This is the second book about Prince William and his fiancée's Kate Middleton's romance that I read after previously reviewing Robin Nunn's charming book, William & Kate: Celebrating a Royal Engagement here. Penned by James Clench, the Royal Reporter for UK's The Sun tabloid newspaper and includes photos by Arthur Edwards, this 208-page hardcover book tells the relationship between the two love birds. For your information, this is the first book available on the market since the official announcement of the couple's engagement on 16 November 2010. For this review, I will make a fair and honest comparison between both books.
This book contains a more intimate and elaborate account of the couple's love story. It briefly talks about the holiday vacations that they spend whether together or with friends and family. Compared to Robin Nunn's book, it definitely has more pictures of the couple's time together and individual photos of them participating in some significant events in their lives. Besides this, Mr. Clench also include paparazzi shots taken from The Sun's archive of the couple's partying and hitting the dance floors in nightclubs in London's most happening places.
At times, I was skeptical as to the author's approach to the story when the truth can only be verified by the couple. It is most likely conjecture on his part in order to sensationalised the events described and consequently sell more books, just like how tabloid newspapers usually operate. Honestly, unless they interviewed Prince William and Kate about their perception and feelings in reaction to some forgettable events and not rely on undisclosed sources, Mr. Clench can only speculate and imagine their response. I presume that this is his tactic to earn profit but I am not accusing him of making up stories because there could be truth in it. What I am trying to say is due to his style of writing which I am not easy about, it feels like I am reading tabloid clippings written by journalists instead of composed by an objective observer of the royal family. Therefore readers should read this book with a pinch of salt and not believe every word unless it is confirmed and verified by other reliable sources.
Nevertheless, there are a few scoops which they got it right, exclusive photos and interviews of the prince himself. For example, it was mentioned that it was The Sun who first broke the news on William and Kate's split and took photos of their first kiss together before Kate was acknowledged as William's girlfriend. Prince William's famous quote: 'I don't want to get married until I'm at least 28 or maybe 30.' was revealed to one of The Sun's reporters when the prince was in a relax mood, enjoying a ski vacation in Klosters, Switzerland with his father, brother and close friends.
On the other hand, there are some things that I find interesting and enjoyable. This is the first time I read about Kate's childhood and schooling years before meeting the future king in St. Andrews University. Just as in the first book which I reviewed, no photos of Kate's younger days were published which probably is because she took steps to protect her privacy and her friends do not take advantage of her new-found situation. The selection of photographs here is varied and more than is found in the first book. It was fun to read the last chapter where Kate was officially presented to the media at Entrée Room, St. James's Palace as their future queen consort and supported by William on her side, answer some questions fielded by reporters. She was wearing a sapphire and diamond ring given by William when he proposed to her in Kenya. It was a touching and poignant gesture from him because it was formerly the engagement ring of his late mother, Princess Diana and he wanted his mother to be part of this special event. Later on, Kate together with William sat down for her first ever chat with ITV News politician editor and revealed her side of their love story. This interview enabled the public to get to hear her opinions and experience leading up to this memorable engagement and her hopes for their future together.
For the most part, I greatly enjoyed seeing the wonderful pictures and learning their ups and downs in their relationship with each other. As mentioned, I dislike the direction and liberties taken in order to spice up the story. Occasionally, Mr. Clench's writings veers on boasting and bragging about The Sun's scoop on several matters of interest which it could have done without. Due to this reason, I dropped a star in rating this book although I delight in reading it. If you do not mind the language insinuated in the book, then it is certainly worth browsing through. I do not recommend it if you prefer an objective and unbiased account on their love story.
Thank you for your review. I have been thinking about reading this, it would be interesting indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I hope you enjoy reading it.
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