A Cheetah's Tale (Bradt Travel Guides

by Princess Michael of Kent, Jonathan Scott (Foreword)

"Beautifully written and vividly recalled, this story is immensely touching and illuminating; her descriptions of Africa are fresh and painterly. I loved it." --Joanna Lumley

"A cautionary tale of Africa's most beautiful and rarest of big cats." --Wilbur Smith

This charming autobiographical tale from Princess Michael of Kent tells of a girl growing up and the incredible bond that can exist between people and animals. Beautifully written by a natural storyteller and packed with fabulous photographs, it is also a wonderful portrait of Africa - the cheetah version of Born Free - and will delight readers worldwide.
In the early 1960s, Marie Christine von Reibnitz (who would later become HRH Princess Michael of Kent) lived with her father on his farm in Mozambique. Then just a teenager, Princess Michael was entranced by the African landscape, by the wildlife and by the people she met. It was one of the happiest times of her life and she recounts that it was an orphaned cheetah cub (called Tess) who played a huge part in making it so. The relationship between the young Princess Michael and Tess, whom she hand-reared and later successfully released into the wild having trained her to hunt and survive on her own, will touch every reader's heart.
The events of that period have remained with Princess Michael for the rest of her life and in A Cheetah's Tale she recalls not just the tale of Tess, but also the realities of life in Africa: from waking up in the middle of the night to find her father had just shot a lioness that was about to eat her to discovering a deadly Black Mamba curled up inside the loo!
Tess was the inspiration for Princess Michael's lifelong interest in cheetah conservation and the epilogue covers some of her work as Royal Patron of the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre in South Africa and of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia.

'What makes this book stand out is the princess's very personal account of her own young life, re-connecting with an estranged father and meeting a loving step-mother, and adopting this small lost animal which she nurtured until the time to release it back into the wild. It is a window into her own world, as much as a really comprehensive study of cheetahs. Beautifully written and vividly recalled, this story is immensely touching and illuminating: her descriptions of Africa are fresh and painterly. I loved it.'

Joanna Lumley - Actress, author and activist

'A cautionary tale of Africa's most beautiful and rarest of big cats.'

Wilbur Smith - Novelist

'As we follow cheetah Tess's journey from her rescue as an orphaned cub to her return to the wild, Princess Michael of Kent explores the very human struggle between head and heart as she prepares to let go of Tess. Through her story we come to realise that cheetahs are not ours to possess, but belong to the wilderness from where they came.'

Dr Sarah Durant - Conservation scientist and cheetah expert

'This tenderly written account chronicles a story that is long overdue to be told: the survival of the graceful cheetah is at crisis point, yet again. Princess Michael's passion for this bewitching creature, originating from evocative teenage experiences in Africa, has inspired a lifelong commitment to support the cheetah in its natural habitat. This deeply moving tale will surely hearten others to follow her inspiring lead at this critical time.'

David Shepherd - Artist and conservationist

'I've always felt that the world should hear Princess Michael's own story of adventure, derring-do, heartbreak and struggle.

Genres: Memoir

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 18, 2017

About the author

Princess Michael of Kent (Marie Christine; née Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945), is a German-Born member of the British Royal Family. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of King George V.

Princess Michael is an author, and has published several books on the royal families of Europe. She also undertakes lecture tours, and supports her husband in his public work. The Kents do not officially carry out royal duties, although they have on occasion represented Queen Elizabeth II at functions abroad.

Princess Michael of Kent was born on 15 January 1945, in Karlovy Vary (formerly Carlsbad), in then-German-populated Sudetenland, in what is now the Czech Republic, near the family estates of her Austrian maternal grandmother, Princess Hedwig Windisch-Graetz, prior to the defeat and the end of Nazi Germany and of World War II in Europe, and the following expulsion of the German population later that year. Princess Michael is the only daughter of Baron Günther Hubertus von Reibnitz (of German descent) and his Austro-Hungarian wife, Countess Maria Anna Carolina Franziska Walpurga Bernadette Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár, a daughter of Count Friedrich Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat, who served as Ambassador at St. Petersburg at the outbreak of World War I. The Princess's father also had a daughter named Margarita, born on 18 January 1924, from his first marriage to Margherita, Countess von Seherr-Thoß.

Through her mother, the Princess is a descendant of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II of France, and Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France (his wife), and also of painter Peter Paul Rubens. After her parents' divorce, her father, a Nazi party member who had held the rank of Sturmbannführer or “Assault (or Storm) Unit Leader” in the SS during the Second World War[4], moved to Maforga, Mozambique. Marie Christine, her mother, and her brother, Baron Friedrich (Fred) von Reibnitz (now living in Canberra), moved to Australia, where her mother ran a beauty salon. Friedrich became an Australian Government official. He has a daughter, Princess Michael's niece Maya Scott, born 1978 in Canberra to a fellow civil servant, Mary Scott. Maya Scott is a photographer and artist based in Western Australia.

Reviews

[MURIELLE ⚽️U Boyo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author is the biggest racist from the Royal Family. She bought two Black Sheep and named them venus and Serena Williams. She wears blackmoor brooch which fetishize images of slavery.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.harp...

[Dave Broadbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book by her HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
Following the life of Tess the orphaned Cheetah only a few day's old.
Well worth the read.
One of those books that are hard to put down,once started.
A fantastic book.
Thank you,

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read. Princess Michael of Kent's memoir of raising a cheetah cub in Africa is a little like reading Out Of Africa by Karen Blixen. You can sense the magic of Africa as you read. Princess Michael tells of how she raised the cub with the full intention of returning it to the wild when it was ready. The cub, Tess, became a full-fledged member of the family and looked on the princess as its mother. Princess Michael also tells us the history of the cheetah, which is fascinating to read. She also tells of her encounters with Tess after her release into the wild. Recommended for anyone who loves wildlife, conservation, and Africa.