Blood Royal: The Story of the Spencers and the Royals - Tapa dura

The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, left an indelible mark on the nation. Diana also left her mark on the family of Windsor: her Spencer genes. Blood Royal is the story of the crucial role the Spencer blood will play in the monarchy’s future.

The Spencers, like the Windsors, are a dynasty, and one of the most successful families that England has produced. But how did a family of Tudor sheep farmers from Northamptonshire reach the ranks of the upper aristocracy by the time of the Restoration, and how did they then continue to consolidate their great position at the apex of society through the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries?

The Spencers have quietly adapted from one generation to the next, sweeping up heiresses and magnificent estates, buying great libraries and pictures, then building London’s most beautiful palladian mansion to house them. Family characteristics emerge, as do family traditions and attitudes to life. And, by the zenith of the eighteenth century, almost everyone who is anyone in politics seems to be related to this overwhelming family.

Blood Royal is the story of how the Spencers gained their power, how they used it, and the bitter twist of fate by which they finally achieved their grandest dynastic marriage of all in 1981 – the union of Diana Spencer with Charles Mountbatten Windsor, Prince of Wales.

The Spencer dynasty is one of the most successful that England has ever produced.'Blood Royal' is the fascinating story of the crucial role that Spencer blood will play in the English monarchy’s future.

The tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, has left an indelible mark on the British nation. Diana personally left an indelible mark on the family of Windsor: her Spencer genes. The genetic make-up of the diminutive Queen Victoria, dominant within the House of Windsor for so long, has finally been overridden by those of another aristocratic family. It is impossible not to notice that at the age of sixteen Prince William – heir to the throne – is physically very much his mother’s son, towering above his Windsor relatives. As death enfolds the older Windsors, Prince William and Harry will become the new monarchy

Now headed by Charles Spencer, Diana’s younger brother, the Spencers are a family that has never lost its instinct for grandiose survival. The Spencers are historically acknowledged virtuosi of the art of successful marriage. 'Blood Royal' tells how they gained their power; how they used it, and how they finally achieved their grandest dynastic marriage of all in 1981: the union of Diana Spencer with Charles Mountbatten Windsor, prince of Wales.

John Pearson is the author of several novels and biographies including 'The Life of Ian Fleming, The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins, Stags and Serpents: The History of the Dukes of Devonshire' and ' The Ultimate Family'.