How does the Royal Family keep everything under control? Things like handling the press, public engagements, and just general day to day operations of the Institution. Enter the Courtiers, the behind the scenes palace staff who assist in everything from advising to serving as the private secretaries for the senior members of the Royal Family. This is a fascinating look at how the role of courtier has changed over time and throughout the generations. The global stage has changed dramatically, with the internet and social media now serving as the main forms of communication for everyone, and the Royal Family has had to adapt to this new 21st century normal. History lovers will enjoy the detailed stories from some of the most influential courtiers in history, while royal watchers will enjoy the palace drama that has taken place over the decades. This is an in depth, behind the purple curtain look at some of the most important players in the House of Windsor.

This was SUCH an interesting read! Like most people, I've gotten really interested in the Royal Family lately thanks to The Crown and Meghan and Harry's drama. But I never TRULY grasped just how much importance and sway courtiers had in the family. The book was written in a journalistic way, which is honestly my fav way to read non-fiction. I would definitely read more by this author.

What is a courtier? It is a person who attends a royal court as a companion or adviser to the king or queen.
I will be the first to admit the current Royals fascinate me. I love watching William, Princes of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales and the kids grow up. So adorable. I also believe that Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Megan, Duchess of Sussex have every right to “do their own thing”. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Sarah, Duchess of York and her children along with many others are mentioned.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I know the family has a love/hate relationship with the press. I feel like this book gives us an inside look, but sometimes that is not always a good thing. I feel like a courtier should have more discretion. My opinion. I am looking forward to reading Spare to hear first-hand Prince Harry’s story.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this advanced copy. Out now. #bookreview, #bookstagram, #valentinelow, #stamperlady50, #stmartinspress

A subculture full of mystery, intrigue and family secrets and drama. Hate them or love them, royal life and protocol always peeks my curiosity. For me this book was enjoyable given all the recent new developments with royals coming forward to tell “their truth”.
Whether its true or not, whether you like them or not thats up to you.
For me this behinds the scenes account of the royals was a fascinating and interesting account of what goes on behind the palace doors.
There were some unexpected surprises that made it worth.

This book talks about the powers behind the Royal family. It explains the protocols that the Courtiers behind the family have to work with.

I found it to be a bit too long and boring at times. However, there were some interesting stories especially toward the end during recent historic events.

This book is for die hardfans that really want to know just how the Royal family works behind the scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve never been a royal family watcher but ever since Meghan and Harry left “The Firm” and royal life, I’ve wondered just exactly what that means. I guess I naïvely thought the queen or now the king was running the show. Well that was a wrong assumption on my part. It takes many many people to make sure the royals are where they’re supposed to be, doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and saying or not saying what they should be saying.
There were parts that really grabbed my attention. Like the fact of who gets chosen to be a courtier,someone at the top of the royal food chain and all the maids, dressers, valets, (and the list goes on and on) who take care of the royals every day. Prince Charles (now King Charles) seems very entitled. Does the man do anything for himself? Read this and discover how his every need has been taken care of for his entire life.
Holy royal life and what a life it is. I just can’t imagine how this family has lived and prospered for centuries. Anyhow there are interesting tidbits about royal life mixed in with quite a bit of rather dry information. I guess being that I’m not a dedicated royal watcher and just wanted to understand who and what the firm is, did not make me an ideal reader for this book. I do understand more about how this complex family works and I could see this being an extremely interesting book if you enjoy all things about the monarchy.

Courtiers is the perfect companion to today's current events surrounding the British Royal Family as well as giving nice insight to many characters seen on Netflix's The Crown.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, we all know what's being said about the Windsor family from a certain "Spare" Prince as of late. Valentine Low opens the book with an explosive prologue, and then takes you back in time to get to the heart of what a courtier is. Weaving history together with all of those in close daily contact with senior royal members from the Queen Mother to Princess Diana to of course, the late Queen Elizabeth, Low has found a way to make an intriguing history a little less scandalous and a little more teachable. Perfectly executed to come out weeks after an error-riddled memoir, this book gives you more insight to what probably happened over the last few years in the second half of the book, without holding punches to make anyone look better than another.

I highly recommend reading this if you're a fan of The Crown, the royal family, or you just want to read something that is well documented so it can't be refuted as easily as others.

For a book with the word “intrigue” in the title, it’s unfortunate that the only intrigue present was mine upon first hearing about this book. While there was a lot of interesting information presented throughout the book, it read a lot like a textbook which made it feel dull.

I think this book would be a great read for anyone who has a deep love for the Royal Family and the inner workings of the monarchy as an institution. There was a lot of wonderful information presented and the author very clearly did a lot of research to put this book together. Unfortunately, the writing style was not the style for me and I found myself nodding off more than once.

This book gives an inside look into the inner workings of the British Royal Family by exploring the roles of their courtiers and how they came into their positions. The author gives a history of these positions and what they do in support of the Royal Family.

