Penina Spiegel

This is not a serious book. I should make that clear right now. Its subtitle is, "A Sexy Fairy Tale," and the excerpted review on the cover plugging the book is from Cosmopolitan (which I didn't know was a serious enough mag to review books). It's definitely fairy tale-quality fiction, and the sex in it is frequent and decidedly steamy.

That said, I still add it to my library on this site because it fits interestingly with some of my other recent media consumption, i.e. Tina Brown's "The Diana Chronicles" and the 1970s Thames production of "Edward and Mrs. Simpson" (on DVD). These three things give one a glimpse of some of the challenges that face modern royalty, including the role duty plays in their choice of whom to marry. This title is definitely the weakest of the three stories, and the least likely. (The Prince of Wales actually thinks that after the Abdication and the Queen's refusal to allow Princess Margaret to marry a divorced man, he can pull off marrying an American Jewish script supervisor from the Bronx?) But it was interesting to read in light of its publication date, one year after the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the new era of royal-watching that it ushered in.

As adult fairy tale, it's not bad. The Prince is nearly perfect, handsome with easy manners, wit, and cool demeanor even under stress--perhaps more like Edward III than Prince Charles in personality. Millie is a yuppie-type a few years out of college (Wellesley, no less) with a gaggle of friends in the film industry. Flat-chested but with a staggering sex drive, she and the Prince have lots of creative sex, one or two interesting conversations (that don't involve fighting or trying to work out the kinks in their relationship) and tool around New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Perhaps at the time it was written, it had more appeal. But since 1982, the romance of the Waleses tanked amid all its tawdry details, Charles has since married a divorcee, and while I was reading it, I couldn't get out of my mind several of the zanier scenes from "The Wedding Crashers." And the ending of the novel, while inevitable, is completely unconvincing.

For those after more romance than substance, this is for you. Those looking for a more thoughtful examination of the factors and complications in royal matchmaking, the other two items I mentioned are more satisfying.… (plus d'informations)