The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor

by Penny Junor

The House of Windsor is a big business, though one with more ups and downs than the stock market. Prince Philip calls it “The Firm,” and all the royal executives and their powerful associates are supposed to make every effort to avoid even a hint of scandal that could diminish the reputation of the family business.

Unfortunately for the royals, for the past twenty years scandal and controversy have deluged the Queen’s family, putting everything at risk. Focusing primarily on the years after the death of Diana and leading up to the heir to the throne’s marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles this past April 9th, royal insider Penny Junor offers a sympathetic yet utterly candid look at a family that has made itself the world’s soap opera in THE The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor .

Can “The Firm” survive much longer? Will Charles or even William decide that the throne is not worth the trouble? Can this, the ultimate family business, weather this storm of spiritual (though not fiscal) bankruptcy, or will momentum and a cadre of brilliant advisors keep the enterprise in business for years to come?

THE FIRM investigates the Family’s relationship with government, the press and the people. It looks at whether the institution can reach out to those, particularly the young, who see the House of Windsor as insignificant. It asks, in short, whether the British monarchy has a future.

Penny Junor knows the answers in this sure-to-be controversial book—the first to be published on the newly restructured royal family.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Royalty, History

464 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2005

About the author

Born in Leatherhead, Surrey, Junor was educated at the independent Benenden School in Kent and read History at St Andrews University, but left in her second year to get married.

Junor has worked for the Evening Standard and a column for Private Eye lasted five years.

Best known for her books on the British Royal Family, she has written biographies of Diana, Princess of Wales (1982) and Charles, Prince of Wales (1987 and 1998), and Charles and Diana: Portrait of a Marriage (1991). The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor followed in 2005. Her work on the Waleses "alienated" both of them and she reportedly considers the experience the worst of her career. She has also written and had published a book titled Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King. This biography of Prince William ends with his marriage to Kate Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge.

Junor's other books include works on Margaret Thatcher (1983), actor Richard Burton (1986), John Major (1993) and Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me (2007), the co-authored memoir of Pattie Boyd a former wife of both musicians. Junor assisted Sir Cliff Richard in writing the number one best selling My Life, My Way which sold over 250,000 copies (2008) and Shaun Ellis with his book The Man Who Lives with Wolves (2009).

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to paint t-shirts and sail over to this rather exclusive island one morning a week and hang them in the coconut and grape trees on a quite secluded beach to sell them. Princess Diana was there one morning sitting with her children quite close by. Her Lady in Waiting looked through the t-shirts and asked if she could take some of them over to her and I watched as the Princess sorted through them, eventually buying six. The Princess waved and mouthed, "They're lovely, thank you". That made my day! Next day, my friend who owned a hotel on an out-island, sent over a selection of sarongs to the Princess hoping to get a thank-you letter she could frame, but the boatman returned the gifts with a verbal message, "The Princess does not accept unsolicited gifts." Hehe!

The author, Ms Junor, I thought, must have decided that slurring the late Princess with all sorts of suppositions and quotes from unnamed "sources" would definitely gain her kudos in Prince Charles' eyes and the eyes of his rottweiler wife she so adores and perhaps facilitate interviews and even invitations to the royal events she so likes to attend. But I was wrong.

She's a scandalmonger, a paparazzi-with-words whose previous book published in the year after Diana's death, 'Charles: Victim or Villain?" was deplored by the entire royal family who had given no interviews nor authorised the book. She has also been successfully sued for libel for malicious rubbish she's written about others in the small, tight world of the aristocracy she's such a groupie of. The book is a waste of time and leaves a bad taste in your mouth, just like finishing a glass of wine left out all night. It's vinegar and you know you shouldn't even have bothered.

Recommended: for puppy-training, the paper is sufficiently absorbent.

[Devorah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the same author of another book I just finished, "Prince Charles,Do You Love Me? Circle YES or NO." Otherwise known as "Prince Harry: Soldier, Son, Something, SPY, Diana you never should have married him, you psycho."

