In the original dust jacket. Maroon cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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Telling the story of their lives from children to modern day, this fascinating and revelatory new book will look at the fraught relationship (and fiery rivalry) between King Charles and Prince Andrew. Raised for vastly different futures, one burdened with the responsibility of becoming the future king and the other destined to live in his shadow, Charles and Andrew have spent their lives on different sides of the same coin.

War of the Windsors tells, for the first time, the complete story of Charles and Andrew from their diverging childhoods to their current struggles. It looks at the distinct but overlapping stories of the two heirs, from being separated in their early years and the Queen’s supposed overindulgence of Andrew to the competition for Lady Diana and finally, Charles’ ascension to throne while his brother is stripped of Royal duties. And it explores whether, with the scandals around Andrew still fresh in public memory, Charles will ever let his brother back into the family. With extensive research and expert sourcing, War of the Windsors is the incredible inside story of a family in turmoil. Recounting the highs and lows of a brotherhood then turned into a rivalry, royal author and journalist Nigel Cawthorne looks at the makings of a decades long feud and questions whether, ultimately, the brothers will one day band together again.

Reviews:

• This was a very interesting read and definitely a revealing take on the relationship between these totally different brothers. Very well written and totally engrossing .A must read for any royal family fan. An easy book to read. Highly recommend

• Fascinating insight especially into the entitlement of the Royal Family.

• What a disappointing book! I struggled with it from the start, as the writing style is not at all engaging. It reads like a series of facts, baldly stated, with no context or analysis provided. It feels like the writer has researched articles and simply strung them into some sort of timeline, which in itself hits some problems! He tells us that on the morning after their wedding day, Charles goes fishing with Uncle Dickie, as they are staying at Broadlands. Quite a feat, bearing in mind that they married in July 1981 and Uncle Dickie had been murdered by the IRA in 1979!

I then started spotting errors throughout the text. The author claims that Diana had an affair with Nicholas Haslam, and, following the end of the affair, she turned into a phone pest. Firstly, Nicky Haslam, was gay, and as he was born in 1936, significantly older than Diana, being 12 years older than even Charles! She became a phone pest following her affair with Oliver Hoare, who decided not to press charges. Very shoddy research here. Did the author not check the facts, did he even write the book?

The chapter dealing with her affairs was hurriedly skimmed through, and didn’t even mention Hasnet Khan, who Diana once said was the love of her life. There was a belief that the only reason that Diana became involved with Dodi Fayed was to make Khan jealous. The writer also claims that Diana demanded a divorce, and made strong demands, before she did the Panorama interview. It is a matter of record that the Queen intervened following the interview and demanded that the separation be formalised. Diana always made it clear that she did not wish to divorce, if only out of fear of losing her children.

At this stage, 50% of the way through, I have given up on the book. It was making me angry. I appeared to know more about the facts than the author. I could not believe anything that I was reading, and felt insulted that he was taking the readers for fools. It is a lazy, poorly researched, appalling book, which attempts to paint the Royal Family in a very poor light. I am just glad that I waited for the price to drop before purchasing it. I could not understand why the price has dropped so substantially. I understand now!

Nigel Cawthorne has been a writer for nearly 30 years, writing a number of successful popular history books; Nigel Cawthorne lives in London. Nigel Cawthorne is a journalist turned book writer and specialises in history and crime stories, several of which have become bestsellers. His recent biography of Nikola Tesla has sold more than 200,000 copies. He has appeared on The Joan Rivers Show and in front of a Senate Select Committee.