MALICE IN WONDERLAND

Sub-titled 'My Adventures in The World of Cecil Beaton', the witty, perceptive diaries kept by Cecil Beaton's authorised biographer during his many fascinating encounters with often legendary characters took a dramatic turn in 1979. Beaton invited Vickers to be his authorised biographer. The excitement of working with the famous photographer was dashed only days later when Beaton died. But Vickers was entrusted with his papers, diaries and importantly access to his friends and contemporaries. This amazing biography shares excerpts from the diaries. For five years, Vickers travelled the world and talked to the most important social and cultural figures of the time including royalty such as the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, film stars such as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews, writers such as Truman Capote and photographers such as Irving Penn and Horst. Vickers sought out Beaton's enemies too, notably Irene Selznick and he was taken under the wings of Lady Diana Cooper, Clarissa Avon and Diana Vreeland. Beaton's friends became Vickers' friends, and the resulting book is a fascinating portrait of a now-disappeared world and some of its most fascinating characters. Here is all the glamour, grandeur and snobbery in a sad and comical elegy to a passing era. Here are the days of dressing for cocktail hour, crust-less high teas and high jinks at country weekends in a biography first published in 1985 and this edition in 2021. 344pp, photos and colour plates.