Beauty, sex and power
Published by Scala Publishers Ltd. in association with Historic Royal Palaces
Publication: March 2012
£14.99
Charles II's reign was a period of revolutionary experimentation: in science, art and sexual etiquette.
For the first time in British history, Royal mistresses - such as Nell Gwyn - played an active, public role in court life. Women sensed new possibilities and freedoms, appearing on stage, managing their own financial, matrimonial - and extra-marital - affairs. Encouraged by a licentious King, 'being beautiful' could get you what you wanted. But if beauty was admired and revered, praised by poets and idealised by artists, it was also distrusted and feared, pursued and possessed.
Beautiful women were chased and abused, pilloried as whores. This equivocal nature of beauty explains the lives of some of the most charismatic and controversial men and women in British history - those Restoration mistresses and degenerate libertines who lived, loved and died amidst the bespangled luxury of the late Stuart Court.
This beautiful book, published to accompany an exhibition at Hampton Court Palace, traces the rise and fall of the 'beautiful revolution' from the Restoration of Charles II to the death of Queen Anne in 1714. It is also a book about beauty itself: its ambiguity, its authority and its transience. This is a timeless tale about our continuing obsession with beauty, celebrity, power and love.
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Official Kensington Palace guidebook
Publication: March 2012
£4.99
Descriptive, informative, authoritative - this superb official guidebook is the best guide to your visit to Kensington Palace and is a very enjoyable read bursting with information.
This souvenir guidebook contains all the highlights and best things to see and do at Kensington Palace, including the state apartments, the Victoria Revealed exhibition and the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. This new and updated Kensington Palace guidebook also contains tours of the four new palace routes and includes some fascinating features on subjects as diverse as death at the palace and the intriguing relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
Packed with riveting history and lavishly illustrated with colour photographs, it’s the essential guide to a future visit to the palace or a fantastic memento of a wonderful day.
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Kids' Kensington: Incredible tales from Kensington Palace
Publication: March 2012
£4.99
Kids’ Kensington: Incredible tales from Kensington Palace by Natasha Narayan takes a light-hearted look at Kensington’s history. This lively, fun-filled guide, aimed at 7-9 year-olds reveals the stories of some of Kensington’s more colourful characters including grumpy kings, clever queens, naughty princesses, savage beasts, wild boys and ferocious rat-killers! The stories are brought to life with the brilliant and quirky illustrations of Mark Beech.
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Royal Palaces of London: A 3D expanding pocket guide
Published by Walker Books Ltd. in association with Historic Royal Palaces
Publication: June 2012
£5.00
This unique three-dimensional guide features beautiful illustrations and short histories of the most famous of the London royal residences including the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Mews, the Banqueting House, St James's Palace, Hampton Court, Kew Palace and Windsor Castle. Presented in a slipcase, the guide unfolds to a length of 1.5 metres and is a brilliant way to remember a trip to London. For readers aged: 5+.
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Victoria Revealed: 500 facts about the Queen and her world
Published: March 2012
£12.99
Published to accompany the new permanent exhibition at Kensington Palace, Victoria Revealed does just what it says! This fully-illustrated book uncovers intimate secrets about Victoria, and her close family; her joys and sorrows. You’ll be shocked by the scandals and Victorian society at its worst (freak shows, child labour, grim poverty), yet inspired by the artists and engineers, scientists and social reformers who all helped shape the way we live today.
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