Lady in Waiting
My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
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4.4 • 228 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
**OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD**
**THE TIMES MEMOIR OF THE YEAR 2019**
'The best royal book by miles . . . funny, gossipy and riveting'
JANE RIDLEY, SPECTATOR
'If your jaw doesn't drop at least three times every chapter, you've not been paying proper attention'
SUNDAY TIMES
'A captivating account of a life lived with resilience and grace'
DAILY MAIL
'The stoical Lady G writes with infectious joy and optimism'
DAILY EXPRESS
'The gossip is stupendous but it's also tremendously touching. It's one of those books that makes you long for bed so you can read more!'
JILLY COOPER
'I can't recommend it highly enough'
LORRAINE KELLY
'Gentle, wise, unpretentious, but above all inspiring'
THE TIMES
'A candid, witty and stylish memoir'
MIRANDA SEYMOUR, FINANCIAL TIMES
'Stalwart and disarmingly honest . . . emotion resonates through this delightful memoir'
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
'Discretion and honour emerge as the hallmarks of Glenconner's career as a royal servant, culminating in this book which manages to be both candid and kind'
GUARDIAN
'I couldn't put it down. Funny and touching - like looking through a keyhole at a lost world.'
RUPERT EVERETT
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The remarkable life of Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret who was also a Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation. Anne Glenconner reveals the real events behind The Crown as well as her own life of drama, tragedy and courage, with the wonderful wit and extraordinary resilience which define her.
Anne Glenconner has been close to the Royal Family since childhood. Eldest child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, she was, as a daughter, described as 'the greatest disappointment' by her family as she was unable to inherit. Her childhood home Holkham Hall is one of the grandest estates in England. Bordering Sandringham the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were frequent playmates.
From Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation to Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Glenconner is a unique witness to royal history, as well as an extraordinary survivor of a generation of aristocratic women trapped without inheritance and burdened with social expectations.
She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. Together they turned the island into a paradise for the rich and famous, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and it became a favourite retreat for Princess Margaret.
But beneath the glitz and glamour there has also lurked tragedy. On Lord Glenconner's death in 2010 he left his fortune to a former employee. And of their five children, two grown-up sons died, while a third son had to be nursed back from a coma by Anne, after having suffered a near fatal accident.
Anne Glenconner writes with extraordinary wit, generosity and courage and she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret, and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Glenconner, former lady-in-waiting to England's Princess Margaret, provides a rare behind-the-scenes look at the British royal family in this heartbreaking and engrossing memoir. Born in 1932, the eldest child of the future Earl of Leicester and "the greatest disappointment on behalf of her sex," an entrepreneurial Glenconner found herself "in a great many odd circumstances" growing up, including a stint selling pottery traveling from town to town, on her way to adulthood. In 1953, Glenconner served as maid of honor at Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and in 1971, Princess Margaret invited her to be a lady-in-waiting, a position she held until Margaret's death in 2002. Throughout this time, Glenconner met presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and hobnobbed with celebrities including David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Raquel Welch at Glenconner's husband's private Caribbean island. Glenconner's an entertaining writer, even as she describes being married to the volatile but charming Colin Tennant for 54 years, through his tantrums, absences, and affairs. She becomes wistful when she writes of suffering through one of her children's drug addiction, another's death to AIDS, and one's near-fatal motorcycle accident that left him in a coma for months. This memoir of life amid British royalty is full of understated wit and charm.
Customer Reviews
Lady in Waiting
Absolutely brilliant read, I laughed, I cried and was utterly astonished at times, what an incredible and extraordinary life this wonderful lady has led and continues to do so. Thank you for sharing your memoirs, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I wish I hadn’t read it so fast, but I just couldn’t put it down!
Extraordinary
Full of beautiful memories, a fable like extraordinary life.
Lady in waiting
Brilliant, funny, sad, interesting. What a life this woman had.