In reality, however, the story of England’s most popular dynasty starts much earlier—and it starts with three courageous women who shaped their own destiny. The Tudor dynasty traces its origin to Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth of York—women who waged through blood and loss in order to finally emerge as the ultimate female survivors of the Wars of the Roses.Their posthumous images, however, couldn't be more different, and their lives are still shrouded in mystery. Elizabeth Woodville, the first commoner to marry a King of England, is chiefly remembered as a greedy queen who elevated her huge family, causing a stir in the realm. Margaret Beaufort, mother of the victorious Henry Tudor, is immortalised in history as an overly ambitious, scheming woman who ran her son’s court, pushing his wife aside. Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV, is perceived as a queen subjected to her mother-in-law and trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who ousted the last Yorkist King. It is time to dispel some of the most enduring myths about these extraordinary women who ultimately shaped the early Tudor dynasty.- Why were Elizabeth Woodville and her mother accused of witchcraft?- Was Margaret Beaufort a “mother-in-law from hell”?- Did Elizabeth of York have an incestuous relationship with her uncle, Richard III?These are only a few of the controversial questions discussed in this book. Within these pages, you will learn much more about the three women who emerged victorious from the Wars of the Roses, who tried to rebuild their lives while adjusting to the new, post-war Tudor era, and who founded a dynasty that would reign for more than a century.

    Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by nineteenth-century women of less-exulted class.Victoria and Albert's precocious firstborn child, Vicky, wed a Prussian prince in a political match her high-minded father hoped would bring about a more liberal Anglo-German order. That vision met with disaster when Vicky's son Wilhelm-- to be known as Kaiser Wilhelm-- turned against both England and his mother, keeping her out of the public eye for the rest of her life. Gentle, quiet Alice had a happier marriage, one that produced Alexandra, later to become Tsarina of Russia, and yet another Victoria, whose union with a Battenberg prince was to found the present Mountbatten clan. However, she suffered from melancholia and died at age thirty-five of what appears to have been a deliberate, grief-fueled exposure to the diphtheria germs that had carried away her youngest daughter. Middle child Helena struggled against obesity and drug addition but was to have lasting effect as Albert's literary executor. By contrast, her glittering and at times scandalous sister Louise, the most beautiful of the five siblings, escaped the claustrophobic stodginess of the European royal courts by marrying a handsome Scottish commoner, who became governor general of Canada, and eventually settled into artistic salon life as a respected sculptor. And as the baby of the royal brood of nine, rebelling only briefly to forge a short-lived marriage, Beatrice lived under the thumb of her mother as a kind of personal secretary until the queen's death.Principally researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa-- and entertainingly written by an experienced biographer whose last book concerned Victoria's final days-- Victoria's Daughters closely examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and finally passed over entirely with the accession of their n0 brother Bertie to the throne. Packard provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as daughters of their time.

    But, because of their ambition and political machinations, each mother pushed her daughter toward a marital alliance that resulted in disaster. Catherine of Aragon was cruelly abandoned by Henry VIII who cast her aside in search of a male heir and tore England away from the Pope. Marie Antoinette lost her head on the guillotine when France exploded into Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Vicky died grief-stricken, horrified at her inability to prevent her son, Kaiser Wilhelm, from setting Germany on a belligerent trajectory that eventually led to war.  Exhaustively researched and utterly compelling, In Triumph's Wake is the story of three unusually strong women and the devastating consequences their decisions had on the lives of their equally extraordinary daughters.

    Should she trust her father's brother and most loyal supporter or honor the betrothal that her mother has made for her to her family's enemy, Henry Tudor?The choice was made for her on the field at Bosworth, and Elizabeth the Plantagenet princess became the first Tudor queen.Did Elizabeth find happiness with Henry? Did she ever discover the truth about her missing brothers, who became better known as the Princes in the Tower?Lose yourself in Elizabeth's world in Plantagenet Princess, Tudor Queen.Selected as an Editor's Choice by the Historical Novel Society and long-listed for the 2016 HNS Indie Award.

    You hear a lot of  horror stories about proposing and things go horribly wrong, but it went really, really well.” --HRH, Prince William of WalesThe marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton is one of the most significant royal events of recent times. As second in line to the throne, the elder son of the much mourned Diana, Princess of Wales—whose famous sapphire and diamond engagement ring he bestowed on his future bride—William embodies the hopes and expectations of millions of people around the world. And as a “commoner” who will become a princess, Catherine brings romance and freshness to a very traditional union.Acclaimed biographer Andrew Morton, who was trusted by Diana herself to recount her true story to the outside world, has been covering Prince William since birth. Now he brings his unique insights to this portrait of the histories and characters of the bride and groom—from their family backgrounds, their childhoods, and the early days of their relationship at university, through their ups and downs as a couple in the public eye, their private engagement in Kenya, and all the glamour and drama of the wedding itself.  Lavishly illustrated with color photographs, both a chronicle and a lasting memento of a day to remember, William & Catherine brings us both the public spectacle and the private moments as only the author of Diana: Her True Story can reveal them.