ROYAL FAMILY

As an AUTHOR, Paul James is particularly known for books on royalty. PRINCESS ANNE was the subject of his first major biography, published in 1987. By a quirk of fate, Queen Elizabeth II gave her only daughter the title PRINCESS ROYAL shortly before publication day, which created an enormous amount of media interest in the book. As a consequence, Paul found himself cast in the role of "royal expert" and in great demand from radio and television companies across the world as a result. In one of his first television broadcasts, just before going in front of the camera for a live programme for America, he was told that 28 million viewers would be watching...so it was in at the deep end! 

Paul has also written biographies of PRINCESS MARGARET, PRINCESS DIANA,

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA, and the first ever biography of PRINCE EDWARD.

Other royal books include AT HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE, a look behind the scenes at the Queen's Household, written in conjunction with Peter Russell, a former butler to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, and the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester, which was published in the UK by Collins (hardback) and Fontana (paperback) in 1986, it sold in over 100 countries and was serialised by the Sunday Times. It was published in America by Harper & Row under the title: AT HOME WITH THE ROYAL FAMILY.

With the co-operation of Buckingham Palace, in 1983 Paul wrote PRINCE PHILIP'S 101 GREAT GAMES

 to raise money for one of the Duke of Edinburgh's charities, for which Prince Philip wrote the Foreword.

To mark the Queen's 60th birthday Paul compiled THE ROYAL ALMANAC, with a Foreword by BBC Newsreader Richard Baker. And to celebrate the Queen and Prince Philip's 50th wedding anniversary he wrote THE GOLDEN YEARS with archive photographs from the Daily Mail, accompanied by a video

made in conjunction with British Pathe News.

Paul's other royal books have looked at ceremonies and traditions associated with our monarchy;
he helped compile the illustrated journals of Queen Victoria, and wrote the royal biography section
of the OXFORD CHILDREN'S ENCYLOPEDIA.

His latest book A ROYAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, published in October 2021, tells the fascinating story of England's 62 Kings and Queens. The first edition sold out within weeks. Reprinted, it is now a

available from the UK's leading bookshops such as W H Smith, Waterstone's, Blackwell's, and Foyles.

NON-ROYAL BOOKS

Non-royal works have comprised around 50 books for children, (some under the pseudonyms Max Anderson, Martin Guinness, Janet Rogers, and Ben Hamilton, as publishers did not want him to appear to be too prolific!), covering a wide range of areas such as magic, spycraft, jokes, puzzles, world records, sport, games and fun activities. He also penned a series of story books for children featuring the character ROBOTMAN.

 He wrote four books for the breakfast cereal company Kellogg's: 'Snap! Big Book of Games'; 'Crackle! Big Book of Jokes', and 'Pop! Big Book of Magic' in 1982, which were followed by 'Tony Tiger's Super Secret Diary 1985'. Paul also compiled two books of in-flight entertainment for
British Airways: 'Skylark' and 'Thinking on a Higher Plane'.

  In 1984 he composed a series of six pantomime stories that were recorded as audio books, including SLEEPING BEAUTY read by Dora Bryan; DICK WHITTINGTON read by Gyles Brandreth; CINDERELLA read by Leslie Crowther (Listen Productions Limited).

Other subjects have been as varied as books on theatrical disasters, a guide to public speaking, a Christmas anthology, advice on how to sleep SLEEP AT LAST, plus EXCUSES, EXCUSES... - a comic guide to talking yourself out of any situation. Published by Ravette Books, the Foreword was written by DAME HILDA BRACKET.

 Paul James has written many humour books for both children and adults, with a large number of joke books and volumes of after dinner stories to his credit, plus a series of four best-selling 'Graffiti' books under the pseudonym Roger Kilroy (Corgi 1979-1983). Best sellers include his spoof books THE SECRET JOURNALS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II and a sequel THE SECRET ROYAL LOVE LETTERS (Columbus Books: hardback and Virgin Books: paperback).

In a varied career, he was once commissioned to write eight scripts for Citizens Advice Bureaux training films.

CELEBRITIES

Much of his working life has involved celebrity publications. For magazine articles he has interviewed the likes of actor Robert Lindsay, rock star Suzi Quatro, and Star Wars actor Anthony Daniels (C3PO). As a GHOST-WRITER he ghosted books for a number of well-known personalities, such as Cyril Fletcher, Derek Nimmo, Graeme Garden, Henry Cooper, Ted Dexter, Ed Stewart, Gordon Banks and Mike Yarwood. 

Between 1979-1981 Collins published Paul's annual VVIP DIARY (for Very Very Important People), for which he persuaded over 150 major stars of stage, film, television, best-selling authors, pop singers, sportsmen, top politicians and even world leaders of the day to write a contribution for each week of the year. Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, Anna Neagle, Flora Robson, J B Priestley, Emlyn Williams, Kingsley Amis, Daphne du Maurier, Frederick Forsyth, Yehudi Menhuin, Morecambe & Wise, Bob Monkhouse, Joyce Grenfell, Noele Gordon, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, and even Israel's Golda Meir, were among the many famous names who helped Paul with the project. Three charities benefited from the royalties.

