Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown (Thorndike Press Large Print Biographies & Memoirs)

Product Description

“Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed “the greatest disappointment” and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive the vipers of court life with her sense of humor intact. A unique witness to landmark moments in royal history, Maid of Honor at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and a lady in waiting to Princess Margaret until her death in 2002, Anne’s life has encompassed extraordinary drama and tragedy. In Lady in Waiting, she will share many intimate royalstories from her time as Princess Margaret’s closest confidante as well as her own battle for survival: her broken-off first engagement on the basis of her “mad blood”; her 54-year marriage to the volatile, unfaithful Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who left his fortune to a former servant; the death in adulthood of two of her sons; a third son she nursed back from a six-month coma following a horrific motorcycle accident. Through it all, Anne has carried on, traveling the world with the royal family, including visiting the White House, and developing the Caribbean island of Mustique as a safe harbor for the rich and famous-hosting Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Raquel Welch, and many other politicians, aristocrats, and celebrities. With unprecedented insightinto the royal family, Lady in Waiting is a witty, candid, dramatic, at times heart-breaking personal story capturing life in a golden cage for a woman with no inheritance”–

Review

”
Lady in Waiting…will make you laugh and cry and gasp….At the heart is loss, grief, stoicism, and love.”
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Airmail

“A smart, dishy, and truly touching autobiography.”–
Town & Country

“Lady Glenconner provides an open and honest look into the private lives of England’s royal family and the most elite members of society. The author’s sense of humor shines through in her writing, bringing levity to some of the difficult times that peppered her life.”–
Library Journal (starred review)

“Whether describing scenes of delicacy or debauchery, these insider accounts are fascinating. Glenconner is unfailingly perceptive, honest, and amazingly down-to-earth, a survivor who embodies the British trait of “getting on with it.””
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Booklist (starred review)

“In this genuine and candid work, Lady Anne recounts her story, offering some rare insight into the uniquely fascinating world of royal life.”–
BookRiot

“A must-read book of the year.”
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Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

“Anne Glenconner’s life story is a combination of royal magic, personal tragedy and resilient survival. With humor, courage, and preternatural poise, Anne Glenconner triumphed over all of it and at last tells the story of her uniquely fascinating life.”
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Tina Brown

“Discretion and honor emerge as the hallmarks of Glenconner’s career as a royal servant, culminating in this book which manages to be both candid and kind.”–
The Guardian

“One of the most enjoyable books of 2019.”–
Alison Pearson, The Sunday Telegraph

“Rollicking… a fascinating, anthropological portrait of the… privilege-soaked world of the British aristocracy… extraordinary anecdotes… Anne’s book paints such a rich picture of the aristocracy it’s impossible not to marvel at the institution, both in admiration and horror.”–
Sydney Morning Herald

About the Author

Lady Glenconner was born Lady Anne Coke in 1932, the eldest daughter of the 5th Earl of Leicester, and grew up at their ancestral estate at Holkham Hall in Norfolk, England. A Maid of Honor at the Queen’s coronation, she married Lord Glenconner in 1956. They had five children together, three of whom survive. In 1958 she and her husband began to transform the island of Mustique into a paradise for the rich and famous. They