Archive
The complete Open Letters Monthly Archive.
She oversaw an shepherded the House of Windsor for a century and did more to shape its present character than anyone. Three years ago William Shawcross wrote an official and none-too-gossipy biography.
Read MoreWhen his brother the king abdicated, shy Prince Bertie suddenly became king - and he was just settling in when the World War II threw his kingdom into chaos. 'A Year with the Windsors' continues.
Read MoreIn The King's Speech, King George V is depicted as a fanatical tyrant; but his legacy is one of dignified flexibility in the face of revolutionary changes, and his temperament may have helped save the monarchy
Read MoreWhen the heir presumptive, Prince Eddy, died suddenly, the nation and empire was convulsed with mourning - and a century of speculation began! Had the lost prince been a simpleton, a saint, a catamite - even Jack the Ripper?
Read MoreWhen the long reign of Victoria ended, her son took the throne with a bonhomie the country hadn't seen in a century. The new king ate and entertained prodigiously - and mediated prodigiously as "the uncle of Europe." A Year with the Windsors looks at Edward VII.
Read MoreHer reign was epic in length and social impact, but it very nearly didn't happen at all. She ruled through two generations of her people, and she left the British monarchy very different from how she found it. She is Queen Victoria, and our Year with the Windsors starts as it must: with her.
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