In this book, we learn more of why Penny Junor loves Charles quite so much. He's just like us! He likes black people, and you can tell because once he actually talked to one. He decided one day that he was a better architect than any school-trained architects, thank you very much, and built himself a village. A village with no signs, no paved roads, and she declares it a marvel of city planning. He likes his kids, when his secretary lets him know what they've done that day. He likes trains. He hates airplane food, so he has his fifty chefs whip him up a few spare meals to be warmed for him. He weeps for the downtrodden, the peasants, and he truly understands their plight. He practically can't sleep in his 50,000 thread count sheets, in his billion acre home he charmingly calls "Highgrove". He likes gardening, and especially admires all the gardens other people do for him. But his MAJOR contribution is having his own line of food products, with overpriced jams and biscuits. I'm not joking. Charles is like Trump, only instead of selling steak, he takes pictures next to animals he's killed for sport.

"I'm one with my people," thinks Charles as he holds up a Pembertonberry Jam jar to the window, sunlight winking off his trademark feather on the label. "I'm a real live farmer! Or. . whoever does this sort of thing."

Reading this book, I feel like I can really relate to Charles.

In fact, the author likes ALL the Windsor/Mountbatten men. It's interesting, because she doesn't seem to like the women all that much. Prince Phillip? Well, sure, he's probably had a few affairs and he's the rudest man alive, but really, who are we to judge? Prince Andrew is such an enterprising lad, he just loooves golf and that really bonds him with the common man. Who can afford not to work and play golf. Prince Edward does. . . something. No one is sure quite what, but poor man, he's forced into the royal life, unable to break free of the shackles of the oppressed.

As for the women, well, they're all bitches.

Diana - Diana is clearly mentally ill, a force of evil upon this world. In fact, even in death poooor poooor Prince Charles said, "They're going to blame this on me, won't they?" Truly, can these Men of Renown ever be free from such a blight upon existence? Charles wasn't all that better off with Camilla, says the author, because - get this - Camilla sued the author for libel. But then she was nice to her at a garden party, so perhaps Camilla isn't quite so bad. Just like the author, she's just a victim of horrible circumstance who cannot possibly make their own choices, and instead are swept by the tide of fate.

Also, Princess Anne once ignored her when parking her car next to her, so clearly Princess Anne can just go straight to hell.

I'm not making any of this up - the author carries grudges like other people carry wallets.

I learned a lot while reading this book. I learned that once the Queen gave Charles a Rolls Royce for his birthday. And they have a truckload of people to carry out their ideas, and simply need to write "black spider memos". And Prince Phillip is so exceptional because he also writes his own. I learned that they're sooo generous, they voluntarily pay "income tax", but the reader is left to wonder what exactly they pay income tax on, because they don't work for a living. They have things called "Duchy"'s (Duchies? Duchy's? Duchyesyesies?) that taxpayers somehow put money into and royalty can use it for important royal duties, like $12,000 dresses and the official Privy Purse watcher, for when they go to the market. Just kidding! For when the servants go to the market! Ha ha, those royals sure do like to kid around.

I learned sooo many things, none of which make any sense, which is the point of the monarchy. Luckily, the queen is everyone's favorite, so it's all good, but once she kicks the bucket, we're left with a bunch of morons.

But hope is not yet lost! William is also super duper awesome, and we can tell because there are about ten more books from this author with titles like, "Prince William: So Dreamy He'll Be The Best King Evarrr." At the time of this book, Kate Middleton was only a twinkle in his eye, so she's spared the Windsor Woman Curse. (Careful, Kate! Smile at the author in a parking lot!)

In short, I learned that women in this family are awful, men are awesome, the author is a woman who happens to be available, and also likes smiles. And something about horses.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the royal family (or The Crown on Netflix), it is interesting to look inside the walls and find out what an “insider” knows.

Junor has written a lot of books about everyone – Prince Charles, Camilla, Princess Diana.

So why not The Firm?

Well, maybe I will tell you why not The Firm.

Of course, you are always welcome to be your own judge.

Junor attempts to describe the nuts and bolts of how this institution runs.

She covers the funding, the ownership, the organizational structure, how the ceremonies are arranged, how often chandeliers are cleaned. We get sketches of the principals and their staffs and their frustrations in managing their images.

Because it is written in 2005, it is also out-of-date.

Also, Junor tries to mix juicy gossip with a serious study of the way the monarchy works in the post-Diana years, and by attempting both, I believe, she fails.

It might be a fun skip read for a few minutes, but I would suggest you look elsewhere, such as the documentaries about the Windsor Castle and the daily life of the Queen, if you want to know about the inner workings of the monarchy.

Even The Crown is more fun. This book, well…

[Grandmanel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to read of the business structure of this important British "firm", and how it is run. But when the author gets into the lives and roles of assistants and courtiers to the Royal Family it is like putting your hand into a snakepit. And she sure can do a good character assassination in a few paragraphs, masked as a job description. Kind of "Downton Abbey", only magnified x100. I did read it to the end.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A moderately interesting book, but the author is way too biased toward the House of Windsor.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Junor describes the nuts and bolts of how this institution runs. She covers the funding, the ownership, the organizational structure, how the ceremonies are arranged, how often chandeliers are cleaned. We get sketches of the principals and their staffs and their frustrations in managing their images through the fallout of Diana's star power and other less momentuous set backs.

I didn't know that the monarch can dissolve parliament and declare war, nor of the other powers on p. 398; nor did I understand the foundation (very loose) of the Commonwealth (p.289).

While there is a lot of information, it is not well organized. I didn't know what a lot of things were. Some are not explained, but some are explained in later chapters. This and long quotes, make the book seem very much like it's been cut and pasted from previous columns and interviews.

The last chapter, discussing the future of this monarchy, gives some comparative information and contains a lot of quotes. It's a disappointment, because this chapter should have been substantive.

The current family has made itself relevant through charitable work, recognizing national achievement, being interesting to tourists and being helpful to the British Department of State. They (and their staffs) put in long hours, and are no doubt dedicated to their country and their work. It seems to me that this institution will probably fade when a generation of monarchs, themselves, tire of it.

[Rpaterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love anything informative on the royal family. While I found parts of this book interesting and entertaining to read, too much was plodding statistics and, dare I say, TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I found the author a trifle contradictory in her assessment of the members of the family. In the same paragraph, she depicts individuals as both highly self centered, rude, thoughtless and boring BUT then goes on to say how smart they really are and what tremendous service they perform for the country.

This was a book that I had to make myself finish, almost like an assignment that needed to be done.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 2005, this is well out date. Defending why the British Empire needs the Monarchy, Camilla has just married Prince Charles, Kate is Will's girlfriend and Harry is a hooligan. But much has changed since then and the argument for the Monarchy is even more solid than ever. Penny Junor knows her stuff and writes a fascinating look at the Royal Family's ups and downs throughout Queen Elizabeth's reign as sovereign and the structure that unites them known as the The Firm. Great read for anyone interested in a Brits view of their trials and triumphs. Also loved noting differences in spelling and syntax.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Junor tries to mix juicy gossip with a serious study of the way the monarchy works in the post-Diana years, and by attempting both, she fails. Her case is not helped by her over-dependence on third party sources, which she quotes heavily throughout; if she had been one of my college comp freshmen, I would have docked her for it. Look elsewhere, such as the documentaries about the Windsor Castle and the daily life of the Queen, if you want to know about the inner workings of the monarchy.

[Jaubert16 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author, and I have to say she is a terrible "biographer". Her book reads like a high school paper where the student cuts and pastes from a variety of internet sources. The writing was choppy, one sided, and completely without merit. I have, in the past, only read biographies on Elizabeth II, and I think I have a learned a lesson. You cannot expand to the rest of the family without it reading like a tabloid.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

I'm a fan of Junor's work as I think she offers a fairly unbiased portrayal of The Royal Family. This book was a bit dull at times and I found myself skimming sections.

