Like millions of other people around the world, I was stunned when it became known that Prince Charles had chosen another woman over the universally adored beautiful, glamorous Lady Di, "The People's Princess." How dare he! Camilla Parker Bowles had been the other woman in Charles' life for many years, in various capacities. Mrs. Parker Bowles at once became the most hated woman in Britain, if not the world. As the years passed, and more information emerged, many of us wondered if we had been unjust towards Camilla. Who is this woman who involuntarily almost brought the British Monarchy to its knees? That is what Penny Junor has endeavored to do to astounding results.

Ms. Junor has covered the Royals for nearly thirty years, either knows personally or professionally several of the key players, and appears to be quite a reliable source. Although THE DUCHESS is an unauthorized biography, given the author's credentials, it's almost a technicality. THE DUCHESS is fully researched and well documented, but what convinced me to really give this book my full attention was something that made me doubtful at the very beginning. It is obvious that Ms. Junor is extremely fond of Camilla -- for the sake of brevity and not out of disrespect, I will abstain from using the formal titles -- and I wondered if THE DUCHESS was merely the product of a long- time fan to rehabilitate her idol, but soon Ms. Junor made it quite clear that she could remain coolly objective, and from then on, I was all ears (or should I say all eyes).

I must say that THE DUCHESS was quite an eye-opener: never had I imagined how complicated, taxing, and demanding being a royal really was. Ms. Junor documents the daily life of the royals extensively, being an avid historical romance reader I had some minute inklings as to how it seemed, I was flabbergasted! Although I think that, at times, some details concerning minor players were overabundant, the whole thing was riveting, and it shed some light on the sometimes unbearable challenges the Royal Family faces. In THE DUCHESS, we get to know intimately Camilla, her family having been part of the royal circles even before she became involved with Charles. We also get to know a lot about Charles and Diana, Charles' relationship with his parents, and I must say this was extremely enlightening, as well as a little unsettling at times. While being a fan of the Royal Family, I do not follow everything that goes, or went, on and I experienced several moments of "Ah, now I see, now I understand".

Camilla Parker Bowles is a remarkable woman, full of contradictions, extremely loyal and dedicated, an exemplary mother, a wonderful and faithful friend, still she relished the comfortable and easy life she had had before becoming the Duchess of Cornwall. That's when all her hard work began, and she came through like the trooper she always was: her head held high, and unapologetic. I was amazed at how involved she is in charity work, and has always been, how caring she is. It is a testament to Camilla's fortitude that she was able to endure gracefully the horrendous times she faced in the shadow of Lady Di, ridiculed and hounded by the press, and reviled by the common people. Until the tide began to change, and the world was ready to give her a chance.

THE DUCHESS is exceptionally well written; Penny Junor's prose is literate and flowing, a pleasure to read from beginning to end. The book suffers from very few editorial issues apart from a glaring mistake regarding the 1972 Olympics, which I hope will be corrected in future editions. Unfortunately, in the digital review copy photographs were notably absent, and given the details on Camilla's youth and life, I would have liked to see some pictures. Included are a bibliography, and an extremely helpful index. Naturally, every royal follower will want THE DUCHESS, but it is a book I would highly recommend to people in need of inspiration when facing adversity, or even merely for historical reasons; seldom do we really read about how the other half lives, let alone the Monarchy. What remains to be seen is whether there will be a Queen Camilla, and that is a very interesting topic that will be debated in the years to come.