Theodore Ian Wilson Aronson (13 November 1929 – 13 May 2003) was a royal biographer whose easy manner enabled him to earn the trust of his subjects. He was the son of a Latvian Jewish storekeeper, born at Kirkwood, South Africa and educated at

Grey High School Grey High School is a semi-private English speaking high school (grades 8 - 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the country, ...

in Port Elizabeth before studying art at

Cape Town University The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, where he acted with

Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...

. He became a commercial artist with

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in Johannesburg, then transferred to London, where he also worked part-time as a waiter. His interest in royalty began at a young age. He encountered members of the royal family at a siding near Kirkwood in 1947, and was impressed by Queen Elizabeth's charm. After visiting the mausoleum of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

at St Michael's Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, he decided to write about royal subjects. After a change of publisher, he 'was persuaded that dynastic studies were no longer required,' so he began to write studies of recent history regarding the British royal family. (

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 20 May 2003) He was well versed in his subjects and became known as a devoted admirer of British royalty. His research included interviewing several members of the royal family, including

Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline; 25 February 1883 – 3 January 1981) was a member of the British royal family. She is the List of longest-living members of the British royal family, longest-lived British ...

, about whom he published a biography in 1981, the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

, and Princess Margaret, as well as numerous courtiers. He had written twenty-three books and appeared in several television documentaries. In his book ''Royal Subjects'', he acknowledged that during his career as a writer, 'various Kings, and their families, have proved to be devilish good subjects for me,' and that being 'something of an outsider, unrestricted by the British class system' (''Royal Subjects'', pp. ix-x), had proved an advantage for him being granted almost unprecedented access to royal circles. Aronson was the partner of historian Brian Roberts for over 40 years. He died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

in Somerset aged 73.The Independent
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Books by Theo Aronson

*''The Golden Bees: The Story of the Bonapartes'' (New York Graphic Society - 1964) *''Royal Vendetta: The Crown of Spain 1829-1965'' (Bobbs-Merrill - 1966) *''Defiant Dynasty: The Coburgs of Belgium'' (Littlehampton Book Services - 1969) *''The Fall of the Third Napoleon'' (Bobbs-Merrill - 1970) *''The Kaisers'' (Bobbs-Merrill - 1971) *''Queen Victoria and the Bonapartes'' (Bobbs-Merrill - 1972) *''Grandmama of Europe: The Crowned Descendants of Queen Victoria'' (Macmillan Publishing - 1974) *''Royal Ambassadors: British Royalties in Southern Africa 1860-1947'' (Littlehampton Book Services - 1975) *''A Family of Kings: The Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson - 1976) *''Victoria and Disraeli: The Making of a Romantic Partnership'' (Macmillan Publishing - 1978) *''Kings Over the Water: The Saga of the Stuart Pretenders'' (Littlehampton Book Services - 1979) *''Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone'' (Littlehampton Book Services - 1981) *''Royal Family: Years of Transition'' (Salem House - 1984) *''The King in Love: Edward VII's Mistresses: Lillie Langtry, Daisy Warwick, Alice Keppel and Others'' Harper Collins - 1988) *''Crowns in Conflict: The Triumph of the Tragedy of European Monarchy 1910-1918'' (Horizon Book - 1988) *''Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story'' (St. Martins Press - 1990) *''Queen Victoria's Scotland'' (with Michael J. Stead, Cassell Illustrated - 1992) *''Heart of a Queen: Queen Victoria's Romantic Attachments'' (John Murray Publishers - 1992) *''The Royal Family at War (John Murray Publishers - 1994) *''Prince Eddy and the Homosexual Underworld'' (John Murray Publishers - 1996) *''Princess Margaret: A Biography'' (Regnery Publishing - 1997) *''Royal Subjects: A Biographer's Encounters'' (Sidgwick & Jackson - 2000) *''A Family of Kings'' (Royalty Digest - 2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Theo 1929 births 2003 deaths Michaelis School of Fine Art alumni British biographers British people of Latvian descent Deaths from cancer in England Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom South African emigrants to the United Kingdom University of Cape Town alumni 20th-century biographers