On Wednesday afternoons in January and February 2018, I will be teaching an eight week history course about Family Life from Medieval to Modern Times.
Click here for more information and to register.
Course Description:
On Wednesday afternoons in January and February 2018, I will be teaching an eight week history course about Family Life from Medieval to Modern Times.
Click here for more information and to register.
Course Description:
My new book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting, is featured in the weekend National Post including quotes from the chapters about Peter the Great, Queen Victoria and Henry VIII.
“[The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge] want Princess Charlotte and Prince George to go to the local school. They want to be hands-on parents. On the day George left the hospital, William wrestled with the lad’s car seat, a performance reenacted daily by new dads the world over. The message they hoped you’d glean from it? Will and Kate are just like you and me.
In her new book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting, Canadian historian Carolyn Harris reveals there may be other parenting tips to be gleaned from royal watching. With Harris as inspiration, we offer six tips from moms and dads who also happened to be monarchs.”
Click here to read “Murder your children’s rivals, and other parenting tips from royals” in the National Post
Princess Charlotte, the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and the Duke of Cambridge in Victoria, British Columbia (Photo Credit: The Canadian Press)
“As I discuss in my new book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting, the upbringing of a royal child has always included a wide circle of people including grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, tutors, nannies and governesses. In fact, royal parenting has acquired a negative reputation over the centuries because of how often kings and queens delegated the daily routine of childrearing to their extended family and household. But there’s another way of looking at this tradition: Royal children have had a large support system during both good times and difficult times.”
Click here to purchase my book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
My new book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
has received a great review in HELLO! Canada Magazine from Editor-in-Chief Alison Eastwood:
“When we saw Prince William gamely attempt to buckle baby Prince George into his car seat outside St. Mary’s hospital, public fascination with royal parenting peaked and, thanks to the arrival of George’s sister Charlotte, shows no sign of diminishing. Raising Royalty is well placed to satiate this interest. Using today’s royals as a jumping off point, Canadian historian Carolyn turns back the clock and deftly guides us through 10 centuries of royal child-rearing (a highlight is Queen Victoria and her “deeply ambivalent” approach toward her nine children). Informative, amusing and royally riveting.”
Click here to see the review in HELLO! Canada Magazine
Click here to purchase Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
from Amazon.
My 3rd book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting, has been published by Dundurn Press in Canada. (The USA and UK release date is May 2).
Click here to purchase your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
How royal parents dealt with raising their children over the past thousand years, from keeping Vikings at bay to fending off paparazzi.
William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are setting trends for millions of parents around the world. The upbringing of their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, is the focus of intense popular scrutiny. Royalty have always raised their children in the public eye and attracted praise or criticism according to parenting standards of their day.
Royal parents have faced unique challenges and held unique privileges. In medieval times, raising an heir often meant raising a rival, and monarchs sometimes faced their grown children on the battlefield. Conversely, kings and queens who lost their thrones in wars or popular revolutions often found solace in time spent with their children. In modern times, royal duties and overseas tours have often separated young princes and princesses from their parents, a circumstance that is slowly changing with the current generation of royalty.
Click here to purchase your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
I discussed the research and writing of my latest book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting, with Open History. The interview includes how the book came together, why I decided to write about the history of royal parenting and the impact of the history of royal parenting on modern Canadian culture.
Click here to read “Open History – Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting”
Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting is currently for sale in Chapters/Indigo bookstores and will be available across Canada on April 8. The USA/UK publication date is May 2.
Table of Contents
Click here to pre-order your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
Readers who received advance review copies of my forthcoming book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
are sharing their reviews on goodreads. Raising Royalty will be published by Dundurn Press in Canada in April 2017 and in the USA and UK in May 2017.
Here are excerpts from some of the reader reviews:
“Raising Royalty is a comprehensive study of how…Kings and Queens have raised their children. Twenty families with their widely varying parenting approaches from Anglo-Saxon times to the present are studied.
