Down With The Royals

When Prince George was just eight weeks old, the Evening Standard declared him to be 'the most influential person in London'. He couldn't even walk, let alone talk. Yet one day he could become head of state, whether we like it or not. Joan Smith argues that it has become nearly impossible to question the existence of the monarchy. Articulate republicans are drowned out while the supercharged PR and media machines ask only who designed Kate's dresses. Smith topples the arguments for having a monarchy, one by one. The royals don't provide a boost for tourism, and their deliberately opaque accounting conceals the truth about the huge burden they place on the public purse. And she exposes darker truths. These symbols of so-called impartiality have hidden power and influence. Not only does Charles regularly lobby government ministers but - far from the sycophantic reporting of Kate's baby bump - the royals have dined with despots with blood on their hands. Are these people really fi t to be the public face of a modern country? Ultimately, Smith declares that the monarchy - undemocratic, unaccountable and shockingly expensive - has no place in modern Britain.

PRINCESS DIARIES MEETS MADE IN CHELSEA Daisy Winters, average sixteen-year-old, has no desire to live in the spotlight - but it's not up to you when your perfect older sister is engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. The crown - and the intriguing Miles - might be trying to make Daisy into a lady, but she may have to rewrite the royal rulebook.

America has its first ever queen on the throne in this sequel to American Royals! If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan and Will and Kate, you'll love this New York Times bestseller that imagines America's own royal family--and all the drama and heartbreak that entails. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We. Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we're looking at you Daphne Deighton. As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans. A new reign has begun....

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • Is America ready for its first queen? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan and Will and Kate, you'll love this sequel to the New York Times bestseller that imagines America's own royal family--and all the drama and heartbreak that entails. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We. Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we're looking at you Daphne Deighton. As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans. A new reign has begun.... "Inventive, fresh, and deliciously romantic--American Royals is an absolute delight!" --Sarah J. Maas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series and Court of Thorns and Roses series

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We! Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. Two girls vying for the prince's heart. This is the story of the American royals. When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart. The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history. "The lives of the American royal family will hook you in the very first pages and never let go. Relatable, believable, fantastical, aspirational, and completely addictive." --Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars and Perfectionists series

Right now, immigration is a central point of discussion in both political debate and cultural discourse. With the growth of right-wing parties in Britain, it seems that animosity towards outsiders is increasing every day - after all, immigrants come to our country, steal our jobs and exploit our public services, but what do they give us in return? In this bold new addition to the Provocations series, Kelvin MacKenzie speaks out about immigration in the thought-provoking, no-hold-barred manner the public has come to expect from him ... but with one crucial twist. Kelvin supports immigration. Indeed, he makes the point that many of the institutions we deem to be quintessentially British - Marks & Spencer, Stephen Fry, the NHS, the Great Western Railway and even Kelvin's former newspaper, The Sun - would not exist at all without immigration. As paranoia and misinformation corrupt British opinion, it is more important than ever to acknowledge the monumental contribution immigrants have made to this country historically, culturally, economically, politically - and continuously. Like Monty Python before us, the time has come to ask what the immigrants have ever done for us - although perhaps it would be more apt to ask what we would do without them.

Vicky Pryce's motorbike-riding mother wanted to study physics at university, but her family told her it was impossible for a woman. She was determined that her daughter would have the opportunities she hadn't - and the young Vicky went on to forge a glittering career as an economist, with high-profile posts spanning business, academia and government. But despite her own success, Pryce is still frustrated by the obstacles littering the paths of women in the workplace. We have an abysmal record on gender parity. Rwanda and Laos have more women in Parliament than Britain does. Massive pay gaps prevail across the professions. Senior positions are male-dominated in all walks of life - and not only at board level. Discrimination, a lack of role models and unconscious bias are all barriers to women climbing the career ladder - and that's even before counting the professional cost of starting a family. This isn't just a question of equality for women: by failing to remove the barriers to female progression, we're starving the UK of the talent it needs to grow and prosper to its full potential. Ultimately, Pryce argues, there is only one solution: women need quotas.

Reveals Shocking Revelations about Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the British Royal Family—and the Divisive Rifts Between Them This explosive exposé, Royals at War, takes readers inside a riven Buckingham Palace to provide the definitive account of the unfolding abdication crisis of 2020—dubbed Megxit—during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, became royal outcasts. Through revealing interviews with royal family insiders, friends, aides, historians, royal watchers, and others with intimate knowledge of The House of Windsor, this tell-all book looks back at the events, motives and crises which led to Harry (sixth in line to the throne) dramatically abandoning his birthright—in a move not seen for nearly a century, when King Edward VIII also gave up the crown for the woman he loved as Europe teetered on the brink of fascism and war. Like Edward and Wallis Simpson, the catalyst for the scandal here is also an ambitious, controversial American woman. Dylan Howard, bestselling author of Diana: Case Solved and Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales, charts how Meghan’s relationship with Harry was viewed as controversial from the start—and how her brief honeymoon with the British public began to sour shortly after she and Harry announced in November 2018 that they would be leaving Kensington Palace to move to Frogmore Cottage, an hour outside London. As senior royals expressed disapproval, the public at first seemed to enjoy the royal spat, with many still supporting Team Meghan—until it emerged that the bill to renovate Frogmore Cottage to Meghan’s lavish expectations would be $3 million . . . and be picked up by British taxpayers. Finally, in a move nobody saw coming, Harry announced he was turning his back on the role he had been groomed for since birth—giving up his HRH title, repaying the renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, abandoning his royal duties, and leaving Britain for good. Buckingham Palace reeled. Howard’s unique access and insight into this constitutional crisis will not only address the tensions and tantrums behind closed palace doors, but seek to answer the questions many are still asking: Has Prince Harry ever really recovered from the death of his mother Diana—and the resentment he feels against the institution that tried to destroy her? Why did Meghan, once hailed as a breath of fresh air, rile up the monarchy? Why did she refuse to conform to royal conventions in the way that Catherine did before her? Did the public and media criticism of Meghan go too far? And just how valid are the accusations of racism? How did these modern royals treat the tabloids differently to tradition? And did it backfire? What next for Harry and Meghan? And how will they—and the institution they’ve turned their back on—react to their new lives outside the confines of the Palace and free from the strict codes and conventions that bind all members of the Royal Family? Caught in a trap by virtue of a life entombed in a gilded cage, Royals at War answers these questions and more . . . and reveals how Harry’s infatuation with Meghan and desire to modernize the monarchy could yet end in disaster for the House of Windsor. Played out against the cataclysm of the British tabloid's laser focus on the duchess’ every movement—for good or ill—this is the true story of Harry and Meghan’s split from the Establishment . . . and perhaps just the beginning of a whole new Monarchy, redefined for the modern age.