The author has written biographies of the houses of Dior and Chanel and was the editor of 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'Vogue', so has a strong pedigree in fashion writing which she has brought to inform this, her history of the Windsor family. 

Anyone who follows Justine Picardie on Instagram will have had an insight into her life in Norfolk, living in a beautiful Old Rectory with her husband Philip. 

The opening of this book details how Philip's relationship to the late Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, meant that Justine was able to accompany him to family occasions. These included a picnic at Balmoral where Justine summoned up the courage to ask the Queen about her couturier Hardy Amies as they did the washing up. (Yes, really.)

It's a fascinating opening to a history of the Royal Family which seeks to highlight the clothes that were worn, and the messages these conveyed.

Justine tells of how, from 1917, when the Royal Family adopted the name of Windsor, Queen Mary chose to use British dressmakers and textiles to counter the anti-German feeling during the First World War.

There’s an account of how Queen Elizabeth (the future Queen Mother) commissioned a white wardrobe from Norman Hartnell when she was mourning the loss of her mother, on a state visit to France, as war loomed in 1938. And there are details of the impact of the extraordinary style choices of the Duchess of Windsor, challenging the conservatism of the royal family. 

For Queen Elizabeth II, the majestic ceremonial gowns were embedded with significance. She chose monochrome outfits for official duties, but she also used clothing as a disguise. For several nights around VE Day and then VJ Day, Elizabeth wore her ATS uniform and was able to join other women in London as their equal, becoming an ordinary person, briefly, during the war.

The book tells, too, of the British couturiers who flourished because of royal patronage, like Norman Hartnell and Edward Molyneux, and their lives outside fashion, like Hardy Amies and his wartime espionage.

It's a very readable account of our recent history and I was pleased to talk to Justine about it for an article for 'Norfolk' magazine.