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Lead book review

You can make anything up about the royal family and it will be printed as a matter of fact

Royal gossip is largely invented, says Philip Hensher – but Tina Brown repeats it regardless

30 April 2022

9:00 AM

30 April 2022

9:00 AM

The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor –The Truth and the Turmoil Tina Brown

Century, pp.320, 20

There are quite a few things that Tina Brown doesn’t know: what ‘jejune’ means; when Louis XIV came to the throne; what the passive voice in prose is (not ‘recollections may vary’); what members of the aristocracy are called (Lady Romsey becomes Lady Penelope Romsey) or what members of the royal family are called (the ‘Dowager Duchess of Gloucestershire’ puts in an appearance).Another

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