A witty yet practical short guide to modern manners that, like Lynne Truss, takes a subject often treated in a stuffy, high-handed way and deals with it lightly and humorously.
‘What do you do?’ a guest inquired of the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party. ‘I had no idea what to say,’ the Queen told friends afterwards. This specially updated edition, released to mark the passing of the late and much-missed monarch, is a collection of warm, amusing recollections from the royal household celebrating the lighter side of palace life. As the longest reigning monarch of this realm, the Queen represented stability, hope and continuity. We loved her because she was always there, didn’t make a fuss and was dedicated in her duty even in old age. But alongside her stoic and sensible exterior, she was also renowned for a playful and keen sense of humor, as seen when she delighted audiences all around the world by inviting Paddington Bear for tea to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. How exactly did the Queen reactwhen she found her footman draped in her jewels? What did she do to amuse herself to while away the hours spent sitting for her portrait? How did she respond when faced with a plate full of Mexican food? This characterful, illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor. Gathered together in this amusing tribute are a compendium of stories which provide access to the unique world of the royals.
About thirty years ago the Guardian first published two amusing anecdotes about the Queen Mother. Readers reeled to see stories actually printed in a national newspaper that until then had had only an underground existence in certain circles. After that, tales about the royal family became respectable; they were also, quite rightly, believed to be true. Taken as a whole they reflect the contradictory roles we like royalty to fulfil: unworldly and impossibly regal, engagingly domesticated and just like us, or camp, worldly and outrageous. In this affectionate tribute Thomas Blaikie has gathered together a compendium of stories, many never published before, which provide access to a unique world. How exactly a Queen reacts when she finds her footmen draped in her jewels? What does she do to amuse herself as she whiles away the hours sitting for her portrait? And how did the Duchess of Windsor and the Queen Mother really get on? This beautifully illustrated book answers these questions and poses many more in its affectionate celebration of the diverse personalities of the House of Windsor.
Your friends neglect to RSVP to your party invitation . . . co-workers munch their pungent meals near your office . . . pedestrians shout into their cell phones and practically knock you to the pavement. Wishing that friends, family, colleagues, and oblivious strangers would mind their manners is lovely, but what about your own? You don’t mean to be rude, but in today’s carefree, high-tech, fast-paced world, how are you supposed to know what to do? Thankfully, Englishman Thomas Blaikie’s witty and insightful guide will help you steer through this minefield of uncertainty and back onto the path toward civility–without a lot of fuss and bother. No need to worry about the proper way to eat soup or which is the salad fork. What Blaikie teaches you is more important: how and when to drop in on a friend, how to turn down suitors graciously, how to “move on” at a party, how to end a text-message conversation that’s gone on just a bit too long, and how to cope with myriad other twenty-first-century social traumas. Always positive and cheerful, To the Manner Born offers commonsense, practical solutions. And if you don’t like someone else’s manners, yes, you really should try to do something about it–in the nicest way possible, of course. “Thomas Blaikie is the perfect guide through the treacherous minefield of contemporary social mores: witty, amusingly abstruse, stylish and most importantly knowledgeable.” –Will Self, author of Cock and Bull “If everyone followed the rules of this book, well, I would certainly go out more. It is packed with good sense, sharp observation, and genuine helpfulness.” –Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Following the success of ‘You Look Awfully Like the Queen’, this is a second anthology of hilarious and touching royal anecdotes, collected by Thomas Blaikie.
For fans of the ‘Windsors’ and ‘Now we are Sixty’: a beautifully illustrated collection of amusing and affectionate stories from inside the royal family.
Never Forsaken is a profound memoir of Bishop Ted G. Thomas Sr. It chronicles his journey from Hoke County, North Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia and beyond. Each experience gained from his two hundred and fifty mile transition to the city and his upward climb to community and church leadership transforms into powerful messages and principles that encourages each reader to apply to their lives. This book recounts Bishop Thomas' life of humility through submission to God and obedience to the scriptures. He affirms that God has never forsaken him. If we seek God by putting Him first in our lives, God will take care us of and the material possessions we desire will be added to us.
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