Whatever Next?: Lessons from an Unexpected Life

Bracing honesty, rare insight, and more revelations from the New York Times bestselling author of Lady in Waiting as she shares everything she’s learned from her extraordinary and unexpected life. Lady in Waiting brought us royal magic, beguiling insight, and jaw-dropping stories from life inside Anne Glenconner’s privileged circle, which though golden didn’t always glitter. As she revealed in her memoir, it has been one of stark contrasts–from growing up in the splendor of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from traveling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner. She has also survived the tragic loss of two of her sons and nursed a third son back from a coma.

Now in her ninth decade and at her happiest, she’s keen to share everything her unexpected life has taught her–the wise, the hilarious, the poignant, and the illuminating. As a wife, she became a master in the art of keeping the peace, knowing when to pick her battles, when she needed help–and when to take a lover. As a hostess, she acquired great practical skills in throwing marvelous parties and looking after magnificent homes, and, as a lady in waiting, became well versed in diplomacy and etiquette. It was as a mother she learnt the toughest lessons of all, and through them the value of friendship, family, and laughter to get her through the worst moments in life, as well as celebrate the best of them.

Whatever Next? is a treasury of hard-won wisdom, and richly entertaining proof that staying open to every new adventure sets an inspiring example for us all.