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Surprisingly, there has never been a biography of Princess Mary, the Queen's aunt and sister to George VI and the Duke of Windsor, until now. Elisabeth Basford's diligently researched account of the princess's life is therefore a welcome one ... Basford persuasively argues that she was a thoroughly modern member of the royal family, possessed of genuine compassion and interest in helping others ... Perhaps some of her descendants could learn from her

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Alexander Larman, <i>Observer</i>

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At last a biography of Princess Mary, the Queen’s aunt – and a good one ... She has long deserved a full study and in Elisabeth Basford, she has found a dedicated and sympathetic biographer, who has done her full justice

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Hugo Vickers

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An enjoyable, worthwhile story, not least in its celebration of an exemplary royal record undertaken with modesty, kindliness and sincerity

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Matthew Dennison, <i>Daily Telegraph</i>

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Filled with never previously known information, this first full biography is the definitive read for this refreshingly forward-looking, eternally good-willed and relatively little-known Princess

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Annabel Sampson, <i>Tatler</i>

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She was an exemplar of the unflagging postwar countess, always doing good, always keeping busy to stave off grief. When we contemplate the Queen’s lifelong devotion to duty, we sense the influence of her unpretentious aunt

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Ysenda Maxtone Graham, <i>The Times</i>