The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain
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The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
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Narrated by:
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Martin Williams
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By:
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Martin Williams
About this listen
The rich and fascinating story of the events surrounding the year 1910 when King Edward VII died, sending shockwaves through Britain and changing the country forever.
Unforgettable as it was, the public response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 was not without precedent. When her great-grandfather King Edward VII - glamorous, cosmopolitan and extraordinarily popular - died in May 1910, the political, social and cultural anxieties of a nation in turmoil were temporarily set aside during a summer of intense and ritualised mourning.
In The King Is Dead, Long Live the King! Martin Williams charts a period of tension and transition as one era slipped away and another took shape. Witnessed by a diverse but interconnected cast of characters - crowned heads and Cabinet ministers, debutantes and suffragettes, artists and murderers - here is the swansong of Edwardian Britain. Set against a backdrop of bereavement and parliamentary crisis overshadowed by the gathering clouds of war, we see a people caught between past and future, tradition and modernity, as they unite to bid farewell to a much-loved monarch who had personified his age.
From Buckingham Palace to Bloomsbury, and from the lying-in-state in Westminster Hall to a now legendary Royal Ascot enveloped in black, this is a vivid evocation of a world on the brink of seismic upheaval.
©2023 Martin Williams (P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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HRH The Duke of Kent has been at the heart of the British Royal Family throughout his life. As a working member of the Royal Family, he has supported his cousin, The Queen, representing her at home and abroad. His royal duties began when, in 1952, at the age of 16, he walked in the procession behind King George VI's coffin, later paying homage to The Queen at her coronation in 1953. Since then, he has witnessed and participated in key royal occasions. A Royal Life is a unique account based on a series of conversations between the duke and acclaimed royal historian Hugo Vickers.
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The grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, King George V reigned over the British Empire from 1910 to 1936, a period of unprecedented international turbulence. Yet no one could deny that as a young man, George seemed uninspired. As his biographer Harold Nicolson famously put it, "he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps.” The contrast between him and his flamboyant, hedonistic, playboy father Edward VII could hardly have been greater.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb book and superb narration!
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
This intimate, personal biography of Queen Elizabeth II tells the story of her remarkable life, reign and times, from a perspective unlike any other. Gyles Brandreth writes the Queen's tale candidly with grace and sensitivity from the view of someone who met her, talked with her and kept a record of those conversations. Brandreth knew the Queen's husband well and knows the new King and Queen Consort.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love the writing style!
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,370
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,126
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The life of Princess May of Teck is one of the great Cinderella stories in history. From a family of impoverished nobility, she was chosen by Queen Victoria as the bride for her eldest grandson, the scandalous Duke of Clarence, heir to the throne, who died mysteriously before their marriage. Despite this setback, she became queen, mother of two kings, grandmother of the current queen, and a lasting symbol of the majesty of the British throne.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow! Did not want this to end!
- By Susan Nall Sheehan on 07-16-17
By: Anne Edwards
What listeners say about The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lindsey H Karm
- 05-31-23
Interesting period of history
Interesting period of history. The author provides a lot of detail and insight that adds context to the details most recently seen in Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Meredith Bohn
- 03-12-25
Excellent memoir or a time of change!!
Loved this book- beautifully read by the author evoking the end of one world and the beginnings
Of the birth of another…
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mcc
- 08-20-23
Fascinating deep dive into Edwardian England
This book is a terrific deep dive into the transition from Edwardian England to the more modern day. Listening to the book in the year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II gave added resonance to how the monarchy (no matter what you think of it) perpetuates itself through rituals and traditions. Though the author is not a professional book reader, I appreciated his reading, which improved over the course of the book. Well worth a listen!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Jordan Markwith
- 05-09-23
Verbose and Lispy
It’s painfully verbose and lispy. Not worth the time or money. I strongly do not recommend.
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