Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret playing with their pet chameleon in the grounds of Windsor Castle, 1941
Lisa Sheridan / Studio Lisa / Getty Images
A new book offering a personal insight into royal life during the outbreak of World War II, entitled,
The Windsor Diaries has been released in paperback this week.
Written by Alathea Fitzlan Howard, a cousin of the Duke of Norfolk, who was sent, as a teenager, to live with her grandfather at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park during WWII, the diary entries reveal some of her childhood memories growing up alongside Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Howard’s niece, Isabella Naylor-Leyland, adapted the book after her aunt s death in 2001.
Howard’s diary from 1940-1945 is now being released as a book, entitled
The Windsor Diaries. This collection of entries reveals never-before-heard stories about Elizabeth and Margaret, bringing the young princesses’ private teenage lives into public view. Acting as both a historical document and an engaging series of vignettes, Howard’s diary entries give new insight into the British royal family.
In light of the
The Windsor Diaries’ release on May 4,
T&C spoke with Howard’s niece, Isabella Naylor-Leyland. When Howard died in 2001, she left her diaries to Naylor-Leyland, who then adapted them into the book.
The following excerpts showcase Alathea’s friendship with the two princesses, as she refers to them, Lilibet and M. Alathea was the eldest of the three girls and had something of a sisterly relationship with both.