Reading this book several years after it was published is also interesting as it seems Charles and Camilla's popularity has increased and William is now married to the girl that is barely mentioned in this book.

Maybe I'm wrong....just my American opinion. :)

[Sull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately interesting & fair-handed (-seeming) exploration of problems in the current royal family. The author has some insider knowledge of all the major characters--i.e. family members--and sheds light on some puzzles of personality and circumstance, such as why Diana & Charles were a match made to fail. A decent read.

[Kim Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly good book about the house of Windsor. I read this book after reading several biographies of the Queen and Prince Phillip, their children and in-laws. After a while, you get a little tired of reading about the Windsor's narrowed view of the world. Still, it is a good read to gain a better understanding of England's royal family.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really informative book, though a bit dull in places and I found myself skimming some sections.
I'd recommend for any fans of the British Monarchy, though the book is out of date - written before Kate & William married.

[Dara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately interesting, but SUPER fawning towards the royal family (the author defends everything Charles ever did in his marriage with Diana), which I wasn't expecting from the title.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 2 out of 5]

why they are the way they are. a look at life in the aquarium called the palace.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty interesting at the beginning but last 5 chapters were blah...after I rated it ( 3 stars) was not suprised to see that the majority of readers gave it same rating.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good non gossipy read about the current state of the monarchy

[Elayne Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

It is a rather slow read but quite insightful. I would recommend it for anyone intrigued by the British royalty.

[Sue Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but

Doesn’t really live up to the title. I’ve always liked that Penny didn’t seem to slurp the Diana cool aid and blame —if there is— was plenty to spread among both parties. She says it best that they were a perfect storm of a mismatch. Author spends a lot of time as to the restructuring of the Firm’s business model, what all those people do, and that the taxpayers don’t pay the Queen’s salary or for Charles’ or his siblings or children. Now looking about ten years later, her thoughts that maybe the best thing for Harry is to just let him out of royal duties has happened. The question will be can he survive without the world he’s known his whole life and did his wife marry him for what his title would give her and will she stay once she goes back to her acting life.

Personally I’m not sure Charles can be a good King whether the Queen lives a month or a decade. As pointed out in this book he has his father’s temper and his grandmothers arrogance. He does not seem to have the humility of his mother. He has carved out a meaningful life for himself and maybe it would be best of that was his legacy rather than holding the throne between his mother and his son

[Momof4 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is more sensationalism than substance. While the history behind royal traditions and the symbolism behind the ceremonies are indeed interesting, Junor’s bias shows through on almost every page. The book promises an unvarnished look at the Royal Family in changing times, but most of it is Junor’s opinion, and it’s clear how she feels about certain members of The Firm.

Overall, a book that does not deliver on its premise, but one more exploitation of the Royals to make a buck.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the book is an interesting explanation of the institution of the monarchy and its inner workings. I was less interested, however, in the author's like or dislike for certain Royals or Palace employees. The author fails to call abusive behavior what it is. If a Royal is abusive, I don't care how much money he or she raises for charity; if an employee is abusive, I don't care how hard he or she works. Abuse is abuse. Call it what it is. Period.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely pro-Charles. The Troubled Life of the house of Windsor shouldn't even be in the title. It was just a detailed book about The Firm - details of staff positions with some gossip thrown it. It was just ok to read, definitely boring in some spots.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I read this book. It's gossipy royal stuff and I'm an anti-monarchist. I can't say much more than 'boring'.
However, if you're a Royalty groupie, you'll probably love it.

[Rho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a quick read. Not a whole lot of new information but it was interesting

[Anita Parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe the Royal family is dysfunctional.
But , can't imagine UK without them. Long live the Queen !

[Pkd · Rating 1 out of 5]

worse than tabloid fodder. Tripe.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was EXCELLENT, but it flags after that.

[Brenda Fell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, wrote in 2005, did not realize when I started it but still enjoyed it.

[Kathleen Kirchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good and juicy