Book Review: "Queens and Kings" by Lucy Worsley (Pt.6)

The final part of our journey through Queens and Kings, the new book by Lucy Worsley is slowly coming to its own end and I would like the make the following statement: I have absolutely loved reading about all the private and whispered ideas behind closed doors of the royal household, the myth-busting that the author commits herself to is above and beyond what I have read in books of a similar calibre. I am often left with the thought of ranking all of these books but then I also think about how each of them are actually quite different - each in their own great way. And so, even though it sounds like I'm biased towards Lucy Worsley I will say this - if you're looking for a history journey that is littered with myth-busting, great entertainment and personal passions of the author then she is definitely the writer for you. I think she is absolutely amazing and this book is testament to that.

In her chapter on Bertie, Lucy Worsley does move away from the constant disappointment he served to his parents and sees him come into his own - which isn't actually much better to be honest. At this turning point towards the modernisation of the monarchy one thing we get to see is that these people have gone from being front and centre to sitting on the back row as puppet rulers of power they no longer yield in reality. Parliament gets bigger and bigger, the monarch now only rules by name and title. Bertie being a bit of a character seems to be testament to that but then there's another character who in her title of 'Princess' captured the party atmosphere perfectly: Margaret.

In her chapter on Princess Margaret, Lucy Worsley makes an effort to show Margaret as she truly was. Not just a party girl, she was also a modern woman. Then again, she did represent the changing ideas of the monarchy in a stark contrast to the anti-feminist Queen Victoria. No, it's not as detailed as Craig Brown's book Ma'am Darling which is all about Princess Margaret and her endeavours and it's not as unbearable as how she is presented as a cliché in The Crown. But what Lucy Worsley does is she shows us a story of Margaret in comparison to the other personal lives of other royals and thus, we get a journey through the intimacy of the monarchy that I don't think I have ever read about before. This is definitely a different kind of book and I really quite enjoy seeing how Margaret rebelled as a comparison to how Queen Victoria did - they are very different, but they are both modernising in a way.

Lucy Worsley's side stories about her work are always fun to read but one of the other things I love about this particular section is, and I know we have covered this already, but it's how different it is from the first section. I would have liked her to also cover the times before Henry VIII and the famed six wives, perhaps looking into the more Medieval era. Hopefully, she will dedicate a whole book to this. I loved the fact that Worsley removes the mythologies from the women of the different eras, looking at how their stories have been shaped by the men around them and the men who studied them afterwards - censoring their narratives.

This I feel, has not been her longest book but it has been very very enjoyable. If you're looking to read Lucy Worsley's books but don't mind the order, this book would be a great place to start as you can get an overview for Queen Victoria before reading the bigger book on her entire life. When it comes down to it though, I don't think many things could beat Jane Austen at Home for me because it is such a beautiful read. Be that as it may, I have also enjoyed learning about Lucy Worsley's career as a historian - yes, even the story of her sharing her office with a raven! I am both glad for finishing this book and yet I'm upset because now I'm going to have to wait for another one...