Royal wedding fever continues with 'William & Catherine: Their Story'

It’s been two weeks since the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine, and it looks like the fascination isn’t going anywhere. In William & Catherine: Their Story (crashed into print and officially out May 17), Andrew Morton — author of the groundbreaking 1992 biography Diana: Her True Story, presents a photo-laden, gossip-studded history of the newlyweds that will satisfy royal fans hungry for more. Oversized, with printed endpapers, it has the feel of an expensive scrapbook.

The chapters focus mostly on William — his early years, adolescence and student life, including intimate details about life at the Palace, his parents’ messy separation and William’s role as Diana’s confidante during her struggle to find independence. The pictures follow his journey from shy youngster — look for an adorable picture of Wills and Harry playing on a vinatge fire engine — to the charming and handsome lad that the teen mags went gaga for.

There’s just one chapter devoted solely to Kate Catherine, but in it, Morton shares private details about her life, from a copy of her birth certificate to a story about how she and a boarding-school roommate mooned boys across the hall. (Let’s hope the Queen didn’t hear about that one.) There’s also a small section, which surely could’ve been more extensive considering the interest, on Catherine’s fashion.

The latter half of the book focuses on William and Catherine’s life together — their initial meeting, the ups and down of their relationships, the engagement proposal in Kenya, and finally, of course, the big day. Unlike the rest of the book, we don’t get too many extra details. Instead, it serves as a recap: Wills whispered, “You’re so beautiful,” once his bride made her way to the altar; they drove away in an Aston Martin; Prince Harry organized the raucous after-party; and so on. And we’ve seen the pictures before, too, perhaps too much, on the weekend of April 29. But seeing those images (the dress! the hats! Pippa!) in this compendium makes the somewhat saturated media hoopla feel special again.

Would you pick up a book on William and Catherine now? Are you still interested in all things royal?

Photo: St. Martins Press