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Behind Palace Doors  By  cover art

Behind Palace Doors

By: Major Colin Burgess
Narrated by: Bob Sinfield
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Publisher's summary

She was described as the most dangerous woman in Europe by Adolf Hitler; Noël Coward said people who spent any time with her were always reduced to gibbering worshippers; she adored Margaret Thatcher and disliked Germans; she found the French comical and hankered for the old days of Empire and Commonwealth. Above all, though, she was loved by the nation and in this affectionate and often hilarious inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, her former equerry Major Colin Burgess reveals what life was like living with the most private of all the Royals.

Behind Palace Doors is a unique and warmly remembered historic insight into one of our longest-surviving institutions. Constantly fascinating and packed with previously untold stories, this is also a celebration of a life gone - and a way of life fast disappearing.

©2006 John Blake Publishing (P)2012 Prospero Media

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What listeners say about Behind Palace Doors

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  • 01-06-13

Some fun listening.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, because I'd be embarrassed to admit I have a little bit of royal voyeur going on.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The nature of these memoirs calls for a lot of expository setup in each chapter. The book is roughly organized chronologically for the guy's experience as an equerry, but also groups stories into subject areas. Some of it is a stretch to be included - it's less interesting than "Queen Mum drank gin!" - and thus the author/ghost writer has to explain a lot of finicky details that take away from the main anecdotes.

Which character – as performed by Bob Sinfield – was your favorite?

Queen Mum? I mean, that's what this book is about.

Could you see Behind Palace Doors being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

n/a

Any additional comments?

A fun listen to have around, I took it in a few chapters at a time over the last year.

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5 people found this helpful

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Wonderful and very touching.

Being a great fan of the Queen Mum and a child of WWII, my admiration of this great Lady is unbounded. He writes so lovingly of her that you can laugh with him at her gentle ways.

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5 people found this helpful

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Highly recommended

The narrator is great, great story, worth to listen for all Royal family fan out there, very funny too. One of the best I've listen to lately.

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4 people found this helpful

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Highly Entertaining if you are old enough to remember the Queen Mum!

Wanted a book that was an enjoyable easy listen to when I commute to work or do mundane things! The near raider is truly funny and puts a lot of great voices out there so look forward to each passage! You have to be at least in your 40s probably to enjoy this -otherwise you may not recall most of the history on it.

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3 people found this helpful

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An odd book. Could have been boiled down to an article

The chatty and friendly narration style of Bob Sinfield is the only good part of this book and the only reason I continued to the end. The story is more about Colin and his responsibilities and how great he is than the Queen Mother. There is a lot about her, but most of it is such obvious juvenile exaggeration it is sad. I did some research and learned that when cornered by a reporter, Colin admitted to exaggerating some of the facts. No kidding! The editors must have taken the day off when this was published. There is so much repetition that it was a bit of a slog getting through it. I thought the parts about Andrew to be especially sad. It may be true, but if so, he does not come across as nice. I hope it is another big exaggeration.

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3 people found this helpful

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Serious and Funny

I found the Queen Mother to be very real and it would have been fun to hang out with her...

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2 people found this helpful

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Delightful!

This book was casual and gossipy without being mean.

Filled with first-hand anecdotes from the Queen Mum’s former equerry, it was a light read that keep me entertained throughout.

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loved the personal accounts

it was awesome to get a glimpse at what it is like to be a royal and the actual personalities of the royal family.

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Wonderfully do<br />ne

All of it the whole entire book job well done great the whole entire book with simply fantastic

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great

it was really nice to hear such a personal experience from. someone in the inner circle. loved the narrator

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1 person found this helpful