Random Jottings

Charles III - Robert Hardman

In April 2022 I reviewed Robert Hardman's book Queen of Our Times and in my post I said that "Robert Hardman has written an admirable book.  It is refreshingly lacking in hyperbole and he has a journalistic style which makes for easy reading".

And now he has produced a book on Charles III and, once again, I have to use the same phrase. His lack of gush and royal obsequiousness is the main characteristic of the writing. He does not exaggerate or over egg the narrative and what emerges is a very interesting portrait, not just of the King as he is now (written and published before recent health scares) and I found it of immense interest.

I am a Royalist and supporter of the Monarchy and always have been. I find the long line of Kings and Queens all through history absolutely fascinating and the family likenesses and traits emerge over time, all of which can be intriguing or irritating depending on one's point of view.

This book covers the Queen's death in detail though it is not intrusive in any way.  One of the tabloids secured the serialisation rights thus arousing pre-publication interest and, naturally, as one has to sell papers, tended to highlight the antics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.  However, thank goodness, they only feature in a small way in this biography and the author focusses on the events prior to her Majesty's death and the way the machine clicked into action when the news broke.

Of course, her funeral arrangements had been made years before and regularly updated under the codename London Bridge and telephone lines were busy after she passed away with those in charge receiving a call and the given code word.   Everyone then swung into action and my goodness me, did not hang about.

The details of the arrangements, not only of the funeral, but the Proclamation at St James (never filmed before) and then the Coronation are laid out in a meticulous manner and I am totally overwhelmed with admiration at the details and efficiency of all concerned. 

One example - the St Edward's Crown used in the Coronation had to be taken to pieces and expanded to fit the King's Head. "this entailed making four strips of yellow gold, each seven millimetres wide, before sawing up the crown, inserting each strip and then welding it - imperceptibly - to fill the gaps"  I would not care to be the jeweller in charge of that.

After the pomp and the pageantry a large section of the book covers the day to day working life of the King and royalty in general and, once again, incredibly interesting.

Regarding the Commonwealth Hardman posits "that while most ex-colonies opted for a republican constitution some actively chose to retain the British monarch as head of state. In part this was because the Crown was seen to confer greater stability and respectability"

Seems Fidel Castro agreed with this as in 1994, when the Antiguan Prime Minister told him that he wanted to remove the Queen as Head of state the dictator advised him not to. "Does she interfere?" he asked. She did not. "So why are you doing that, you want to be a big tourist island and she is good for showing off your stability"

Can't argue with that!

An absorbing book, well researched, impeccably written and well worth reading.

Catch up

Due to the total inefficiency and imbecility of my network provider I have been without access to the internet for over two weeks. They also took away my landline despite my telling them not to. I reckon I have been on the phone to them for a total of seven hours in the last fortnight and dealing with people of varying efficiency.

January was  D E Stevenson month. I have more to write about her and will do so soon but I just thought I would do a quick reading round up of the other books that I am currently perusing and those I have finished with.

Mick Herron -  The Secret Hours.  I am a huge fan of the Slow Horses books which are now a superb tv series. This is a stand alone novel and the blurb says the following:

"Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. Monochrome's mission was to ferret out misconduct, allowing the civil servants seconded to the inquiry, Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, unfettered access to confidential information in the service archives.

But with progress blocked at every turn, Monochrome is circling the drain . . . Until the OTIS file appears out of nowhere.

What classified secrets does OTIS hold that see a long-redundant spy being chased through Devon's green lanes in the dark? What happened in a newly reunified Berlin that someone is desperate to keep under wraps? And who will win the battle for the soul of the secret service - or was that decided a long time ago?"

You need to take your time with these books. They are dense with facts and events, very similar in ways to a le Carre novel and concentration is vital.  But worth it in the end and I am already sure that this will be snapped up by a tv company as it is brilliant.

A Stranger in the Family - Jane Casey. This is the latest Maeve Kerrigan book, No 11 in the series and is due to be published this Spring. I was fortunate enough to be sent an ARC and I spent one afternoon totally gripped. I am pretty sure that my neighbours heard my scream when I reached the final page as the author has given us a cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers.  When I tackled her about it her response was "expect the unexpected in a murder story Elaine!"

Totally brilliant and I can recommend pre-ordering. I am saying nothing more...

Harlan Coben - Fool me Once.  I have tried this author before but could not get on with his slightly purple prose. I only purchased this as I wanted to find out the ending to Fool me Once as it was on Netflix and everyone was raving about it.  After three episodes I gave up as it was wildly improbable and the acting of the main character was so poor I could not take it. So Kindle were offering if for 99p so I bought it and read it and, gosh it was dire.

Virgin River - Robyn Carr.   I have recently been watching Virgin River on Netflix.  I came across it by accident and am loving it. Yes, it is sentimental, cheesy and smaltzy and I have lost count of the number of times I love you and I love you too is said per episode and how many hugs and group hugs there are, but it is fun.  So I thought I would check out the books. Well, I read the first one which I thought was simply awful so I won't be reading any more. The series is so much better.

Robert Hardiman - King Charles III. I will be reviewing this soon. It is an admirable and absorbing book.

I have also read a few more D E  Stevenson of which more anon.

Such a relief to be back on line!