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Rating: 
Summary: Sheer Fantasy
Review: All those who want Scotland to choose a different path from that of England should hesitate before choosing to believe the claims of the author of this book. To cut a long story short, base your policies on fact, not fiction.This book is totally ridiculous, and I'm glad that children have not been taught history from it. There are plenty of decent books on the Jacobites, and this is NOT one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Of major importance to Scottish Political events today.
Review: As a Scots from Scotland, born & bred on the right side of the borders, this book became within 3 weeks of publication a bestseller (number 2 in Scotland, 7 in UK) and has seen a public awareness of a new alternative to party politics in the up coming and new Scotland. For those die hard pro-Hanoverian (or Windsor as most people know them today), I am glad to say that 'your time is up'. People, in Scotland, are already campaigning for the return of their lawful Royal House in a big way. There are many things which have been said by two particular reviewers, namely all rather negative. However, HRH Prince Michael of Albany is the legal, recognised head of the Royal House of Stewart, a title which has been mentioned on his British Passports since 1986. His claim has never been denied by the authorities in Great Britain and was, in matter of fact, confirmed by the British Home Office on 24-04-91. There are contemporary archives (British State) proving that Charles Edward's progeny, Edward James Stuart of Stuarton and Albany, survived into the 19th & 20th centuries. The book is extremely well researched, drawing from european archives and explains in details what happened to the family while surviving in exile. While passionate, it is focused. The Prince's understanding of Scottish history, for one born in Belgium, is superb and his political analysis second to none. This man, when he becomes King of Scots (notice when, not if), will prove to be what Scotland has been needing all along. A representative of the people, for the people. For all who are truly interested, not merely in the past of Scotland but in her future, read this book and learn. And no matter what some rather poorly misguided individuals may tell you, think Scotland, sing Scotland and support the Royal House of Stewart.
Rating: 
Summary: History as it should be taught
Review: If only this book had been available when I was a schoolboy (post war) and had been taught as our history. Scotland will gain strength from knowing that her true Prince is back to fight for her freedom. This is a Royal House believing in 'Service to the people'. A movement has now been organised around the Prince and Scottish politicians are finally taking note of what visions Prince Michael has for Scotland. I attended one of his lecture (the hall was full, people stood for lack of chairs) and it was the best evening I have had for a long time. The house of Stewart has NEVER died out. If you believe it has, you are a fool. It is alive, kicking, it is modern, relevant, politically aware and ready to make waves. It will also bring Scottish Independence quicker than we think. Scottish businesses are linking with him in an attempt to be more fully and more efficiently represented. It is a breath of fresh air which Scotland has craved for these past many years. It is the most exciting read the end of this century has had to offer. From Scotland to Scots the world over.
Rating:
Summary: This book is only good for a laugh
Review: Michel Roger Lafosse is from Belgium - an ordinary man, like most of the rest of us. Unlike most of the rest of us, he has embarked on a fantasy in which he is a prince. This may sound like the start of a children's fairytale story, but it happens to be the best way to begin the real life story of the author of this book. It also puts this book, which he claims is about his ancestors, in context.
Of course, the author Michel Lafosse (who now styles himself HRH Prince Michael of Albany, etc. etc.) was challenged to produce some evidence of his noble claims. He produced a birth certificate, which was dismissed as a forgery by the very authorities in Belgium that he claimed had issued it. His own real birth certificate, of the same date, shows his parents' names, less any mention of the titles that were added in the forgery. Yes, gone is the "Baron" in front of his father's name, and gone is the "Princess" in front of his mother's. Indeed his father's occupation is listed by the registrar as that of shopkeeper, while his mother is listed as a business employee. Through invention of ancestors and twisting of historical detail, Michel Lafosse has managed to write himself into his own imaginary version of history - and you can read it all in this book. I wonder if we need to consider the validity of the book contents at all after these simple facts.
There are many, many other areas where he has been caught out - producing poor quality forgeries of Vatican documents according to researchers, the apparent use of the same typesetting machine on documents supposedly hundreds of years apart (and produced by both Catholic and Protestant churches), and so on - but the space is too limited to properly counter his arguments here. Oh yes, he does claim he is directly descended from Jesus too.
