An interesting look at the British Royal Family but at times a bit dull book. ( )

Doesn't do what it says on the tin

This book is a disappointment. It is meant to be about life in the royal household since the middle ages, in other words a detailed history of the support mechanism for monarchs – the complex arrangement of servants high and low within the household. Although there is some of this, for example in relation to the Middle Ages and also the beginning of Victoria's reign, there is actually relatively little about those who worked in the household, even when, as for the latter years of Victoria's reign, there is a huge amount of material available.

Much of the book is taken up with well-known anecdotes about the monarchs themselves – Queen Anne's foibles, George IV's delinquencies, the madness of George III and so on. Further into the book there is far too much about George V's dogs, his stamp collecting, and later still Elizabeth II's coronation (a photograph of a four-year-old Prince Charles looking bored at that event may be amusing, but is hardly relevant). Towards the end, the book descends into a summary of recent scandals affecting the monarchy, albeit with an emphasis on staff who spilt the beans.

The book has some good illustrations and is well-produced, although tighter editing might have removed some of the superficial throwaway comments. ( )

Some of the information was interesting, but overall, the book was very dry and dull. The information wasn't presented in any logical order, either chronological or topical that I could tell, so, I just couldn't get into it. ( )