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![Princess Mary: The First Modern Princess by [Elisabeth Basford, Hugo Vickers]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eJaye0uJL._SY346_.jpg)
Princess Mary: The First Modern Princess Kindle Edition
Elisabeth Basford (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Princess Diana is seen as the first member of the British royal family to tear up the rulebook, and the Duchess of Cambridge is modernising the monarchy in strides. But before them was another who paved the way. Born in 1897, Princess Mary was one of the hardest-working members of the royal family, known for her no-nonsense philosophy. During the First World War she came into her own, launching an appeal to furnish every British troop and sailor with a Christmas gift, and training as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital. As the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, she would live to see not only two of her brothers ascend the throne but also her niece Queen Elizabeth II. In the first biography in decades, Elisabeth Basford offers a fresh appraisal of a princess who redefined the title for the modern age.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherThe History Press
- Publication date5 February 2021
- File size11402 KB
Product description
Review
An enjoyable, worthwhile story, not least in its celebration of an exemplary royal record undertaken with modesty, kindliness and sincerity -- Matthew Dennison, Daily Telegraph
Filled with never previously known information, this first full biography is the definitive read for this refreshingly forward-looking, eternally good-willed and relatively little-known Princess -- Annabel Sampson, Tatler
She was an exemplar of the unflagging postwar countess, always doing good, always keeping busy to stave off grief. When we contemplate the Queen’s lifelong devotion to duty, we sense the influence of her unpretentious aunt -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times
Surprisingly, there has never been a biography of Princess Mary, the Queen's aunt and sister to George VI and the Duke of Windsor, until now. Elisabeth Basford's diligently researched account of the princess's life is therefore a welcome one ... Basford persuasively argues that she was a thoroughly modern member of the royal family, possessed of genuine compassion and interest in helping others ... Perhaps some of her descendants could learn from her
-- Alexander Larman, Observer --This text refers to the hardcover edition.About the Author
Elisabeth Basford is a writer based in South Yorkshire. She has 25 years' experience as a teacher and examiner, and has written for magazines and online publications including Cosmopolitan, Red, and Goldie.
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.Product details
- ASIN : B08R9BG6B7
- Publisher : The History Press (5 February 2021)
- Language : English
- File size : 11402 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 303 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 74,704 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Elisabeth is a writer, a teacher and an examiner.
She writes a very popular blog called Write On Ejaleigh! Here she writes about everything from non-fiction articles on educational issues, mental health, autism and gardening to royal history and English literature. She has written for a wide variety of publications including Majesty, Red and Goldie. She has had short stories and non-fiction articles included in two published collections.
Although relatively new to the royal biography community, Elisabeth has been fascinated by royal history since she was a small child. Her interest in Princess Mary arose when she was given a book to celebrate the silver jubilee of George V and saw a picture of Mary, who she believed resembled our current Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Her first book, a biography of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897-1965) will be published in February 2021 by the History Press. Elisabeth runs two very popular Princess Mary social media pages. https://www.instagram.com/princessmaryprincessroyal/ and https://www.facebook.com/PrincessMaryPrincessRoyalCountessofHarewood/
Elisabeth is a former student of Nottingham High School for Girls and has a Masters Degree from the University of Sheffield. She is also passionate about English and French literature and is an active member of the Brontë Society. She is a great fan of Joe Orton, Leigh Bowery and the late great Frank Sidebottom and even has a life-size replica of his papier mache head!
Elisabeth has been a teacher and senior manager in a variety of educational settings for nearly thirty years. She is married and lives with her husband, two children and two cats, Barbara and Mittens in South Yorkshire.
Blog https://writeonejaleigh.blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ejaleigh?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisabethbasford/
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Top reviews from Australia
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Princess Mary's life and her good work places in a logical context her inter-relationships with the various members of her Royal Family, together with her remarkable experiences across the reigns of six British monarchs. Along with her mother, Queen Mary, she was instrumental in holding together the monarchy following the 1936 abdication crisis of her brother, Edward VIII.
A good selection of photographs, together with a family tree, enhances the detailed narrative.
book. It's really well written and I highly recommend this book.
Top reviews from other countries

Elisabeth Basford has written such a story here. It reminded me of Catherine Bailey's Black Diamonds, the story of a hundred years in the life of Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire - Basford's biography is partly the tale of Harewood House, where Princess Mary lived. I had never really heard of Princess Mary before I read the book, and in fact I thought it was about Queen Mary at first, and the fact that Princess Mary is not a well-known member of the Royal Family makes the book all the more gripping. Princess Mary was in many ways an extraordinary woman - she pops up in the film of Downton Abbey though apparently her character and family situation are misrepresented there. Basford has researched her subject extensively and she has a natural writing talent - the book is beautifully written and securely researched.
I would recommend this book highly if you like well-written biographies, or are interested in the historical period it covers. You don't have to be particularly interested in the royals to enjoy the book, though obviously such an interest would add extra pleasure to the experience.

Even the cover itself is disappointing in that if one were to choose a least flattering photo of Princess Mary for the cover of a book on her life Elisabeth Basford and her publishers have done just that.! There are many many more regal looking photographs- even on the Internet- that they could have chosen from-why choose this particular photo as a cover- a pre-pubescent young girl which hardly has any relation to the elegant young woman she became-any other official portrait of Princess Mary mature and older would have been a much better choice for the cover either in uniform or even in Court dress which one would be able to see at first glance here was indeed a Royal Princess biography! With the existing cover I doubt anyone under my grand old age would know who Princess Mary was never mind trying to guess it from the photo on this books cover.!
P.S. I have no wish whatsovever to be particularly scathing about this long awaited new book as I have mentioned remarks purely about its PRODUCTION values-not the writing skill or the narrative-what annoys me more is the overall "look" of the books jacket and the total mish-mash of non-relevant-in my opinion-photos of Mary on what seems quite insignificant trips abroad that pepper the photograph section in the book-where are there pictures of her sons as they grew into adulthood instead?? Much more of interest to the reader would have been their inclusion- not just 2 grainy baby shots of the boys as babes-in-arms,surely? Who edited this section of the book should be told not to do so again as this proved to be the biggest dissapointment for me-again-where are -and there are many-photos of Mary as she aged? Either portraits or even less mass produced postcard shots could have been chosen-but all of this seems to have been ignored and has proved-to me-a wasted oppertunity in a majorly long awaited book such as this biography.A pity.





Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 February 2021
