The Bookshelf

William, Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom and the realms of the Commonwealth, has an Ohioan great-great-great-grandfather called Frank. Fancy that. Franklin H. Work left Chillicothe (about an hour outside of Columbus) when he was a teenager, arrived in New York in 1839, befriended Cornelius Vanderbilt, and by the end of the century became one of the wealthiest men in the city. Journalist Stephanie Green’s first book is a unique ecology of the ancient trunk and unruly offshoots of Frank’s family tree; an assiduously researched and rich compound biography.

Among the remarkable personalities who appear in American Crown: From Revolutionaries to Royalty, the Story of Prince William’s American Heritage (Pegasus, 288 pp., $29.95) are Frank’s daughter Frances, who was told that she may not marry a European (she married a European), and her son Maurice, the Fourth Lord Fermoy, a condition of whose inheritance from Frank was that he may not marry a European. He married a European. And he became Diana Spencer’s grandfather. Green discovers that Lady Diana’s earlier ancestors (who in the 17th century were close friends with the Washingtons of Sulgrave Manor, later of Mount Vernon) include Benajah Strong: a private in the Connecticut militia and the uncle of Nathan Hale. Long live prospective King William, Patriot.

About the Author

Vahaken Mouradian

Vahaken Mouradian is the literary editor of National Review.

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William, Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom and the realms of the Commonwealth, has an Ohioan great-great-great-grandfather called Frank. Fancy that. Franklin H. Work left Chillicothe (about an hour outside of Columbus) when he was a teenager, arrived in New York in 1839, befriended Cornelius Vanderbilt, and by the end of the century became one of the wealthiest men in the city. Journalist Stephanie Green’s first book is a unique ecology of the ancient trunk and unruly offshoots of Frank’s family tree; an assiduously researched and rich compound biography.

Among the remarkable personalities who appear in American Crown: From Revolutionaries to Royalty, the Story of Prince William’s American Heritage (Pegasus, 288 pp., $29.95) are Frank’s daughter Frances, who was told that she may not marry a European (she married a European), and her son Maurice, the Fourth Lord Fermoy, a condition of whose inheritance from Frank was that he may not marry a European. He married a European. And he became Diana Spencer’s grandfather. Green discovers that Lady Diana’s earlier ancestors (who in the 17th century were close friends with the Washingtons of Sulgrave Manor, later of Mount Vernon) include Benajah Strong: a private in the Connecticut militia and the uncle of Nathan Hale. Long live prospective King William, Patriot.