The Secret Lives of Royal Women: Fascinating Biographies of Queens, Princesses, Duchesses, and Other Regal Women

by Marlene Wagman-Geller, Kristina Rothe (narrator), Tantor Audio (publisher)

Royal family secrets revealed! Have you ever wondered what royals go through? Have you ever thought about what the intimate lives of phenomenal women look like? The Secret Lives of Royal Women features the intimate and historically accurate details of some of history's most privileged women. Learn from the life stories of Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Princess Diana, Maharani Gayatri Devi, Queen Narriman, and many others.

Fall in love with these phenomenal women! Dive into the fascinating history of Hawaii's only ever Liliuokalani, learn the story of Lady Jane Grey who was dethroned by Mary Queen of Scots, and learn more about Queen Elizabeth who Adolf Hitler called "the most dangerous woman in Europe." Every single one of these women will enrapture you and leave you wanting to find out more.

Inside, you'll the inside scoop to the secret lives of phenomenal women; potentially life-changing lessons from these royal vignettes; and a book on royals packed with new and empowering historical stories.

If you enjoy autobiographies, motivational books for women, or historical nonfiction books like Vanderbilt or Women of Means, you'll love The Secret Lives of Royal Women.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Royalty, History

Audible Audio

Published October 25, 2022

About the author

Marlene Wagman-Geller grew up in Toronto and is a lifelong bibliophile. She is a veteran high school English teacher in National City, California, and currently lives in San Diego.

Reviews

[Crystal FloridaGrams Of3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

loads of inaccurate information

[Carmen Agustin · Rating 1 out of 5]

An ok book, if you don't know anything about these women. Unfortunately for me, who's read more than a few books about the English royals, there were a lot of errors. The chapter on Queen Geraldine, talked about a King George VII, which is kind of funny since it was in the time of WWII and the King on the throne was George VI. Another glaring error was on the chapter on Princess Diana, describing her engagement ring as 12K Sri Lankan diamond that Prince Charles gave her (It was in fact a sapphire surrounded by diamonds that she picked out of a catalog). It's soo frustrating because it is literally the most famous ring in the world. I'm sure if I was more versed in the other female royals around the world and their lives, I would find errors in those as well. The final nail in the coffin, was when I looked at her references, they were majority web sites from news articles. Which as we all know are biased and are not always factual. I know some of these women are still alive and don't have many books written about them, but hey I know she could've found a plethora of reference books on Anne Boleyn and she didn't use not even one.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was interesting but inaccurate in small ways.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlene Wagman-Geller writes a detailed story about the lives of the Royal Women through history. With the blend of anecdotes and research, I as a reader (listener) felt as I was watching shows unfold in front of me. There were stories, people and history I was aware of but there were so many more that I had not heard before. I enjoy learning while I read and have names written to go find out more about! The narrator of the audio had a consistent and steady voice, making it easy to be swept away in each of the narratives. Thank you to Marlene Wagman-Geller for a gifted audio copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Secret Lives of Royal Women by Marlene Wagman-Geller and Ben Cassel is a wonderful collection of stories and snippets into the lives of a group of women that have helped mold and shape our history as we know it. I really enjoyed this.

This book delves into the “Fascinating Portraits of the Secret Lives of Royals”. Each chapter focusses on a different woman throughout time. Some are contemporary…some are centuries past. Some are easily recognized…some are less known…all are truly fascinating.

I really enjoyed this collection and introduction into a few of the lesser known (well to me at least) royals mentioned in this book.

5/5 stars

Thank you EW and Mango/Ingram Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 9/13/22.

[Laura Engel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history and especially history about fascinating, powerful women who have altered history. Marlene Wagman-Geller’s book Royal Women has the perfect ingredients for all readers interested in learning about the Queens, Princesses, Duchesses, and other Royal Women throughout many eras. Each chapter is well written and provides behind the scenes looks at these incredible women who regardless of power, money and means, remain simply women who face the issues and problems that all women throughout time have endured. Wagman-Geller’s books are well researched and written in an excellent straight forward way laced with drama and humor. You will love this book.

[Annie Booker · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's quite an interesting book as it includes chapters on quite a few women that don't often make it into books about royalty. Hower, there are a lot of silly errors that should have been picked up in the proofing and editing process. Just one example, she mentions that Sarah the Duchess of York's mother, Susan Barrantes, was killed in a caar accident in 1975, while Saraah was in Italy. In fact Mrs Barrantes died in 1998. Sohe also claims Queen Victoria called her husband Bertie when there's never been any mention anywhere that she called him anything but Albert, especially as Bertie was what they called their eldest son. Silly typos as well. A shame as it coud have been a much better read with decent editing.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-Star Review: The Secret Lives of Royal Women by Marlene Wagman-Geller

The Secret Lives of Royal Women is an interesting and informative read that shines a light on the often-overlooked stories of women behind the crown. Marlene Wagman-Geller does a great job bringing historical figures to life, sharing their triumphs, struggles, and secrets in an engaging way.

Each story offers fascinating insights into how these women shaped history, often in ways that weren’t fully recognized in their time. It’s well-researched and accessible, making it a great choice for readers who enjoy learning about the hidden sides of royal life.

For anyone interested in women’s history, this book is definitely worth reading—it’s both enlightening and enjoyable from start to finish.

