Crown Jewels

Globally famous and yet universally misunderstood – these are the complex and utterly engrossing stories of Britain's royal women behind the public façade.

Look closely at the narratives about contemporary royal women and you will see a repeating pattern, each characterised as the monarchy’s saviour or a destroyer, saint or sinner, or describing an arc between those poles. It is when royal women attempt to define themselves, carve out meaning for themselves, that things get really interesting. “She won’t go quietly. That’s the problem,” said Diana in her controversial Panorama interview. Nor did she.

The requirement that royal women give up their voice was already out of step with those earlier times and her instincts. Her sons’ wives have taken openly divergent paths, Kate dutiful, Meghan kicking against the restraints. Their sharply polarised supporters reject the idea of any commonalities, yet they are there. Both women have seen their lives instrumentalised and distorted.

To appreciate royal women and their significance more clearly, it is necessary to unpick the storylines written for them, the preconceptions projected on to them. They are globally famous and universally misunderstood.

Crown Jewels will unmask characters far more complex and interesting than standard portrayals suggest—and also spotlight the fragility of the monarchy. For more than a century apparently unsinkable, the House of Windsor is floundering. The most compelling and consequential players in this unfolding endgame are royal women.

Reviews

Praise for Charles: The Heart of A King:

A must-read … this important book is nothing short of a manual to our future King’s world-view … and Mayer's book is the first comprehensive attempt to explore and explain what may lie ahead. ― GQ

Primarily a celebration of a very special man. ― Sunday Times

Praise for Attack of The 50ft Woman:

“Empowering and full of hope, Attack of the 50ft Women made me feel 50ft tall. Glass ceilings beware.” Sarah Shaffi, editor at The Bookseller and writer for Stylist

“Electrifying. Full of chutzpah, knowledge and vision.” Elif Shafak

“Comprehensive, wide-ranging and journalistically rigorous. Attack of the 50Ft Women is an important and timely book.” Sunday Express

About the author

Catherine Mayer is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party and Primadonna Festival.