The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen's Childhood By Her Nanny - Tapa dura

In little more than fifty years the regard with which the Royal Family are held has changed out of all recognition. Ther private lives are now the stuff of soap opera and it seems any one who comes into contact with them sells their story to the magazines or to the newspapers. Marion Crawford, 'Crawfie', as she was known to the Queen and Princess Margaret, became governess to the children of the Duke and Duchess of York in the early 1930s, little suspecting she was nurturing her future Queen. Beginning at the quiet family home in Piccadilly in the early 1930s and ending with the birth of Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 1948, Crawfie tells how she brought the princesses up to be 'Royal' whilst also exposing them to the ordinary world of underground trains, buses and swimming lessons. Her anecdotes, accompanied by over a hundred photographs, provide a fascinating insight into the childhood of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. THE LITTLE PRINCESSES was published in 1950 to a furore we cannot imagine today. It was the first account of life with the Royals ever published and, although it is a touching account of the childhood of the Queen and Princess Margaret, Crawfie was demonised by the press and the Queen Mother, who had been a great friend and who had, Crawfie maintained, given her permission to write the account never spoke to her again.

Marion Crawford - see above Jennie Bond has been Royal Correspondent for the BBC for the past 12 years during which time she has covered the most eventful period in the history of the Royal Family, including three divorces and Lady Diana's death.