I learned to write doing well at English and History at school, then at University - writing that got an assessor's interest and therefore high marks
Later, working in commercial organisations, I was taught to write clearly and persuasively in support of my objectives - 'when you write, do it as though your reader is a moron with five minutes to spare.' So though I've never done a creative writing course my training has always been to tell a story that gets the reader's attention, then acceptance.
I've read widely. Fiction, biography, history, economics, politics, religion, psychology - I'm rarely without a book (or its e-version) in my hands.
I've lived in three different countries: Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, and now I'm settled by the Severn Sea in north Somerset.
The Real Charles is a biography of Alan Hamilton and is somewhat older, as it was first published in September 1988. This all happened around the fortieth birthday of then Prince Charles.
The author of this biography is or was a correspondent at The Times and has traveled with Charles for a large part of the time for decades and you could almost say, of course, wrote about Prince Charles. The book looks at the achievements of a varied career and shows the crucial effect of the first forty years on the future King of England.
Of course, the information we read in the book is somewhat outdated these days. But we have to look at it in the time frame of when the book came out… and then you can say that the author managed to describe a good detailed image of the then Prince of Wales.
Many details from Charles’ life are highlighted, such as the lonely childhood because mother Elizabeth II was away from home a lot and it was not customary at the time to take the prince’s children with her… Charles’ special bond with, among others, the Queen Mother and Lord Mountbatten are not missing in the book. There is a lot of attention for Charles’ school life and his efforts at these schools and in making friends… Yes, you will only be heir to the throne… not an easy life, especially in terms of who can or cannot be trusted.
Furthermore, the book provides a nice insight into Charles’ character. Already aware of the climate problems at a young age, even though people thought the prince was crazy at the time. Charles is a man involved in nature and certainly people, as he has proven with his Prince’s Trust. A fact that we also find in the book.
In the first forty years of his life, Charles was also very popular with the ladies. Many names are mentioned in the book, including the relationship, or rather the marriage, with Princess Diana. The book already describes the difficulties in marriage….
The book is in English and as far as I know has not been translated into Dutch. The author Alan Hamilton has an accessible way of writing that makes the book quite easy to read. To conclude, the book also contains a number of photographs of highlights from Charles’ life. Unfortunately, these are all black and white photos. Definitely a book for the enthusiast that belongs in your collection.