This was a very understandable read- not at all too dry or fact heavy. That being said I felt like it was a rehash of information that has already been covered. It could be because I read quite a bit of history, especially royalty and British history. But, I just felt like this information and topic had already been discussed.

**I received a copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Carolyn is one of the most incisive and astute royal historians working in Canada today, and she covers an impressive range of history in this book. From the medieval world to today, she analyzes the role of royal parents in shaping the lives of their offspring. The book is a great resource for anyone interested in the interplay between monarchs and their parents. Recommended.

If you're like me and love reading about royalty then you'll be hooked. Unless of course you like reading TABLOID style books about various monarchies because this book isn't a tabloid. It's pretty tightly written, seemingly well-researched, and full of incredible detail about the parenting techniques of various royals. It actually gave me a little more insight into the Tudor style of parenting, which I had a discussion with someone about shortly before I read this. I love learning something new and after reading endless books on the British royals this was a keeper. Thanks, NetGalley!

Well researched, clearly and accessibly written, this exploration of how royal parents have brought up their children over the centuries is both entertaining and illuminating. As with any such comprehensive history book I found I couldn't manage much more than a chapter at a time, especially with all the endless Williams, Henrys and Richards of the early years, but as a book to dip into and inform other historical readings it couldn’t be bettered.

This book was so interesting - if you have any questions about Royalty and the way they have raised their children this is the book to read.

Raising Royalty : 1000 Years of Royal Parenting by Carolyn Harris takes a unique view of European history through the lenses of twenty royal couples and their children. Harris is a professor with a PhD in European History whose writings on the history of royalty in the U.K. and Europe have appeared in the form of books and articles in notable publications such as the Smithsonian and the BBC News Magazine so she knows whereof she speaks. It was a fascinating and very readable book, but also very well researched and documented. I think It will also be valued by libraries as a good reference source on this topic in future years. It begins in the year 968 with Edgar the Peaceable and Elfrida of Northampton and ends with William and Kate and their two children George and Charlotte in the twenty-second century. The book examines many other fascinating royal parents in between including Britain's William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Victoria and Albert, and Charles and Diana. Russia's Peter the Great and Nicholas and Alexandra also make the list as do France's Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Did you know that the Dutch Queen Julianna and her family lived in Canada during World War II when the Nazis invaded Holland? Imagine being her child growing up in Canada and then having to return to the Netherlands just after it was ravaged during WWII. Stories of intrigue and power flow through the pages of this book as do stories of domesticity and love. If you are fascinated by European history or royalty or parenting or all of the above you will enjoy this book! Thank you Dundern Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

This is a wonderful book that follows 20 European royal couples and their parenting styles as seen by the public. It discusses each European ruler and the relationships they had with their spouses and their children Often, it was found that the mother was very protective of her children and does all she can to promote them in the eyes of their father. In addition, many female children were placed in convents and the males were placed in the homes of barons and church leaders for them to complete their education.

Early generations of royal children saw very little of their parents for different reasons. Many parents did not want to be burdened with the day-to-day needs of their children. They also had royal duties that required their attention.

I found it fascinating how each of the royal couples had differing views of raising their children which sometimes made for sorrow for some mothers who weren’t allowed to be with their children. These families had large numbers of children up to 14 and more. Sadly, many of them never survived infancy.

I liked how the book included each ruler and the political beliefs of each of them. There were also big differences between families due to religious beliefs. The Catholic and Protestant faiths caused lots of friction. The impact of this on the children was huge resulting in anger and even death.

If I was a writer, I would want to have this book close by as a reference novel as it is chock full of lots of great facts about the 1000 years it covers. Just to read the book is enlightening for anyone and I highly recommend it. I also commend the author for her incredible work in writing this great reference book.

Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Raising a prince or princess is much more than the Once-Upon-A-Time of fairy tales. Bringing up a royal child is parenting on a grand scale - preparing the next generation of rulers, setting political alliances, and maintaining the grandeur and expectations of a 24/7 public role. Raising Royalty presents the stories of 20 different royal families and their children over the past 1000 years. From grand palaces to lonely exile, arranged marriages and political intrigue, to armed rebellion, overindulgence and even abuse, the stories tell an ever evolving tale of what it means to be royal.

I loved this book! From Edgar the Peaceable to the modern Prince William and Catherine Middleton, it shows not only the progression of monarchy over time but the changes in the way royals parent their children. Some had only rare contact with their children. Others saw them as political rivals. And some were doting, loving parents. Harris writes in a style that makes the family history of 20 royal families interesting and accessible.

I've read many books on European history, but this is the first I've read that focuses on royal family life and parental relationships. So interesting! The book is organized by date and ruling couple. Harris gives information on the rulers' childhoods and how their youth formed their parental style (or lack thereof in some cases). Any reader with interest in the history of Europe and royals would enjoy this book!

Harris, who teaches history at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies, has also written two other books on history - Magna Carta and Its Gifts to Canada, and Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website at: .http://www.royalhistorian.com/

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Dundern via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**

Raising Royalty offers a fascinating look into the parenting methods in an accessible way to those of us that will, in all likelihood, never have to experience the same events as the subjects of this work.

I picked up this work primarily because I was interested in reading about William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, because their parenting methods have been the source of much media speculation ever since the two of them got together. With such contrasting backgrounds, it was no wonder that there was speculation as to how they would merge their upbringings into one unit for their children, currently Prince George and Princess Charlotte. This book goes even further back and examines not only William and Catherine, as well as William's parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana, but centuries of royal couples whose various methods were the results, not of class, but of cultures clashing.

The first story, that of Edgar the Peaceable and Elfrida of Northampton, was the one that intrigued me the most. It was a bit confusing at first, my not being a practiced historian giving me a bit of trouble keeping track of several names that sounded similar and corresponding dates, but overall gave insight into the contributions these two rulers made that still affect the royal class today. They introduced a distinct and public royal family, rather than the somewhat hidden ones of the past, and established the expectation of royal mothers doing all that was necessary for their children, which in Elfrida's case was potentially a bit sinister and gave her the mantle of wicked stepmother.

Once I began to take in more than the first story, things got a little confusing because there were some generations skipped (i.e. we went from grandfather to grandson or grandnephew, etc.). Something that might have been helpful would have been a miniature family tree at the beginning of each chapter, linking the current personages back to their royal parents and their siblings, as those were often mentioned, particularly in the early formation of the royalty when siblings fought each other and their fathers for the right to rule.

Carolyn Harris certainly put a lot of effort into this book. You could feel the amount of passion she had for the subject through all of the research she did, the sheer amount of reading and organizing she must have done to bring this work together. While I feel that there might have been some extraneous information concerning military battles, overall the inner working of how the families worked, from the marriages to the raising of the product of those marriages, was a fascinating look at what was expected of these parents and their children. Not only was it vastly different from what was expected of a commoner, but it also differed quite a bit from what's expected of the current royal family as they progress in the modern world.

If you've ever wondered what kind of expectations the royal family has, from their earliest days to the current day, I'd encourage you to take a look at this book. It has a wealth of information that will be, I believe, invaluable as a historical text.

Very interesting when I picked this book to review I thought it was only going to discuss modern royalty but it goes way back in history. So this is a very detail book. If you are history fan of the royal family then this book is for you.

Carolyn Harris has written a book with an interesting persepective on European history, viewed with an eye on parenting. I enjoyed the book for its ability to make me stop and think about the differing parenting styles and their outcome on succession in some of the best known monarchies in Europe. One can easily pity the plight of royal children, who were pawns in political marriages, but sometimes also in schemes against one or both of their parents.

Those who like popular biographies of royals may find this book's more historical tone a bit dry but it is an intriguing view of the last thousand years of some of the best known royal families in Europe.

