by Princess Diana, who famously called her a rottweiler and said her own marriage was doomed because there were three of them in it. So Junor is here to set the record straight, with this story being told from Camilla's perspective (though she's not named as a source, it's clear that information is coming from her side). The account follows Camilla's horsey, carefree childhood; her young romance with then-single Prince Charles; and her shift from friend to paramour after his marriage broke down. How she weathered the period where she was vilified as the other woman is the meatiest part of the book, and her transformation to accepted royal as she's stepped up to her responsibilities seems deserved. Junor annoyingly throws in superfluous backstory and tangential names that stop the narrative at times, but fans of the royals will find this a satisfying piece of the puzzle.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
What seems like simple truth is generally more complex, and according to -journalist Junor (Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son), such is the case with Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, who married Prince Charles in 2005. Everyone imagines that they know the real duchess, while many remain convinced that her behavior largely caused the collapse of Prince Charles's marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales. Even now Camilla continues to suffer public disapproval because of the unrelenting media attention she drew during Diana and Charles's marriage crisis. Junor's biography focuses on Camilla's friendship with Charles before his marriage to Diana, her support and friendship during its collapse, and their eventual union after Diana's death in 1997. Sympathetic and thoughtful toward her subject, Junor's scrupulously even-handed portrait shows the Duchess of Cornwall as dignified, kind, witty, and hardworking. VERDICT Thoroughly well-written, this is a -believable portrait of a woman who did not seek publicity or a royal role but instead to support the love of her life, Prince Charles.-Penelope J.M. Klein, Fayetteville, NY © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The first full-length biography of one of Britain's more reviled public figures.In this richly detailed look at Camilla Parker Bowles (b. 1947), prolific royal family chronicler Junor (Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son, 2014, etc.) adds to her growing library of portraits of members of the household of the Prince of Wales. For many readers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the Duchess of Cornwall is a woman with a past in need of redemption. Cast widely in the press as the dissembling "other woman" responsible for the dissolution of Charles' marriage to the hugely popular Diana Spencer, Camilla is portrayed here as the opposite: a playful, self-effacing pillar of strength and kindness who is "unwavering in her support" of her husband and family. The author tips her hat to her subject early on, writing, "when history comes to judge her, Camilla will not be seen as the woman who nearly brought down the House of Windsor" but rather "recognised as the woman who shored it up." Admitting that Camilla "will never be universally loved because of the early scandal," Junor makes the compelling case that she "came into Charles's broken marriage and gave him something to live for when he was in despair." Mercifully, though, much of the author's portrait attends to Camilla in her own right. Junor shows how Camilla's upper-class upbringing and identification with her war-hero father formed her character and aspirations, influenced her pursuit of and first marriage to the philandering Andrew Parker Bowles, and affected her actions now as a "thoroughly grounded," philanthropic, devoted mother and grandmother who just happened to fall in love with the heir apparent to the British throne.A witty, colorful portrait of Camilla as human that should offer food for thought for Anglophiles and those seeking an antidote to her toxic reputation. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
