The Royals »

Kitty Kelley is a journalist who has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping and more. She is the bestselling author of Jackie Oh!; Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star; Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography; The Royals; and The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty and has an upcoming biography of Oprah Winfrey (Crown, 2010).


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Biography of the British royal family; includes new chapter.

Library Journal

Gossipmonger Kelly narrates her latest unauthorized biography, this time targeting Britain's royal family. She has included some interesting factual information about the royals, describing the early-20th-century history of the family and its ties to Germany. But the biography is a mix of fact and tawdry, unsubstantiated innuendo (Phillip may be bisexual, one son may not be his, etc.). Wherever possible, Kelley's inflections as narrator make events seem naughtier still. There are two obvious flaws: not once are sources cited clearly, and most of the slurs are based on what someone says without scrutiny of motives. Of the family, the Queen comes out of the fray best, and Charles definitely gets the worst of it. Throughout, schlock rules over scholarship. Not recommended.Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, N.C.