[Jill Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Wagman-Geller and her fascinating mini-biographies. Royal Women, her most recent, like the others, captivated me to keep turning the pages. This collection revealed that kingdoms and riches beyond imagination gained through birth or marriage did not guarantee happy lives and certainly not happy endings. Love and sorrow are interwoven with opulent threads of elation, disappoint and heartbreak. These women held a variety of traits some loyal humanitarians wanting to help their subjects while others were vain and deceitful these contrasts made it a most intriguing read. I royally recommend it!

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't written badly but as another reviewer mentioned it had some errors and also isn't anything new if you know anything about any of these women. I had hoped to read something, anything I hadn't read elsewhere.

Much better books in this type of genre:
Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra to Princess Di by Kris Waldherr
or
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors by Michael Farquhar

[Bella Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the expansive vocabulary to the simplest synopsis’s of our dear female royalty, this author exceeded the highest of my expectations. This truly encapsulated the beauty and tragedies that come with such tiresome responsibilities.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick easy read which gives an overview of some interesting Royal women over the centuries.

[Jamie Sorenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why are we so interested in the lives of The Royals? It seems like the whole world is fascinated with the lives of Royals... many times individuals fantasize and long for the life that The Royals "appear" to have. This book gives incredible insight into the lives of Royal Women from 1501 to present day. For example the author covers the emotional horror that Queen Anne would have endured prior to her execution. Before the execution of Queen Anne, after King Henry VIII got bored with her, so he accused her of being unable to control her "carnal lust", Anne said kind words about the king and the executioner to spare the life of her only daughter. --Heart wrenching!

The author (Marlene) true to her style, writes about Princesses, Duchesses, and Other Regal Women in chronological order from the UK to Russia, from Iran to Albania, from Spain to Monaco, from Austria to Japan, from Italy to India, from France to Romania, and so on. Marlene reminds us that Elvis Presley's song, "Blue Hawaii" was sung to honor Queen Liluokalani, the last Queen of Hawaii. Marlene honors her legacy.

This book covers the majesty, mayhem, and sometimes massacre of these women. Royal scandals, made up scandals, love, murder, affairs, duty, and extravagance.

This book covers lives Royal Women from several eras around the world. I learned several never before revealed secrets of Royal Family life. I have a great deal more perspective about Royal Women; some I have more empathy and compassion for, others I now think of as horrible individuals that abused their subjects.

The Secret Lives of Royal Women connects songs, movies, nursery rhymes, and so on to the lives of these Royal Women.

This book is a must read for anyone that has any interest in the lives of Royal Families, history, drama, love, and a curious mind. Absolutely fascinating!

[Lisa Shardlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Marlene Wagman-Geller for gifting me a free copy of her ebook.

This is a collection of real-life stories about different women throughout history who have been born into - or have married into - royalty. Starting from the 1500s up until the present day, it tells us about some very different women from very different countries, backgrounds and upbringings.

I'm a bit of a history geek so I already knew a bit about a few of the women included in this book; such as all of the Tudor queens and most of the present-day British royal women. Please note that this was published just before the death of Queen Elizabeth II so the author talks about her as though she's still alive. Although I already knew some of the information included, there were also a few royal women whom I didn't know anything about, or wanted to know more about, so I still found this very interesting. Some of the stories were quite tragic, whereas others were quite joyful. After reading this, I will read more about Empress Catherine The Great of Russia - now she was very interesting! I've wanted to find out more about her for a while and this book has reminded me to do so. I have also discovered Princess Alice of Battenberg, whose story I found very fascinating; I would also like to learn more about her.

I don't think that there was anything that I didn't like about this. It included women from different times, countries, backgrounds, upbringings and ethnicities, so it was very diverse which I liked. I love learning about different cultures as well as different times in history. For these reasons, I give Royal Women 5 out of 5 stars.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a royalist, who loves history, real-life biographies and memoirs, and strong women.

[Candi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not see anything outstanding about this book. As with many books that contain multiple short biographies, the depth of character is lacking. For the women I was not as familiar with, this book did give me titles to look into, especially autobiographies and memoirs for many of the 19th and 2oth century women. I also appreciate the wide area covered, some who I had not come across before, even if a number of them were born American. On the opposite end, I think Princess Anne of England was the only British royal since Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, that was not included. With earlier period English, one third of the book is easily in the British Isles. Maybe I would have preferred a book of royal women you may not have heard of.

Many of the stories feel like the author wants to tell more than she has the space for on that individual. The writing style is a bit lacking in that sometimes a single sentence will be used to tell an anecdote but is tack on to an paragraph about something else.

[Anne Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short fun read though it does feel very much like the same basic story told for each woman. There is also a very fluid understanding of the difference between actual fact and rumour or hearsay. So I wouldn't rely on this book if you actually want real facts! But it's a fun light-hearted read, though the author really needs to put the name of each woman in the chapter titles so we know where we are, LOL.

[Annie Mondesir · Rating 5 out of 5]

What cool subjects! I love Marlene Wagman’s books! This one is especially inspiring. Learning about the “Royal Women” is an insightful, fun read. Especially since I am addicted to royalty and their lives. It is fun learning the story’s! Marlene is a very informative storyteller.
I always love how much Marlene celebrates women!! We need more of her books.

[Francine Chu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good compilation of fascinating royal biographies (some which I never knew of). However right away under the chapter on Anne Boleyn, the author claims one of my personal historical heroes, sir Thomas More, badgered the pope for an annulment; which is a glaring error. In fact, he actually refused to, resulting in his death.

[Candy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing 'Secret' contain anywhere in this book. You can read a Wikipedia page and get more 'secrets.' Also, too many errors — "Duchess of Wales?" Highly suggest the author expand her research beyond bias newspaper articles and actually speak with historians.