‘It is a miracle that this book got written at all. The credit goes to Rupert Loewenstein, who … despatched the most soothing amanuensis from this side of the Channel, Hugo Vickers, to perform the surgical extraction. The result is, I suspect, more bio than auto, but much more enthralling as a result’ – James Stourton – The Spectator 5 March 2005 ‘[Redé] began in his last years to compile his memoirs, and it is these writings, a delicious mixture of grandeur, chattiness and cattiness that Hugo Vickers has turned into an elegant and amusing volume’ – Stephen Calloway – Country Life 9 June 2005 ‘Whether consciously or not, Vickers has shaped the text to resemble Beaton’s two novellas, My Royal Past and Quail in Aspic, in which he wrote spoof autobiographies of aged European royalty’ – Literary Review July 2005 Alexis – the Memoirs of the Baron de Redé (ed) (2004) Hardback (UK) 2004