In Royal Service to the Queen
A Novel of the Queen's Governess
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Narrated by:
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Mhairi Morrison
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By:
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Tessa Arlen
About this listen
"Engrossing. Fans of The Crown will devour this." (Publishers Weekly)
The revealing story of Queen Elizabeth II's beloved governess, Marion Crawford, who spent more than 16 years of her life in loyal service to the royal family and was later shunned by those she has loved and served.
Marion Crawford can remember each of the wonderful years when she was governess to the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose: included in their lives, confided in, needed, trusted, and loved. These memories will never dim, ever. In Marion's mind, she will always be their Crawfie.
But things become increasingly complicated as the young royals navigate adulthood. It is May 1945 and Princess Elizabeth - the heiress presumptive to the British throne - has fallen in love, and the only member of her family who is happy for her is her governess. No one in the young princess's life thinks that Prince Philip of Greece would be a suitable husband for the future queen of England. No one that is, except for Marion Crawford.
Crawfie wholeheartedly supports Elizabeth in her determination to marry Philip. She too has fallen in love - and has convinced her fiancé, George, that they must wait for Elizabeth and Philip to receive the king's blessing before she can leave her service to the Crown.
Over the next two years Crawfie is caught between loyalty to Princess Elizabeth; running the risk of alienating her royal employer, Queen Elizabeth; and losing the man she loves. But as Crawfie prevails to marry George and stands with him in Westminster Abbey on Elizabeth and Philip's wedding day, she is unaware that her troubled relationship with Queen Elizabeth is far from over. And just around the corner is a betrayal that will sever her bond with the royal family forever.
©2021 Tessa Arlen (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Tessa’s story of Princess Elizabeth’s governess gives us a fascinating, meticulously researched, insight into the workings of the royal family. It is a story that resonates particularly today.” (New York Times best-selling author Rhys Bowen)
"Fans of The Crown will enjoy this poignant look behind the royal curtain, and will celebrate and mourn with Marian Crawford, tutor to the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, as she is forced to choose between sharing the lives of the girls she loves or creating a life and family of her own. It’s an emotional story of the struggle between duty to a sovereign and duty to one’s heart." (Georgie Blalock, author of The Last Debutantes)
"A tantalizing and poignant tale of the young royal princesses. Wise, loyal and fierce, Crawfie is a heroine for the ages. Arlen's storytelling should thrill anyone who loved The Crown." (Stephanie Barron, author of That Churchill Woman)
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- Abridged
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Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to become a housemaid and she finds work at the Earl of Westerholme's crumbling but magnificent mansion.
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Heavily edited
- By Melissa Keating on 06-21-16
By: Eva Ibbotson
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The Princess Plan
- By: Julia London
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Nothing gets the tongues of London’s high society wagging like a good scandal. And when the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip about the crime, prompting Sebastian to take an interest in playing detective - and an even greater interest in Eliza.
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Hero’s voice bleh, BUT…
- By Robyn on 05-16-23
By: Julia London
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The War Nurses: A Moving Wartime Romance Saga Full of Heart
- The War Nurses Series
- By: Lizzie Page
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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You will love every moment of this absolutely brilliant wartime saga, perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Soraya M. Lane, and Nadine Dorries. As war takes its toll, the love and care of two brave young nurses become everything to the wounded soldiers they tend... 1914. Two plucky young nurses pledge to help the war effort: Mairi, a wholesome idealist hoping to leave behind her past and Elsie, a glamorous single mother with a weakness for handsome soldiers. Despite their differences, the pair become firm friends.
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I really really wanted to like this book...
- By Teresa M. Thornborough on 09-26-19
By: Lizzie Page
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The Moon, the Stars, and Madame Burova
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Hogan
- Narrated by: Nina Wadia
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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After inheriting her mother’s fortune-telling business as a young woman, Imelda Burova has spent her life on the Brighton pier practicing her trade. She and her trusty pack of Tarot cards have seen the lovers and the liars, the angels and the devils, the dreamers and the fools. Now, after a lifetime of keeping other people’s secrets, Madam Burova is ready to have a little piece of life for herself. But she still has one last thing to do—to fulfill a promise made in the 1970s, when she and her girlfriends were carefree, with their whole lives still before them.
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Trigger warning
- By Kristyn Rose on 01-30-23
By: Ruth Hogan
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The Westerby Inheritance
- Changing Fortunes, Book 1
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man-about-town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition. When he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts. A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is a thrilling installment in an emotionally charged romantic saga, all played out against a backdrop of elegant 18th-century society.
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NOT like Marion Chesney's other romances!
- By DatPixieGirl on 06-11-19
By: M. C. Beaton
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The Golden Hour
- A Novel
- By: Beatriz Williams
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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The Bahamas, 1941. Newly widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the duke and duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires? Or so Lulu imagines.
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Stick with it!
- By Colleen on 07-17-19
By: Beatriz Williams
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Between Two Thorns
- The Split Worlds Series, Book 1
- By: Emma Newman
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him - with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer. There is a witness, but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her family may prove to be the ally Max needs. But can she be trusted? And why does she want to give up eternal youth and the life of privilege she’s been born into?
