Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown Paperback – January 1, 2020

Lady Glenconner has written a very interesting and revealing book about her life among the UK aristocracy and the English royal family in the early and mid 20th century. I learned a lot about how those in high society live.What amazed me was the author’s frankness about her husband and children. Although she tried to be a good wife and mother, she and her husband failed their two eldest children. This book showed me that neglect of children is not just a facet of poor single parent households. Her husband and 2 eldest sons really needed psychiatric help. It seemed like her and her husband’s attitude was that things will get better.I am certain Anne Coke Glenconner had a challenging life. I admire her for being loyal to her husband, despite his eccentricities and affairs. I can not fathom living like she did, though. It must have taken an emotional toll on her. She is a very creative and fascinating person.

I didn’t know what to expect when I selected this title but I wasn’t at all disappointed; with subtle passion Lady Glenconner shares her life story thus far. She is witty, open, fresh in her approach but most importantly honest in her commitment to sharing the ups and downs of being part of a legacy, being born in a time that is now long long gone, and being accepting of consequences and what she has no control over. I frequently had to pause (listening to her voice almost breaking when describing moments of loss) to take in the breadth of what she was sharing with the reader.What is important to me in her story telling, is that being a member of the landed gentry doesn’t come with an open cheque or an open door to all and sundry privilege as we of the working class would envisage. In my view with a large estate, passed down from generations, whilst doesn’t come with income, it does mean that you are obligated to support those who provided your family with that permanent but grand roof over your heads and water to drink so to speak.Her mother’s parenting is very similar to my mother’s very distant but caring, after all, you can only do the best with what experience you have. I loved the book, sometimes wanting to weep when the hands of fate deals yet another challenging card to play. Thank you Lady Glenconner for your showing us that life is what you make of it, for good or ill and for giving me the insight to appreciate that marriage and parenting is a challenge for all of us women and just because you have been exposed to a certain lifestyle doesn’t spare you from the harsh realities that the universe doles out to us all.

Anne Glenconner started life as Anne Veronica Coke, daughter of The Honorable Thomas Coke (son of Viscount Thomas Coke) and Lady Elizabeth (daughter of Charles Yorke, the 8th Earl of Hardwicke). Ultimately her father became the 5th Earl of Leicester. With their main estate, Holkham, being less than 20 miles from royal estate Sandringham House, the royal children Elizabeth and Margaret were playmates, their father an equerry, their mother a lady of the bedchamber.With this book, we get a little window into the life of the British aristocracy - the boarding schools, the shooting parties, the debuts, the rounds of parties. The pressure to make a good match and competently run a household. The need to produce a male heir promptly.And, fundamentally, the need to be the supportive wife. Anne married the erratic, and from the book's description certainly narcissistic, Honorable Colin Christopher Paget Tennant, ultimately the second Baron Glenconner. Although delightfully amusing, and leading her on a round of social engagements that were front-page news, her life was one of service to him, to his crowd-gathering tantrums, and to the guests and projects he dropped on her; of service as a Lady in Waiting for multiple decades to Princess Margaret; and of service to her own children - it's a wonder she managed it all. Not much room for her own life there.With that in mind, I found the book interesting, but dated in its views. It's very chatty and seemingly open, but much is glossed over. We know, today, for example, that the introduction of Roddy Llewellyn and Mustique to Princess Margaret, both performed by the Glenconners, were public relations nightmares for the royal family, but the author shares little of the negative, commenting instead on the reassurance offered her by the Queen Mother at the Princess's funeral. We miss a frank sharing of the contemporary press coverage at the time. It's very much a book of feelings, rather than frank admissions and actions.But perhaps, by the time you're 87 years old, that's how you see things. And it's extremely interesting nonetheless. I wish there had been more photos. My Hachette softcover was 321 pages.

Provides an insider look not only at the royal family (especially Princess Margaret) that is balanced and truthful. Fun, engrossing and at times will lead the reader to tears. A reminder of a past world, and a world in which people dealt with what was handed them rather than endless complain. And very very entertaining. To be cliche, I couldn't put it down.And now, Lady Glenconner has a new book out! :-)

Such a great read!! Could not put it down!

This is such an incredible book that exceeded my expectations. So well written and the content is fascinating.

Couldn’t put it down. Fascinating read. What a life. What an eye opener. Can’t wait to read Anne’s next book.

This is an ‘extraordinary’ book about an ‘extraordinary’ lady! I loved it! It has got everything one might encounter in life, from the extreme pathos of the fate of her three oldest children (I encounter her son Christopher, from time to time, in the fabulous settings of the Palladian delight that is Holkham Hall - what a lovely, brave man to have emerged from his tragic accident in Central America!), to the extreme hedonism of her and her husband’s (the ‘mercurial Colin) lives in Mustique and St Lucia, and, of course, the circuit of the ‘rich and famous’. What I thought was particulate fascinating was Lady Anne’s lasting relationship with the Royals , and particularly Princess Margaret. I think you certainly see Princess Margaret in a different light. Fascinating! And what endurance and Stoicism Lady Anne demonstrated throughout her long life! It is certainly a life much removed from we ordinary mortals! Well done!

This is an incredibly gossipy, snobbish book about a ,thankfully, bygone age. Anyone carried away by the apparently charmed halls of Downton Abbey would do well to read this as an antidote. The ghastly dysfunctional life of people who honestly have everything makes dispiriting reading. Having been brought.up in these circles I'm only too aware of how the ridiculous constraints, mores, and manners of the times were. Two families joined to huge wealth and privilege managed to create a nightmare while wedded to the "stiff upper lip" and keeping up appearances which prevented them taking the proper steps to avoid tragedy. Bravo for attempting this task, Lady Glenconner, but honestly..

I’ve just finished the last page of this beautifully written book and the tears are flowing. I’ve never left a review before but had to for this book. It’s written from the heart expressing a tumultuous life. Many up’s and many downs but with an ‘upbeat’ thread running through it. If you haven’t been to Holkham Hall, go, you won’t regret it. The marble entrance hall is so amazing it takes your breath away. I would 100% recommend this book

“My Extraordinary Life” must be the under- statement of 2019.What an incredible woman with an equally incredible tale to tell.Told in the matter of fact manner of someone to whom these unusual experiences were a way of life. One of these happenings in a lifetime would be enough for most people.Why bother with ludicrous, badly written soap operas when you can read the real thing!I am really sorry I finished it so quickly.

Littered throughout this story of truly extraordinary events are an amazing number of insights into life and lessons for enduring difficulty. Lady Glenconner is a remarkable woman, not so much for her experiences, so many of which are so unusual, but for for her happy outlook, her warmth and her strength. I have never met her, but having read this wonderful book, she must be a person with a great sense of fun and she clearly has huge love for her friends and family. My only wish is that this book were longer; I hope she writes another.