In the first book to focus exclusively on his life before the
coronation, acclaimed biographer Philip Eade uncovers the
extraordinary story of the prince's turbulent upbringing in
Greece, France and Nazi Germany, during which his mother spent
five years in a secure psychiatric clinic and his father left him
to be brought up by his Mountbatten relations in England just
when he needed him most.
Remarkably the young prince emerged from this unsettled
background a character of singular vitality and dash -
self-confident, capable, famously opinionated and devastatingly
handsome. Girls fell at his feet, and the princess who was to
become his wife was smitten from the age of thirteen.
Yet alongside the considerable charm and intelligence, the prince
was also prone to volcanic outbursts and to putting his foot in
it.