A quick read on the evolution of raising children over the last 1,000 years. While focused on royal children this book could be a good start for looking into how any child was raised during a particular period in time. It looks at how culture, religion and society as well as circumstances affected how a child was brought up. From treating children like little adults to the gradual movement towards having a childhood and the role that parents play in the raising of their children. I was surprised that even early on there were books and guides for how to treat children so that they were raised right.

** spoiler alert ** A special thank you to Carolyn Harris, Dundern Press, and netgalley for the copy of this book n return for an unbiased review.

The majority focus is on the English monarchy, but it does branch out to Russia, France, the Netherlands, and the Palatine, so we get a varied sampling over a 1,000 year period.

If I must be honest this book was slightly less than mediocre. It wasn't bad, it just was-like white bread or vanilla ice cream. It's certainly palatable, but why not have chocolate?

Perhaps it's simply the topic? It's basically understood that royal parents do not rear their children, and the children are unhappy. Only the last chapter covering William and Kate is at all refreshing. Otherwise the majority of the book has been covered many times by many other authors.

What I can recommend is for those in early childhood classes or medieval studies, this may be a book for you.

Raising Royalty by Carolyn Harris is a readable book that shows how different royal parents managed to raise their royal children while managing to survive the public spotlight. Her book seems to be well research and contains endnotes showing the research the author undertook to write her book.

Raising Royalty features the following royal families:

Edgar "The Peaceable" and Elfrida of Northampton
William I "The Conqueror" and Matilda of Flanders
Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Henry III and Eleanor of Provence
Edward III and Philippa of Hanault
Richard III and Anne Neville
Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile
Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon
Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth of England and Scotland
Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France
Peter I "The Great" of Russian and Catherine
Anne and George of Denmark
George II and Caroline of Ansbach
Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette of Austria
Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt
Juliana of the Netherlands and Berhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Elizabeth II and Phillip of Greece and Denmark
Prince Charles and Diana Spencer
Prince William and Catherine Middleton

If you enjoy reading history, and want to learn more about how royal families managed their children, you will like this book.

Review written after downloading a galley from Net Galley.

An interesting and informative take on Royalty and parenting throughout history.

As a 21st century parent, this is a completely fascinating account of how children were raised throughout history. Not only does the book cover how the royals were parented, but it also addresses some of the parenting and social ideals of the times.

The book is broken up into chronological chapters based on a selection of leaders and the times that they reigned. Let's just say, we've come a very long way since the medieval times!

The author is obviously an expert on this subject and it shows. There are excellent facts and quotes to support the accounts throughout history.

My only complaints were that it was, at times, difficult to follow as it jumped around a bit chronologically. Also, although written very well, I wish it was a little bit less textbook-ish and more conversational in tone. Though I know that would be a difficult feat given all the facts presented here!

Highly recommend!

This non-fiction details the various approaches to royal child-rearing, spanning the last 1,000 years. Although mostly focused on the British monarchy, there was a great variation of royals covered, and the differences and similarities between them all was fascinating to read about.

I initially sought to read this as a form of research for my own fictional writing. However, I found it interesting in its own right. I found myself devouring the knowledge this imparted in one sitting, as the tone was light and the voice relaxed.

This was a delightful book!! Fun and informative with a writing style easy for the Novice History Buff to follow!!

I loved this book, royalty through the ages showing how the privilege monster is made. Full well researched information and really well written. As an historian it is over course right up my street but it's a highly readable book that has mass appeal potential. You can draw a line through the ages to the royals of today with how they are raises in the bounds of expectation and protocol. Fabulous read!

Raising royalty is perfect for anyone interested in a more detailed look at the family life of Britain's rulers from just before the Norman conquest to the present Queen's grandchildren's families. It can never have been easy to be such a public figure where one wrong move could mean disaster not only for yourself, but for your children. The fate of the "Princes in the Tower" (Edward V and Richard, Duke of York) is a good example. Its also interesting to read that most of the royals were good parents, even when looked at from a modern point of view. Lots of detail, some humorous, some horrifying. A very good read!