Author: WRIGHT, PATRICIA
Title: The Strange History of Buckingham Palace
Description: Sevenoaks, Kent, Amherst. 2003, First Thus. (ISBN: 1903637090). Soft Cover, 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A Fine unmarked copy. Revised edition. 212 pages. Illustrated throughout. Buckingham Palace is one of the most familiar buildings in the world, but how many of us know the real tales hidden behind its ceremonial gates? Who was the witch who lived in the royal courtyard? How could courtesans once have plied their trade in front of the present royal windows? How dared a Prime Minister call the Palace a monstrous insult to the nation? Neither conventional history nor guide, the book reveals how Buckingham Palace came to be the place it is today, from a time when it probably formed the escape route from a Roman battle nearly 2,000 years ago to the establishment of the first gentleman's house there in the 17th century, and on into a chequered royal history. The first of several female owners was a Saxon queen whose lust for power vied with that of her husband's courtiers; the monks of St. James's once also owned part of the site and were condemned by their superiors for scandalous relations with 'virgins' meant to be in their care; James I planned to found a silk industry there. Others who once lived in and around the palace grounds included a tragic thief called Isabella Puddingwyf, fraudulent clerics who smuggled jewels from the King's treasury, a money lender's heiress, some crocodiles and the Westminster vintners who built a civil war fort in the garden. A thoroughly entertaining history. 15. Fine/No Jacket.

Keywords: Buckingham Palace History 1903637090


See more books from our catalog: English History