The Palace Papers

Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil

By: Tina Brown

Narrated by: Tina Brown

Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “addictively readable” (The Washington Post) inside story of the British royal family’s battle to overcome the dramas of the Diana years—only to confront new, twenty-first-century crises

“Frothy and forthright, a kind of Keeping Up with the Windsors with sprinkles of Keats.”—The New York Times (Notable Book of the Year)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Elle, Town & Country

“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specif­ically, there could never be “another Diana”—a mem­ber of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the Brit­ish monarchy.

Picking up where Tina Brown’s masterful The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the trau­matic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

Brown takes listeners on a tour de force journey through the scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals that have buffeted the monarchy over the last twenty-five years. We see the Queen’s stoic re­solve after the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip, her partner for seven decades, and how she triumphs in her Jubilee years even as family troubles rage around her. Brown explores Prince Charles’s determination to make Camilla Parker Bowles his wife, the tension between William and Harry on “different paths,” the ascend­ance of Kate Middleton, the downfall of Prince An­drew, and Harry and Meghan’s stunning decision to step back as senior royals. Despite the fragile monar­chy’s best efforts, “never again” seems fast approaching.

Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevoca­bly change how the world perceives and under­stands the royal family.

©2022 Random House (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Zingers crisscross these pages like tracer fire. . . . [Tina Brown] becomes the ideal tour guide: witty, opinionated and adept at moving us smoothly from bedchamber to belowstairs while offering side trips to the cesspits of the tabloid press, the striving world of second-tier celebrities and the threadbare lodgings of palace supernumeraries.”—The Wall Street Journal

“[Tina Brown] deploys her sterling contacts and deeply embedded sources, her familiarity with British royal history and her personal encounters with royals, palace courtiers, politicians and journalists to serve up a luscious feast of . . . well, yes, gossip. But what elegant gossip, dressed up in Brown’s stylish sentences and erudite insights.”—USA Today

“Gripping . . . [The] real power of this book is the cumulative picture it builds of lives as they have to be lived by the rules and customs of the Windsor palaces.”—The Daily Beast

Detailed and Balanced

I got this on a whim, wanting to know more about the controversy, since I’m not normally a royal watcher, but a history buff. Im already tired of Harry’s whining and Megan’s snarky brand of narcissism, so I tried to pick a neutral source. I found the book to be detailed and balanced. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Brava, Tina Brown on a marvelous book and reading.

Brava, Tina Brown on a marvelous book and reading. Aaaaaa. There distended words review.

Masterful delivery by Tina Brown

Tina Brown brings the events around the Royal family to life in a way that even a staunch Royal follower will find enlightening. Her book has changed my mind about Meghan and Harry (I disapproved of them greatly and felt they should’ve stayed and done their duty, but this book has helped me see that the life experiences and diverse personalities of those involved would’ve ultimately made relations untenable long term). For their own survival and in the best interest of William and Kate (although that was unintended) perhaps their sudden and final break was in the end the best for all. Better to have happened sooner than later. I agree with every word of this book and it’s a masterful delivery by Tina Brown.

Well done

This comes across as a book that was researched well. Easy to read and most interesting !

Perfect Timing

I elected to read this book at the end of August. Never at that time could I imagine today we would be facing the passing of the Queen with the worlds eyes once again so focused on the Royal Family. I enjoyed the book, most of it. Some of it was very foreign to me since my world is vastly different then what life is like for people living under the Monarchy. I have a better sense of who each person is through this authors eyes. At the end of the book I will say I was or am in total agreement with Meagan & Harry electing to live their lives as they see fit. I wish the family all the best (it’s got be difficult to be born into your destination without your own say) and especially Harry and Meagan.

Very Balanced and Entertaining

I wasn’t sure what to think before I started this well researched and interesting book. I’m an American who loves the Queen and all thinks monarchy. Like a lot of us Americans though I might be fascinated but would hate to fund these people!
That being said Ms Brown’s book was well researched and very balanced. She looks at the perks and extreme pressures of the royal family.
Her clipped aristocratic accent was also perfect.
Loved this book.

All the Juicy Royal Intel

This was a fascinating and no holds barred behind the scenes look at the British monarchy in the later years after Princess Diana's death. All the majors are covered with intimate looks at life behind the scenes. From the campaign to add Camilla, the childhood of William and Harry to Kate and Meghan and Andrew's fall from grace are all here with biting commentary. Best book on the Royals since Kitty Kelley's book 'The Royals. " The audio book was read by the author and I was glued to this until finishing. A particularly good book for non Brits, as it explains how the "The Firm" works and what is expected of members of the Royal family. If this book has been written before Meghan married Harry, things might have been different. Bottom line is no one upstaged the Queen and Diana was brilliant at it.

A great book

A great book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age such as myself. I found myself to be engrossed in the material and generally informed of key elements within the royal family that I was beforehand unaware of. I found this book to be realatable and generally well written and I further highly recommend this book.

Entertaining romp

I’m not obsessed with the royals but I know more than the average person. This book covers a lot, some fresh, some not, but it’s comprehensive. I had no problem understanding Tina Brown. I enjoyed her gossipy style.

Loved the narration

Although some were not a huge fan of the audio, I thoroughly enjoyed Tina Brown’s narration. I think it adds an entirely different dimension to the book itself, and often times found myself laughing at the way she hilariously imitates others’ voices and the overall tone of the novel. Very in-depth look into the royal family, and with a great sense of humor. Highly recommend!