The english academic Jane Ridley wrote this book some time ago but I have only just got around to reading it.
I have always been interested in the politics of the time both in Europe and the UK afterall David Lloyd George is one of the most interesting politicians you could read about.
However I have never read anything on the English royal family so I borrowed the book with trepidation.
Well I should not have been. It was a fascination read.
I didn't know Queen Victoria was unpopular nor Bertie the Prince of Wales equally so. Victoria rarely made any public appearances after her beloved Albert dies.
Bertie is a book which is designed to enhance his reputation however the more I read about him the more I was repulsed.
He was not very intelligent but quite personable. So it appears he inherited some of his Mother's genes but none of his father's. His sexual escapades were both legendary and disgraceful as it almost always was adultery. He continued this even when King.
What I found unanswered was how could this man have so many sexual escapades. He was fat, he smoked regularly , was a glutton and drank a lot. Being gregarious does not make up for that. Given whom he bedded they were not royal groupies so why did the women do it. The author does not even entertain this question at all.
She does say his popularity as a King was as a result of his faults. He was one of them apparently. The punters could relate to him.
She also attempts to show how good he was at foreign affairs ( and how poor Edward Grey was). I was not convinced. She absolutely destroys the Kaiser
One interesting aspect of the man was his sheer hypocrisy went it came to formality. No separate or divorced couples for him. you also had to wear the right clothes for the occasion.
The other question not answered is why his danish wife stood by him so staunchly thought their married life. Did she think well adultery is simply part of Bertie's makeup and so I shall put up with it and ignore somewhat. Or did she do what we might call doing a Melania Trump.
However despite my reservations I would recommend reading the book. You do find out about how various royal families act and quite ironically the book helps the republican cause.
Perhaps I should end by finding it amusing how he detested Lloyd George. The politics is understood but in personality and sexual behaviour they were a match. LG however was quite intelligent.
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