The Windsor Diaries 1940-45.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. [Complete number line 1.] FINE+/FINE+. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,colour and monochrome photographic illustrated dw/dj panels: Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret,and subject/diarist's colour and monochrome portrait photographic illustrated dw/dj panels to front and rear respectively,with white-lettered title and bright, crisp,gilt-numbered sub-title along with author's gilt-lettered name to lower edge of front panel; a gilt spine/backstrip with white-lettered part-title and author's embossed,black-lettered name and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name and initial to foot of same.rear panel with author's monochrome portrait photographs with facsimile diary extract reproduction.Top+fore-edges bright,crisp and clean - no blemish or foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases toany pages' corners - unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean, unblemished,sharp-cornered,plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt-lettered spine/backstrip and immaculate repeated colour pictorial hand-drawn illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,ix-xxiipp+3-342pp [paginated] includes a Foreword and the Afterword too,by Isabella Naylor-Leyland (author's niece-in-law and the Will beneficiary of the Diaries),diary reproductions Jan 1st, 1940 to 29th Dec,1945; 8pp contemporary, autobiographical b/w photograpgs in 1 block, between pp170/71 and separate Acknowledgements and Picture Acknowledgements; plus [unpaginted] half-title+title pages,a dedication,a Contents list/table with subject's contemporary b/w portrait photographic frntis to its reverse,individual Year (1940 -45) separator pages with b/w facsimile ephemera reproduction to each reverse,and to the rear 3pp blanks with publisher potted history to verso of last blank. 'The Windsor Diaries' are the never before seen diaries of Alathea Fitzalan Howard (1923-2001), who in a fairer world might have inherited the Dukedom of Norfolk. She lived alongside the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at Windsor Castle during the Second World War. Alathea's home life was an unhappy one.Her parents had separated and so during the war she was sent to live with her grandfather,Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park.There Alathea found the affection and harmony she craved as she became a close friend of the two princesses, visiting them often at Windsor Castle,enjoying parties, balls, cinema evenings, picnics and celebrations with the Royal Family and other members of the Court. Alathea's diary became her constant companion during these years as day by day she recorded every intimate detail of life with the young Princesses,often with their governess Crawfie,or with the King and Queen. Written from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two,she captures the tight knit,happy bonds between the Royal Family,as well as the aspirations and anxieties, sometimes extreme,of her own teenage mind.These unique diaries give us a bird's eye view of Royal wartime life with all of Alathea's honest,yet affectionate judgments and observations,as well as a candid and vivid portrait of the young Princess Elizabeth, known to Alathea as 'Lilibet',a warm,self contained girl,already falling for her handsome prince Philip, and facing her ultimate destiny,the Crown. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded, fter order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **