Princess Alexandra

by Helen Cathcart

An enchanting biography of Princess Alexandra’s early life.

Perfect for readers of James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers and Philip Ziegler.

Born on Christmas Day, 1936, Princess Alexandra’s birth was almost overshadowed by the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII. Yet public affection for this new addition to the Royal Family has only grown during a lifetime of dedicated royal service.

In this intimate, behind-the-scenes biography, Helen Cathcart chronicles the first thirty years of Princess Alexandra’s life, from the tragic death of her father when she was just five years old to her wartime childhood at Badminton living with her grandmother Queen Mary, through to schooldays at Heathfield, bridesmaid duties for her first cousin Queen Elizabeth II, and early career working as a nurse.

Admired for her style and devotion to royal duty, we accompany Princess Alexandra as she overcomes her youthful self-consciousness to carry out a wide range of royal and official engagements, including her first solo overseas tour to Australia at the age of 22 in 1959.

We also witness the burgeoning romance between the princess and Angus Ogilvy, and their resplendent wedding at Westminster Abbey in 1963.

A lively, revealing and fully informative book, Princess Alexandra is an exceptionally detailed biography of a loving daughter, wife and mother, as well as a popular member of the Royal Family.

Praise for Helen
‘Wide acclaim as a royal biographer … objective, uninhibited and penetrating’ – Sunday Express
‘Helen Cathcart writes about royalty as if she were one of them’ – The Daily Mail
‘The doyenne of royal biographers’ – The Daily Telegraph
‘A tireless chronicler of royalty’ – The Guardian

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 29, 2022

About the author

Helen Cathcart was a prolific writer about the Royal Family, who enjoyed enormous success with her books in the 1960s and 1970s. These emerged with regularity, sold well and were largely enjoyed (if not always at Buckingham Palace). One mystery surrounded the author – she was never seen. Occasionally journalists visited her agent, Harold Albert at his cottage near Liphook, and suspected that Helen Cathcart did not exist. Invariably they left less convinced. Only when Harold Albert died was it revealed – in an obituary written by Hugo Vickers – that Harold Albert and Helen Cathcart were one and the same.

Hugo Vickers explains that the story of Harold Albert himself was considerably more interesting than anything that Helen Cathcart herself wrote. He had a grim early life, his father deserting his mother when he was a child, he was entirely self-educated and became in time a prolific and successful journalist, personally interviewing both Hitler and Mussolini before the war. He wrote a successful novel, Café People. In the war he was imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs as a conscientious objector and then he created Helen Cathcart. In his later life he ghosted the biography of Prince Philip written by Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia and he wrote the books.

Reviews

[Ann McGuinness · Rating 3 out of 5]

A life of privilege and duty

Interesting insight into this strange, almost surreal existence of amazing privilege, wedded to duty. Life is one round of extended family celebrations and get-togethers and extensive travel both personal and public. Princess Alexandra is portrayed (I felt) in a sycophantic and over-romanticised way., by the author. Nonetheless I did feel some sympathy for the lack of her privacy as a result of the intrusion of the media but I guess it’s the price to be paid.

[Toni Aucoin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it very confusing as well as boring. Too many people with the same name for beginners. Stopped reading.