While the book is a thoroughly researched subject by a scholar, it is a joy to read. It provides a clear picture of how parenting in the rarefied atmosphere of castles and palaces has evolved and, perhaps more importantly, why. Boys were brought up to fight and rule, and girls for dynastic/political marriages. Princes and princesses had no choice one thousand years ago and, one also sympathizes, today their futures are still fixed in stone but with a little more leeway.
Carolyn Harris, the author, has done an excellent job of writing this book for general readership and it will open eyes with the detail and surprises. Recommended for history buffs and royal watchers.” — Julie Ferguson
“I was expecting the book to be entirely be about English royalty, but was pleased to find that it covered enough of Europe to give it some diversity.
Filled with a lot of interesting facts and written in a way that held my attention.
Both well researched and written.” — MissyLynne
“I was expecting a list of “advice” and “lessons” and was pleasantly surprised.
Ms. Harris presents a HUGE amount of history in this book and her skill at writing in a way that keeps the reader engaged and interested is refreshing.
Anyone with any interest in royal families will love this book. It’s a great read. ” — Michelle Griswold
Click here to view all reader reviews for Raising Royalty on goodreads
Click here to pre-order your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
Advance Praise for my 3rd book, Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
, which will be published by Dundurn Press in April 2017:
“Today‘s parents think they have it tough, monitoring screen time and shuttling kids to soccer matches. Imagine being King William I, the Conqueror, who in 1079 had to fight his firstborn son on the battlefield; or Henry II, whose villainous son, John, is today best known as Robin Hood‘s arch enemy. Carolyn Harris‘s history of royal child rearing is a must read for anyone interested in the never-ending saga of royal families and a fascinating read.” (Mark Reid, Editor-in-Chief, Canada’s History Magazine)
“Carolyn Harris has taken an innovative approach with this engaging new work, bringing together a millennia of royal parenting from Edgar “the Peaceable” and Elfrida of Northampton right up to the present day with the children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Harris has deftly woven together the history of various rulers, evaluating their relationships with their children and bringing in wider trends in parenting in different eras. She notes both rivalry and tension between parents and children, as aptly illustrated by the Hanoverian monarchs of England, as well as evidence of affection and strong bonds between rulers and their offspring. Any reader with an interest in the history of monarchy or parenting itself will find this an absorbing read, both accessible and replete with interesting information. A real strength of this book is that it puts our present-day fascination with current and recent monarchs and their children in a long-term historical context.” (Dr. Elena (Ellie) Woodacre, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern European History Postgraduate Student Coordinator-Faculty of HSS University of Winchester, editor of The Royal Studies Journal)
“How to raise the kids? It is a question that has confounded parents for centuries. Imagine how parenting has been for royalty throughout the ages? Royal historian Carolyn Harris’s newest book focuses on this very topic. In Raising Royalty, Harris’s detailed research [explores] how royal parenting has evolved throughout the last thousand years. Harris focuses on twenty royal parents – from Edgar the Peaceable and Elfrieda of Northampton to Prince William and Catherine Middleton. This book is delightfully readable, infused with the brilliance of pure scholarship.” (Marlene A. Eilers Koenig, author of Queen Victoria’s Descendants)
“Carolyn Harris’s encyclopedic knowledge infuses Raising Royalty with fascinating insights into the lives of Europe’s Royal Families. Moving through the centuries, Harris highlights unique and evolving family dynamics and traditions right up to our present day. An essential addition to any royal enthusiast’s collection, Raising Royalty provides a captivating look at the families occupying the centre of some of the world’s greatest monarchies.” (Nathan Tidridge, author of Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy)
Click here to pre-order your copy of Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting
Princess Charlotte, the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and the Duke of Cambridge in Victoria, British Columbia (Photo Credit: The Canadian Press)
The royal tour of British Columbia and the Yukon by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte ended today with a series of engagements devoted to young people and mental health advocacy and a departure from Victoria harbour where both royal children waved to the crowds.
My interview with CTV News Channel today discussed the first royal tour of British Columbia: the visit by Princess Louise and her husband, Governor General Lord Lorne in 1882. I also talked about yesterday’s children’s party at Government House, which George and Charlotte attended along with their parents, William and Kate.