American Crown
From Revolutionaries to Royalty: The Story of Prince William's American Heritage
Will be published approx. on 27. August 2026
Book
Hardback
288 pages
979-8-89710-105-4 (ISBN)
Description
The fascinating story of Prince William's American ancestors, and how this often-rebellious lineage will help shape the future King of Great Britain.
In this fresh and perspective-shifting narrative, American Crown is an absorbing blend of American history and royal biography that brings to life the past generations who will shape the Prince of Wales's role in the future of Britain, America and the world. For the first time, Britain will have a monarch whose ancestors fought against the very crown he bears.
It all goes back to the roots of Diana, Princess of Wales whose Spencer family has a friendship with the Washington clan of Sulgrave Manor that produced the founding father of America, but more fascinating is Diana's maternal side whose American ancestors fought in the Revolution in New England, became successful in the new nation, and then (like many Gilded Age families) sent a daughter across the ocean to marry into the British elite. Other Spencers on the British side had bucked social trends in the 1770s even raised funds for the American rebels themselves. Embodying more interconnected history than any of his predecessors, William's sense of his own role in the world is markedly different from anyone who's ever held the throne.
With sweeping locations from battlefields to Buckingham Palace and featuring grand personalities like Nathan Hale, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Winston Churchill, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, Stephanie Green's American Crown tells the story of a very new kind of royal family-one with the potential to bring two countries closer together in times of turmoil and bring the "special relationship" into next century.
In this fresh and perspective-shifting narrative, American Crown is an absorbing blend of American history and royal biography that brings to life the past generations who will shape the Prince of Wales's role in the future of Britain, America and the world. For the first time, Britain will have a monarch whose ancestors fought against the very crown he bears.
It all goes back to the roots of Diana, Princess of Wales whose Spencer family has a friendship with the Washington clan of Sulgrave Manor that produced the founding father of America, but more fascinating is Diana's maternal side whose American ancestors fought in the Revolution in New England, became successful in the new nation, and then (like many Gilded Age families) sent a daughter across the ocean to marry into the British elite. Other Spencers on the British side had bucked social trends in the 1770s even raised funds for the American rebels themselves. Embodying more interconnected history than any of his predecessors, William's sense of his own role in the world is markedly different from anyone who's ever held the throne.
With sweeping locations from battlefields to Buckingham Palace and featuring grand personalities like Nathan Hale, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Winston Churchill, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, Stephanie Green's American Crown tells the story of a very new kind of royal family-one with the potential to bring two countries closer together in times of turmoil and bring the "special relationship" into next century.
Reviews / Votes
"From the battlefields of the American Revolution to the British throne, American Crown tells the extraordinary story of Prince William's deep American roots. One-sixteenth American through Princess Diana, the future king descends from Revolutionary patriots like the martyred spy Nathan Hale and his ancestor Benajah Strong of Connecticut, as bestselling author Stephanie Green traces how the Work-Strong bloodline merged with the Spencers to create a unique Anglo-American royal legacy. Perfectly timed for America's 250th anniversary in 2026, this captivating book reveals how revolutionaries became royalty and powerfully enriches the special relationship between Britain and the United States." -- <B>Douglas Bradburn, Ph. D., President & CEO of George Washington's Mount Vernon</B> "Stephanie Green offers a fascinating and original twist to royal history in American Crown. Her readers are in for a treat: the captivating Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, wayward aristocrats and royals, and revolutionaries jostle together in a narrative that proves once again, truth can be stranger than fiction." * <B>Amanda Foreman, <I>New York Times </I>bestselling author of <I>Georginia </I></B> * "A sprightly overview of Prince William's family heritage. Through his mother Diana's maternal ancestors, Green discovered, William is one-sixteenth American, an unprecedented diluting of British royal blood that, she argues, bodes well for the future relationship between Britain and the United States. Green's recounting of Diana's life, the animosity between William and Harry, and the former Prince Andrew's travails reveal that gossip and scandal have never been far from the family tree. A lively family history." * <I><B>Kirkus Reviews</B></I> * "Stephanie Green's American Crown is a towering achievement in the art of historical nonfiction. With a novelist's sympathy and pacing Green illuminates the special connection between the British Royals and American elites with Prince William as ancestral cohesive. Historical giants like George Washington, Winston Churchill, and Princess Diana are integral larger-than-life characters in this spellbinding narrative. This is history at its page turning best." * <b>Douglas Brinkley, <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author and U.S. Presidential Historian</b> * "Stephanie Green's extremely well-researched and well-written book has a revelation on every page. The blood that runs through Prince William's veins turns out not just to be blue, but as red, white and blue as Old Glory itself. His American ancestors are a fascinating group of people, and this excellent book could not have been more timely." -- <B>Andrew Roberts, <I>New York Times </I>bestselling author of <I>Churchill: Walking with Destiny</I></B> "Stephanie Green's page-turner American Crown-an absorbing blend of US history and royal biography-is essential reading for those who want to understand the monarchy's American past as well as future. With rebel blood running through his veins from ancestors who fought against the very crown he will one day wear, the author shows how a future King William represents a seismic shift in royal history. A compelling narrative." * <b>Robert Jobson, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Catherine, Princess of Wales </i>and <i>The Windsor Legacy</i></b> *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
16 pages of color photographs
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-89710-105-4 (9798897101054)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Stephanie Green is a cultural journalist and features writer. A longtime contributor to The Washington Post, she is a former reporter for Bloomberg News and The Washington Times. Her freelance work has appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, WWD, and a wide variety of print and online publications. She lives in Washington, DC.