**SPECTATOR BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020** **TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020** **SUNDAY EXPRESS BOOKS OF
THE YEAR 2020** 'A must if you love The Crown' Good Housekeeping 'For a glimpse into the lives
of the young princesses these diaries are riveting' Daily Mail Christmas Books 2020 'A
wonderful book' A. N. Wilson Spectator Books of the Year 2020 'A new perspective on Lilibet
as she fell for her future husband' Sunday Express Books of the Year 2020 'Funny astute
poignant and historically fascinating' The Times 'A compelling and revealing insight into the
teenage life of the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret' Richard Kay
Daily Mail 'I loved reading this so reminiscent of my own childhood' Anne Glenconner author
of Lady in Waiting 'Alathea found herself living in Windsor with the Princesses throughout the
Second World War. She captures that tiny peaceful island in a world on fire' Charles Moore
Spectator 'This is an enthralling book . . . often funny and sometimes truly moving' The Oldie
'Fascinating insight into Elizabeth as a teenager' OK! Magazine ************************ The
Windsor Diaries are the never-before-seen diaries of Alathea Fitzalan Howard who lived
alongside the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at Windsor Castle during the Second World
War. Alathea's home life was an unhappy one. Her parents had separated and so during the war
she was sent to live with her grandfather Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent at Cumberland Lodge in
Windsor Great Park. There Alathea found the affection and harmony she craved as she became a
close friend of the two princesses visiting them often at Windsor Castle enjoying parties
balls cinema evenings picnics and celebrations with the Royal Family and other members of the
Court. Alathea's diary became her constant companion during these years as day by day she
recorded every intimate detail of life with the young Princesses often with their governess
Crawfie or with the King and Queen. Written from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two she
captures the tight-knit happy bonds between the Royal Family as well as the aspirations and
anxieties sometimes extreme of her own teenage mind. These unique diaries give us a bird's
eye view of Royal wartime life with all of Alathea's honest yet affectionate judgments and
observations - as well as a candid and vivid portrait of the young Princess Elizabeth known to
Alathea as 'Lilibet' a warm self-contained girl already falling for her handsome prince
Philip and facing her ultimate destiny: the Crown.
