A Fine Romance: 75 Years of Royal Weddings
By Steve Cooper (not listed in text as author); 200pgs
Amazon.co.uk listing:
More than just a celebration of the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, A Fine Romance is a sumptuous photographic record of European royal weddings over the last 75 years. These are the unforgettable alliances and love stories that have defined our understanding of modern European royalty. Part one of A Fine Romance is an extraordinarily comprehensive record of historical royal weddings, fairytale brides and handsome princes, from a glamorous and serene Grace Kelly to a blushing and shy Lady Diana Spencer. Part two is a richly illustrated romantic delight, bringing together a stunning collection of images from the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Not available from Amazon.co.uk yet (Sept. 2nd), but I saw it while at work today, had a quick flip through and bought it. My flip though was very deceiving.
While it has a timeline of royal weddings from 1937-2011 at the very beginning of the book, giving the expectation that those weddings will be covered in the book, many of those are actually not even mentioned. Those listed in the timeline but not covered are: Juliana and Bernhard, Ragnhild and Erling, Albert and Paola, Astrid and Johan, Birgitta and Johann Georg, Désirée and Niclas, Margaretha and John, Margriet and Pieter, Margrethe and Henrik, Benedikte and Richard, Harald and Sonja, Christina and Tord, Christina and Jorge, Caroline and Stefano, Astrid and Lorenz, Anne and Timothy, Elena and Jaime, Stéphanie and Daniel, Joachim and Alexandra, Cristina and Iñaki, Caroline and Ernst August, Constantijn and Laurentien, Märtha Louise and Ari, Laurent and Claire, Stéphanie and Adans, Friso and Mabel, Felipe and Letizia, Joachim and Marie. So out of 49 weddings, only 21 were covered - not quite half.
The pictures are also nothing new, and only "Part Two - William and Catherine" is actually written specifically for this book - all the information in "Part One - 75 Years of Royal Weddings" is quotations from newspaper sources of the day or quotes from the couple. Quite disappointing. And the editing could have been better in some places - apparently, the Duke of Windsor was actually 'Duke Edward of the United Kingdom', Arch-Duke is hypenated (and Lorenz had his title listed in French, when all the others were in English) and accents on letters can randomly appear on one letter, then another, then not at all.
IMO, it seems like the author wanted to write a book about William and Catherine's wedding - but decided he needed something 'extra' to give it an 'edge' over all the other wedding books which are currently on the market. His attempt to give his book an 'edge' was a fail IMO though. Save your money - check it out from your library if you really want a peek.