I recently had the privilege of reading one of the best histories of the British monarchy I have ever been exposed to in the above-titled book by Andrew Morton, and what a detailed proof it is. This, from a writer and journalist who has come to be known world-wide as not only a royal biographer of Diana, Princess of Wales, but Queen Elizabeth II, and her sister, Princess Margaret, among more recent royal figures, and Hollywood luminaries.
But there is something special in this biography to me because not only does it reveal the kinds of relationships within the Churchill household itself—from the time of his birth onward—but the nature of his relationships with the royal house of Windsor itself, and how he cultivated those relationships, friendly, fraught, unfriendly, and meanspirited to his whim from the time of his childhood until his political rise, after the First World War.
Churchill, more than any other western figure of the 20th Century understood the essential need for stability in an unwritten constitutional monarchy which some in the British Parliament saw as outdated, and wished to dismantle. When he died in 1965 he was seen as a genius of making that system work. So well, in fact, that during World War II, he became –as Prime Minister—essential to the survival of Great Britain when some wished to negotiate with the Nazis in Germany for a peace deal.
In Great Britain this was more intolerable than one could imagine. The names of the royal household themselves were Germanic in origin. Just before the start of the war, King Edward VIII abdicated his throne for “the woman I love” Wallis Simpson—twice divorced American socialite (the horror)—and was a known Nazi sympathizer. The royal household’s lineage was indeed German from the House of Hanover. They tried to smooth that name over with the anglicized name Mountbatten. It did not invite trust.
But his was a life of making friends in places where it seemed nearly impossible. His own father, Randolph discouraged him from a career in politics owing, perhaps, to his poor relationships with aristocrats due to his American wife. He steered Winston toward a military career which nearly ended disastrously but, due to good connections which knew how to capitalize on, retrieved him, and propelled him forward to the career in politics he craved.
And this is the forte in which Morton reports most effectively—the nature of the relationships with all of the royals, from George V to Elizabeth II and he Consort Philip II, who famously did not get on with Churchill at all.
The correspondence cited by Morton is superb and essential reading. Many Churchill scholars from Blenheim Palace and Cambridge University were consulted for details on the relationships which contributed to this excellent and entertaining read. I highly recommend it.
Click on the picture to purchase your copy today!
I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.