Insider books on the British Royal family

by Claudia Joseph
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5 books
It was only after being commissioned by the Mail on Sunday to research Kate’s genealogy that I became interested in the Royal family. I tracked down many of her relatives, who told me about her family tree, and photographs of her ancestors, as well as pictures of her during her childhood. Since then, I’ve become a huge admirer of the Princess and have written several books about her.
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The Other Side of the Coin

The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe
Angela Kelly, 2019
I was fascinated to read this biography about the late Queen as it is full of personal anecdotes about what it was like to work for the British monarch, as well as photographs of her wardrobe. It was a ground-breaking insight into Queen Elizabeth as she gave her blessing for the book.

Diana

Her True Story
Andrew Morton, 1992
As I’m the same age as Diana and was working as a journalist when this book was published, I could not wait to get my hands on it. This authorised biography was the first time we could peek behind the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales. I was not the only one. It caused a sensation around the world.

Little Girl Lost

The Troubled Childhood of Princess Diana by the Woman who Raised Her
Mary Clarke, 1996
I bought this book when writing a feature for the Mail on Sunday newspaper about William and Kate’s country pad, Anmer Hall. Written by Diana’s childhood nanny, who looked after the future Princess of Wales when her parents divorced, it gives a real insight into her child on the Sandringham Estate.

The Queen

Matthew Dennison, 2021
This book about Her late Majesty was written by my friend Matthew Dennison and is an elegant account of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, from her birth in London’s Mayfair to her death at Balmoral in Scotland. Just like Matthew, the biography is stylish and nuanced, championing the attributes of a generation that valued service, duty, charity and stoicism.

Diana - Princess of Wales

Mario Testino, 2006
These photographs of Diana, which were snapped for Vanity Fair magazine, are the way I like to remember the Princess. Not only was she staggeringly beautiful, but she looked at her most relaxed. Sadly, they were taken just five months before her death on my birthday, August 31, 1997.