For fans of the Windsors and Now We Are Sixty, a beautifully illustrated collection of amusing and affectionate stories from inside the royal family.

You look awfully like the Queen: Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor

Biographies & Memoirs

Blaikie, Thomas

Historical

Fourth Estate

Following the success of ‘You Look Awfully Like the Queen’, this is a second anthology of hilarious and touching royal anecdotes, collected by Thomas Blaikie.
An unfortunate culture clash occurred when a Geordie councillor was invited to one of the Queen’s informal lunches. As is the old-fashioned custom there were two puddings. The Queen enquired, ‘Would you like cake or meringue?’ ‘No, y’er not wrang, Your Majesty,’ the councillor replied. 'I'll have the cake.'
On a Royal visit to St Albans Abbey in January 2006, the Duchess of Cornwall spied a ladder in a corner and attempted to make an unscheduled ascent. ‘Not in those shoes,’ her lady-in-waiting said firmly, bringing the runaway Duchess back into line.
‘It’s for my nanny,’ Prince Harry thoughtfully explained to a somewhat wide-eyed assistant at Selfridges as she popped his purchase into a bag. It was a maribou-trimmed thong.
The Royal Family has been a source of curiosity and amusement for centuries, and in this delightful little book, Thomas Blaikie takes a second fond look at the UK’s first family. Published to mark the Queen’s 80th birthday, this second instalment includes more stories of our favourite royals, along with newer additions to the adult clan, including the Duchess of Cornwall and Princes William and Harry.

Corgi and Bess: More Wit and Wisdom from the House of Windsor

You Look Awfully Like The Queen: Wit And Wisdom From The House Of Windsor

London: Fourth Estate

Victorian Love Poetry (Papermac)

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Pan/Macmillan

What a Thing to Say to the Queen: A Collection of Royal Anecdotes from the House of Windsor (16pt Large Print Edition)

ReadHowYouWant

<div> 'What do you do?' a guest inquired of the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party. 'I had no idea what to say,' the Queen told friends afterwards. &nbsp; This specially updated edition, released to mark the passing of the late and much-missed monarch, is a collection of warm, amusing recollections from the royal household celebrating&nbsp;the lighter side of palace life. As the longest reigning monarch of this realm, the Queen represented stability, hope and continuity. We loved her because she was always there, didn't make a fuss and was dedicated in her duty even in old age. But alongside her stoic and sensible exterior, she was also renowned for a playful and keen sense of humor, as seen when she delighted audiences all around the world by inviting Paddington Bear for tea to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. How exactly did the&nbsp;Queen reactwhen she found her footman draped in her jewels? What did she do to amuse herself to while away the hours spent&nbsp;sitting for her portrait? How did she respond when faced with a plate full of Mexican food? This characterful, illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor. Gathered together in this amusing tribute are a compendium of stories&nbsp;which provide access to the&nbsp;unique world of the royals. &nbsp; &nbsp; </div>

What a Thing to Say to the Queen!: Charming anecdotes from the House of Windsor - Updated edition

Aurum

Your friends neglect to RSVP to your party invitation . . . co-workers munch their pungent meals near your office . . . pedestrians shout into their cell phones and practically knock you to the pavement. Wishing that friends, family, colleagues, and oblivious strangers would mind their manners is lovely, but what about your own? You don’t mean to be rude, but in today’s carefree, high-tech, fast-paced world, how are you supposed to know what to do? Thankfully, Englishman Thomas Blaikie’s witty and insightful guide will help you steer through this minefield of uncertainty and back onto the path toward civility–without a lot of fuss and bother. No need to worry about the proper way to eat soup or which is the salad fork. What Blaikie teaches you is more important: how and when to drop in on a friend, how to turn down suitors graciously, how to “move on” at a party, how to end a text-message conversation that’s gone on just a bit too long, and how to cope with myriad other twenty-first-century social traumas. Always positive and cheerful, To the Manner Born offers commonsense, practical solutions. And if you don’t like someone else’s manners, yes, you really should try to do something about it–in the nicest way possible, of course. “Thomas Blaikie is the perfect guide through the treacherous minefield of contemporary social mores: witty, amusingly abstruse, stylish and most importantly knowledgeable.” –Will Self, author of Cock and Bull “If everyone followed the rules of this book, well, I would certainly go out more. It is packed with good sense, sharp observation, and genuine helpfulness.” –Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots &amp; Leaves

To the Manner Born: A Most Proper Guide to Modern Civility

Reference

Etiquette

Villard

Scottish gardener and botanist Thomas Blaikie (1751-1838) spent the majority of his life in France, where he designed and planted some of the most famous Parisian gardens: he drew up the original plans for the gardens of the Château de Bagatelle and renovated the Parc Monceau. He became a favourite of Marie Antoinette, and served patrons among the highest ranks of the aristocracy in pre-revolutionary France, including the Comte d'Artois and the Duc d'Orléans. After surviving the French Revolution, he received a commission to create gardens for Empress Joséphine at her Malmaison country retreat. Blaikie kept this fascinating diary from 1775 until August 1792. More than just an account of his vast gardening knowledge and achievements, the book gives a unique insight into the social history of the revolutionary period in France. It was edited by the critic and journalist Francis Birrell (1889-1935) and first published in 1931.

Diary of a Scotch Gardener at the French Court at the End of the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge Library Collection - Botany and Horticulture)

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Gardening & Landscape Design

Cambridge University Press

About thirty years ago the Guardian first published two amusing anecdotes about the Queen Mother. Readers reeled to see stories actually printed in a national newspaper that until then had had only an underground existence in certain circles. After that, tales about the royal family became respectable; they were also, quite rightly, believed to be true. Taken as a whole they reflect the contradictory roles we like royalty to fulfil: unworldly and impossibly regal, engagingly domesticated and just like us, or camp, worldly and outrageous. In this affectionate tribute Thomas Blaikie has gathered together a compendium of stories, many never published before, which provide access to a unique world. How exactly a Queen reacts when she finds her footmen draped in her jewels? What does she do to amuse herself as she whiles away the hours sitting for her portrait? And how did the Duchess of Windsor and the Queen Mother really get on? This beautifully illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor.

What a Thing to Say to the Queen: A Collection of Royal Anecdotes from the House of Windsor

Leaders & Notable People

About thirty years ago the Guardian first published two amusing anecdotes about the Queen Mother. Readers reeled to see stories actually printed in a national newspaper that until then had had only an underground existence in certain circles. After that, tales about the royal family became respectable; they were also, quite rightly, believed to be true. Taken as a whole they reflect the contradictory roles we like royalty to fulfil: unworldly and impossibly regal, engagingly domesticated and just like us, or camp, worldly and outrageous. In this affectionate tribute Thomas Blaikie has gathered together a compendium of stories, many never published before, which provide access to a unique world. How exactly a Queen reacts when she finds her footmen draped in her jewels? What does she do to amuse herself as she whiles away the hours sitting for her portrait? And how did the Duchess of Windsor and the Queen Mother really get on? This beautifully illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor.

What a Thing to Say to the Queen: A collection of royal anecdotes from the House of Windsor

Aurum Press

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