The never-before-published diaries of Alathea Fitzalan Howard—who spent her teenaged years living out World War II in Windsor Great Park with her close friends Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth, the future queen of the United Kingdom—provide an extraordinary and intimate look at the British Royal Family.
Like so many others in Great Britain, young Alathea Fitzalan Howard’s life was turned upside down by the start of the Second World War. Sent to stay with her grandfather at the historic Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Alathea found the affection she so craved through her close friendship with the two princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and their parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, her neighbors at nearby Windsor Castle.
Together, the girls enjoyed parties, cinema evenings, picnics, and more, all recorded in honest and captivating detail in Alathea’s diary, which she kept as a constant source of comfort. Day by day, from ages sixteen to twenty-two, she recorded the intimate details of her life with the Royal Family and the anxieties of wartime Britain. Now, published for the first time, these unique diaries unveil a candid and vivid portrait of the British Royal Family and of Princess Elizabeth in particular, the warm, quiet young girl who was already on her journey to her ultimate destiny: the Crown.
"A dedicated and meticulous diarist, unfailingly recording the goings-on of her life as the royal family’s welcome interloper.... Howard’s observations imbue the reader with an intimacy of the casual, everyday life of 20th-century British royalty."
"As bombs fell on London during World War II, a young Alathea was whisked to relative safety. The house next door? Windsor Castle. Her new best friends? Princess Margaret and the warm, awkward Princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne. They enjoy picnics, parties, outings to the movies and more, all of it lovingly captured in the diaries Alathea kept for years. This is a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse at the young royals."
"Reveals never-before-heard stories about Elizabeth and Margaret, bringing the young princesses’ private teenage lives into public view. Acting as both a historical document and an engaging series of vignettes, Howard’s diary entries give new insight into the British royal family."
"A parade of delicious details....Alathea's daily diaries captured the royal family at ground level with endearing glimpses as well as astute observations."
