LIFE The Royal Family

Book excerpt: With Prince William and his wife Kate these days, we hang on each and every one of their doings: They go out, they take a walk, they see the queen, they take in a horse race, they play Scrabble-we pay attention. But LIFE deals with the big events, as we have done in a series of recent books on the history of the English Royals, on Queen Elizabeth II upon the occasion of her Jubilee, on the 50th anniversary of Lady Diana's birth and, of course, on the wedding of the Cambridges. Now we return to the story with this special commemorative volume, published quickly upon the birth of Will and Kate's first child. We visit, in words and pictures, previous royal births of note, dating to Queen Victoria and even before. In a special section, we look at the young family of Elizabeth II, when Charles was in knee pants. We detail Will and Kate's happy marriage so far: the honeymoon, the Olympics, the travels around the world, the exciting days leading up to the birth of their baby. When LIFE first came on the American scene in 1936, we knew this-the Royals-was one of our stories. It still is.