16: Moving in Royal Circles

Biographer and academic Jane Ridley and screenwriter and novelist Daisy Goodwin join the Slightly Foxed Editors to reveal the wealth to be found in royal biographies, memoirs and historical novels. From the remarkable diaries of Queen Victoria and the extraordinary life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria to Prince Albert’s cashmere breeches, a cottage meal at Sissinghurst with the Queen Mother, and Edward VII’s many mistresses, the parade of tales about the lives and loves of royal people roams far and wide. And we go on a on a quest for Queen Mary with James Pope-Hennessy in this month’s hunt through the magazine’s archives.

Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: 38 minutes; 16 seconds)

Books Mentioned

We may be able to get hold of second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles listed below. Please get in touch with Anna in the Slightly Foxed office for more information.
- Blue Remembered Hills, Rosemary Sutcliff. Plain Foxed Edition published 1 March 2020 (2:15)  

- Browse and buy the shortlisted titles for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize 2019 (2:50)

- Victoria, Daisy Goodwin (4:10)

- Bertie: A Life of Edward VII, Jane Ridley (4:27)

- The historical novels of Jean Plaidy are out of print (16:39)

- The Fortune Hunter, Daisy Goodwin (17:18)

- Victoria (Penguin Monarchs series), Jane Ridley (22:49)

- Queen Mary, James Pope-Hennessy (22:46)

- The Quest for Queen Mary, James Pope-Hennessy, Ed. Hugo Vickers (31.02)

- The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo (33:33)

- Lady in Waiting, Anne Glenconner (34:24)

- The Journals of Kenneth Rose: Volume One 1944-1979 & Volume Two 1979-2014, Ed. D. R. Thorpe (36:04)

Related Slightly Foxed Articles
- The Purple Moth, Jane Ridley on James Pope-Hennessy, Queen Mary in Issue 41 (25:13)

Other Links
- The Petersfield Bookshop (1:30)

- The Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize (2:42)

- Queen Victoria’s Journals (5:13)

Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 in E Major by Bach
Reading music: Nimrod from Enigma Variations by Elgar
The Slightly Foxed Podcast is hosted by Philippa Lamb and produced by Podcastable