QUEST FOR QUEEN MARY

Originally commissioned in 1959 and long out of print, this official biography of Queen Mary who died in 1953 was an unusual commission, a biography of a Queen Consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, as she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Princess May of Teck, engaged to one heir to the English throne and, following his premature death, married to another, lived a long, full and dramatic life as Queen Mary, Consort to George V. Like her parents, Queen Mary was recklessly extravagant, spending vast amounts of money on diamonds, turquoise, emeralds, sapphires, gold boxes and Fabergé and Mr Pope-Hennessy has made great use of archive material, dress books and lists of antique furniture to build a picture of the aristocratic and royal circles. With the names and titles, pastimes and occasions, it is at the same time an hilarious portrait of an eccentric aristocracy of a bygone era. "Almost every page is a gem, but the chapter about Henry Duke of Gloucester must be one of the most hilarious pieces of English prose in our language.' - A. N. Wilson, 2018. Paperback reprint 360pp, 16 pages of photos and other illus and family tree.