Now that we've learned that Prince Harry will be publishing his memoirs next year, here's a thread about British royals who have published autobiographies in the past. 🧵
The Duke of Windsor published A KING'S STORY in 1951, fifteen years after his abdication. The Royal Collection holds the copy that he gave to his mother, Queen Mary.
Five years later, in 1956, the Duchess of Windsor published her own memoirs, titled THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS.
Also in 1956, Princess Marie Louise (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria) published MY MEMORIES OF SIX REIGNS. She died a few months later.
Another of Queen Victoria's granddaughters, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, published her memoirs, FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN, in 1966.
And in 1996, Sarah, Duchess of York published MY STORY. Her divorce from the Duke was finalized the same year. In 2011, she published a second autobiography, FINDING SARAH.
Adding a few more! Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester published a pair of memoirs: THE MEMOIRS OF PRINCESS ALICE, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER (1983) and MEMORIES OF NINETY YEARS (1992).
And, of course, though she was not the writer or co-writer of the book, Diana, Princess of Wales was the primary source for Andrew Morton's DIANA: HER TRUE STORY. The book was originally published in the summer of 1992.
The books generally fall into two categories: memoirs written by elderly members of the British royal family reflecting on their royal lives (Marie Louise, the Alices), or memoirs written by royals/former royals who have left the family in some capacity (Windsors, Sarah, Harry).
In 1983, this was the reaction of the Daily Mirror to the publication of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester's memoirs.
...and here's the Daily Mirror's reaction to Sarah's forthcoming memoir in 1996.
A quick reminder to writers and journalists who may be reading: if you find any of these tweets useful in your research, please give me both a credit and a link. Thanks.
(And yes, as I said here, there's certainly a case to be made for adding Jonathan Dimbleby's 1994 biography of Charles to this list.)
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