Paul James's book "CELEBRITY HOTEL True inside gossip, scandal and intrigue" with hotelier Neil Kirby was first published in 2010 and has sold worldwide. It is available in hardback, on Kindle format, and an updated paperback edition in 2023.

BROADCASTING

As a BROADCASTER, he has taken part in over 1,000 radio and television programmes, both in the UK and overseas. He has frequently acted as an adviser to television and video companies making royal documentaries, and has occasionally recorded narrations and voice-overs. From 1988-1995 he also presented his monthly "Royal Diary" and "Royal Watch" on BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey, plus other special programmes for the stations, such as commentating live from Gatwick Airport when

 Queen Elizabeth II opened the North Terminal.

RADIO & TELEVISION

Paul James has taken part in over 1,000 radio and television programmes worldwide since 1980. On radio he has been a guest on a wide variety of national programmes, such as those hosted by Gloria Hunniford, Angela Rippon, Emma Freud, John Dunn, Pete Murray, and Annie Nightingale, and on publicity tours for books has been interviewed on practically every local radio station in the UK; for Australia he has taken part in programmes for radio stations in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth and Melbourne.

Numerous television appearances include PEBBLE MILL AT ONE (BBC 1); DAYTIME UK with Alan Titchmarsh (BBC 1); THIS MORNING with Richard and Judy (ITV); THE JAMES WHALE SHOW (ITV); HARD COPY for ABC TV in America; THE FRANK BOUGH INTERVIEW (Sky); plus many news programmes for Meridian, Anglia, BBC South, TVS, BBC Wales, Sky, whenever there has been a major royal story. He has been filmed for a number of television documentaries, such as PRINCE EDWARD - THE SHOWBIZ YEARS for Channel Four, and PRINCESS ANNE, one of ITV's "Royal Portrait" series.

JOURNALIST

As a JOURNALIST, he has contributed to many magazines, notably 'Royalty'; 'Period Living'; 'Weekend'; 'Direction One'; 'Your Dog', and since 1992 has been royal correspondent for THIS ENGLAND. His 'Royalty Remembered' column appeared in issues from 1992-2006, interspersed with feature articles for major royal celebrations and anniversaries. In 2006 he began a 56-part series of articles on the Kings and Queens of England for the magazine, which ran until 2021, followed by a tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh in the Summer issue, and a very personal tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II in the Winter 2022 edition. A new series on England's Crown Jewels began in the Autumn 2021 issue, and in 2022-23 he wrote a number of articles on King Charles III and also the Coronation. His weekly 'Down Your Way' column was published in the 'Eastbourne Gazette' for over ten years, from June 2004-September 2014, and in the 'Eastbourne Herald' and 'Sussex Express' until December 2015.

PUBLIC SPEAKER
As a PUBLIC SPEAKER, Paul James carries out a full diary of engagements every year for various organisations and societies, and gives a range of talks to many local groups and ladies' lunch clubs. He has also acted as compere at many events and for several years hosted a series of Literary Lunches with well known authors, such as the best-selling crime writer Peter James (no relation!), Dad's Army vicar Frank Williams, Keeping Up Appearances director Harold Snoad, newsreader Nicholas Owen, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's official biographer William Shawcross.

ENTERTAINER

As an ENTERTAINER, Paul James has made many thousands of appearances as LADY CRABTREE -

a comedy character that he created in April 1978.  

The act was greatly influenced by the brilliant female impersonators George Logan and Patrick Fyffe (HINGE & BRACKET). In 1985 Dame Hilda Bracket wrote the Foreword to one of Paul's books and Paul now owns two of the late Dame Hilda's original costumes. Although intended as a single appearance, Lady Crabtree proved to be so popular that Paul is still regularly performing as her today - after many thousands of performances and over 46 years later! In 1988 and 1990 he wrote two Lady Crabtree books and toured the UK in character doing bookshop signings, radio, television, and media interviews. As The Dowager Lady Crabtree he performs on average at 100 events each year, giving talks at lunches and dinners, compering shows, appearing in cabaret and charity shows, making presentations and comic speeches at special birthdays and anniversaries, opening functions, presenting prizes, and speaking to many groups, clubs and societies. Hour-long presentations "How To Grow Old Disgracefully", "Glad To Be Grey", "You're Never Too Old", "The Dowager Entertains", "Great Society Hostesses" and "Whatever Happened To Christmas?" have proved very popular, and many audience members are convinced that Lady Crabtree is real!

In 2018 Lady Crabtree was a finalist in the Eastbourne Business Awards for a Lifetime Achievement award, and an Outstanding Contribution to the Community award.

Since 2019 Lady Crabtree has been Patron of the Association of Carers.

A SELECTION OF BOOKS by PAUL JAMES

Click on photos for a larger image

PAUL JAMES at work

Click on photos for a larger image