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I hate writing Bad reviews but.....
- By Joseph Reeves on 04-26-17
By: Emma Newman
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The Bachelor List
- Duncan Sisters, Book 1
- By: Jane Feather
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Constance Duncan has more important things on her mind than finding a husband - for herself, at any rate. Constance connects lonely hearts, and nothing will distract her from it - until she finds herself irresistibly drawn to a man of disastrously different views. Max Ensor is a politician whose outmoded attitudes outrage her - even as his powerful presence intrigues her. Clearly there is only one thing to do with such an exasperating man: convert him! Little does Constance know that Max has the same plan in mind for her....
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Disappointing
- By Yara N. on 02-16-20
By: Jane Feather
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If I Were You: A Novel
- By: Lynn Austin
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve’s secrets - and the complicated history of their friendship - to the surface.
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performed beautifully
- By Colby on 07-16-20
By: Lynn Austin
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Beguiling the Beauty
- By: Sherry Thomas
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Duke of Lexington meets the mysterious Baroness von Seidlitz-Hardenberg on a transatlantic liner, he is fascinated. She’s exactly what he’s been searching for - a beautiful woman who interests and entices him. He falls hard and fast - and soon proposes marriage. And then she disappears without a trace.… For in reality, the "baroness" is Venetia Easterbrook - a proper young widow who had her own vengeful reasons for instigating an affair with the duke. But the plan has backfired. Venetia has fallen in love with the man she despised - and there’s no telling what might happen when she is finally unmasked….
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Worth multiple listens
- By anonymous on 09-10-19
By: Sherry Thomas
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The Orphan Sisters
- By: Shirley Dickson
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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A heartbreaking, enthralling and utterly unforgettable World War 2 story of two young sisters cruelly abandoned by their mother at an orphanage. 1929: four-year-old Etty and eight-year-old Dorothy are abandoned at Blakely Hall orphanage by their mother, never to see her again. With no other family to speak of, the sisters worship their beloved mam - and they are confused and heartbroken to be deserted by her when they need her the most.
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Excellent story. PG-13+
- By Melissa L S on 09-18-19
By: Shirley Dickson
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After the War Is Over
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Robson
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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After four years as a military nurse, Charlotte Brown is ready to leave behind the devastation of the Great War. The daughter of a vicar, she has always been determined to dedicate her life to helping others. Moving to busy Liverpool, she throws herself into her work with those most in need, only tearing herself away for the lively dinners she enjoys with the women at her boardinghouse.
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More romance than history
- By RueRue on 08-17-16
By: Jennifer Robson
What listeners say about In Royal Service to the Queen
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- natalie Smith
- 07-21-21
In addition to The Crown
I loved the series The Crown so I knew I would like this book. It gives another view of the royals and especially Elizabeth as she was growing up.
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- Etoile NEOhio
- 04-08-22
Well done you!
For an historical novel this really rang true. There's a lot of sorce material to draw from, but it was a good attempt to show Miss Crawford in a more favorable light than she is held by the Royal Family.
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- Tamilou Touhey-Willis
- 06-28-23
Heartbreaking
I enjoyed this story immensely. Perfect narration and told from a kindly perspective. A wonderful summer read!
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- Tami Davis Speer
- 06-15-23
Enchanting
So very lovely to hear the inside of one of Britain’s amazing Queen. I’m so glad she had the support from her Governess.
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- Jenna Lenn
- 09-12-21
Crawford Deserves to be Honored
This book gives voice and life to a face Royal Fans have been trained to despise or otherwise ignore. Tessa does a fantastic job bringing Crawford to life!
She is single handedly the woman who raised HM The Queen and HRH The Princess Margaret. She formed the young woman who would become the young Queen and perhaps her abrupt departure when Margaret was 18 led to the loneliness and abandonment she would fight the rest of her life…
Crawfie deserves to be celebrated in history, not shunned.
Congratulations to the author and reader for a fabulous listen! Highly recommended!
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- sharon
- 07-05-21
Interesting Take on the Royal Family
Yet another tale of the Royal Family. While a fictional story it was certainly based on sources from other books.
Once again it illustrates the selfish royals using their servants and their loyalty to their own advantage as if They are
entitled to drain everyone dry until they are almost useless and have no personal lives .
The only one who comes off as human is the current Queen. Q Elizabeth I( if accurately portrayed) is a complete control
freak and very selfish. Margaret is a spoiled wild child with no morals.
(Crawfie) who devoted almost 20 years to the Little Princesses ended up shunned by Elizabeth 1 for the rest of her life.
Tragic! This should be a cautionary tale to all those in service to Royalty.
Narration was excellent.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-23-23
Excellent Story
An excellent story about the Royal Family, excellently told. It was definitely a pleasurable “read”.
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- Becki G
- 06-02-23
What a sweet read!
This was a sweet story about the relationship between a governess and two little princesses. Loved the book!
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- Maggie Terry
- 08-28-23
Boring
Boring boring boring.
Narrator was fine though.
I wish I had not wasted a credit.
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