I was interested in learning more about the Royal Family and the people who work for them, but the author did not use a straight timeline to convey the information. There were a few insights into little known Royal incidents that happened behind closed doors, but the information jumped back and forth in time and between various Royals and courtiers making it tough to follow.

Those with a serious interest in Royal history might find this book to be interesting, but I lost patience with the way the book lacked organization.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a free digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Since I normally don't read non-fiction books I decided to pick this one up because I love learning about the royal family.

We get an insight into political intrigue within the british government, court politics, what was megxit and many other things.

I don't feel that this book really shines a light on the british monarchy and instead really brings about some things that are wrong with the establishment.

as much as I'm a fan of the british monarchy it was nice to see inside a bit more.

This was a hard book to get through. It was extremely dry and stodgy. I hate saying that, because I want to love each and every book that I read. But this one was rough. There were some stories that caught my interest throughout. I enjoyed seeing what each person does within the royal household and the importance that they bring to the table. Except for brief tidbits here and there my mind wandered and I could not help but skim the pages. Thank you to St. Martin Press for my gifted copy.

If you are interested in learning how the palace works and who makes decisions regarding the Royal Family, this book details it all!
The royals all have teams of professionals to guide them through times of crisis. This book gives a glimpse into those inner workings.
I felt like a fly on the palace walls!
However, some of the chapters could get a bit dry. I personally preferred the chapters about how the advisors interacted with the Royal Family, but I understand the purpose of including that information as well. This was such an interesting read! I am trying to read more nonfiction this year, are you? If so, check it out! It is well written and researched!

Thank you for the opportunity to read Courtiers. I’ve always been intrigued and interested in the royal family.

There has been a recent influx of books on the family and, unfortunately, this particular book did not work for me. I found it disjointed and confusing, jumping around from one person to the next. Just as something would get interesting, it would move on to the next courtier and leave me feeling unfulfilled. There were some interesting bits, but this was not the gripping account the synopsis promises. More often than not, I was bored and skimmed the pages.

I understand that all books are not for everyone and I hope my review/opinion is in the minority.

Unfortunately, I could only get to the 40% mark with this one. I don't know much about the royal family and was hoping to find out more, it was a little too much for me.

I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately I found it boring and a bit long for what it was.
It was interesting reading about the inner workings of the royals but not nearly as gripping as it claims to be.
It seems as though it’s quite biased towards King Charles and Camilla while tearing apart Harry and Meghan. I understand that it’s the opinion of one person, I just expected a bit more of an unbiased opinion I guess.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Courtiers is a fascinating work of non-fiction by British journalist Valentine Low that takes an in-depth look at the role of courtiers (advisors/attendants to royalty) within the British monarchy. The book defines the positions, particularly that of personal secretary, and looks at them from historical and modern perspectives. Detailed descriptions of the jobs, and people who held them, help paint a picture of the behind-the-scenes workings of "The Firm."

This book is an insightful history lesson complete with anecdotes and historical facts from times as various as the court of Queen Elizabeth I to the present day. Specifics about the personalities of several royals and some of the scandals that courtiers have felt challenged by or cleaned up shine a different light on the people and events we think we know. The chapter about Prince Andrew was particularly eye-opening, as was the information about the lack of diversity among courtiers. This isn't a salacious and gossipy book, however. Instead, it is a well-researched, well-written, and balanced look at the professionals inside the institution of the monarchy who have a job to do while adhering to constitutional regulations, dealing with the press/public, and the personalities and private lives of the royals. History lovers and royalists will both find reasons to love this book!

Sincere thanks to St. Martin's Press for my gifted copy of Courtiers!

DNF at 58%. I was really interested in this book but I just couldn't finish it. This book is long and honestly just really boring. My biggest problem with what I read was how the author talked about Meghan. The way she was talked about in this book really rubbed me the wrong way. The way Meghan and Harry were talked about was upsetting and I just can not continue with this book.

Thank you to the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A very comprehensive and in depth look at the people behind the Crown - context on relationships, on how certain decisions got made, and more. I will say - the cover and the blurb heavily implied that W&K and H&M would feature more in the book - the first 2/3 focused almost entirely on QEII and Charles. Still, for royal watchers, this is a fascinating read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I enjoyed reading this perspective of life around the royal family. I think that after watching the Netflix documentary, this is an interesting contrast.

Courtiers is a look at the powers behind the royal family. It is written by a member of the media so it portrays the courtiers more favorably than I think is realistic. It appears to also be an attempt to soften the reality of the way Diana was treated, which I don’t think is fair. There is a much more favorable treatment of Charles and Camilla in this book while Harry and Meghan are raked over the coals. I have yet to read a book about Harry and Meghan which is not skewed to one extreme or the other. This book also spends more time on the anti-Harry diatribes than others. I would not look for the truth here.