Should you buy this book? If you are looking for knowledge and history, NO. It is written as one man's self-serving account of history with the intention of making him look like he is someone that he is clearly not. However, if you are looking to be entertained by a delusional man, then YES.
But for your own sake, do not leave it lying around the house where your school-going children might pick it up. You do not want them failing history exams or being laughed out of college. I suggest putting some highly visible stickers with the words "Fiction" or "Fantasy" on it, just in case.
Rating:
Summary: Biased, questionable
Review: The first third or so of this book is a relatively conventional, if somewhat whirlwind, history of Scotland and the Stewart/Stuart family's place in it, up to James VII/II's flight from Britain in 1688. At that point, it becomes less a history text than a prosecution brief. 'Prince Michael' lays out the case for his belief in a 'Hanoverian Conspiracy' designed to suppress the fact that the legitimate sovereigns of independent Scotland lived, and continue to live to this day. Although Hilaire Belloc is not mentioned in the index, 'Prince Michael' seems to agree with Belloc's argument that the so-called 'Glorious Revolution' that placed the House of Orange on the throne marked the end of liberal, aristocratic, rights-based rule and the beginning of a commercial oligarchic republic that preserved the forms of the old order without any of their substance. However, development of this argument takes a back seat to 'Prince Michael''s chronicle of several centuries of deliberate insult directed at the Stewart/Stuart succession. The weaknesses of 'Prince Michael''s scholarship are mentioned in other reviews on this page. I was particularly bothered by the fact that in almost 500 pages of argument, there are fewer than 120 footnotes. Many of the footnotes he does give us are frustratingly unhelpful: 'The Vatican Archives, Rome,' or 'Archives Napoléon, Paris.' Contrast this with, for example, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn's 'Leftism Revisited,' which has nearly 1,200 fully documented footnotes in just about the same amount of text as 'Prince Michael''s book. 'Prince Michael''s research relies to an unsettling extent on those traditional repositories of 'secret histories,' the Masons and the Knights Templar. He even quotes Gardiner's 'Bloodline of the Holy Grail' -- a book for which 'Prince Michael' himself wrote the foreword. Many of his most eye-catching assertions, like the one mentioned in another review that Scotland is 'geologically the most ancient land mass on the planet' (p.11), are completely unsupported by citations or references. My favorite of these is the Abbot of Scone's alleged 1296 prophecy that 'Four scores and six hundred years it will take [ie, until 1976] before the Michael comes back to his inheritance' (p. 55). And when did 'Prince Michael' arrive in Scotland? In 1976! Wow! 'Prince Michael' unwittingly summarizes the nature of his research when he unironically describes his discovery of the connection between the Egyptian pharaohs, the princes of Scythia, and Scotland: 'I awoke suddenly one night, knowing precisely who Kinkiris was. I immediately rushed to the "Guinness Book of Kings, Rulers, and Statesmen," and there indeed was our man: Pharaoh Akenkheres' (p. 69). Who needs footnotes when you have divine revelation? I'll leave it to genealogists more skilled than I to sort through the tangle of ancestors he claims (there are insightful websites that do exactly this). I'll just note that a few years ago, a British magazine did a study to determine who would have the strongest claim to a resurrected Scots throne. After sorting through the relevant genealogy, history, and legal precedents, they determined the person with the best claim to sit on the throne of Scotland is ... Queen Elizabeth II. If this book is 'Prince Michael of Albany''s appeal to overturn the court of history, the most charitable verdict can be Not Proven.
Rating: 
Summary: H.R.H. Michael the incredible
Review: The self-styled "H.R.H. Prince Michael" claims a descent from "Bonnie Prince Charlie Stewart", the young pretender. Fact is that Bonnie Prince Charlie married Louise of Stolberg. He did recognize an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, who may or may not be an ancestress of Michael. However, Michael claims that he also descends from a "Prince" born to Marguere de Lussan, and he claims that she had married Bonnie Prince Charlie. This marriage never took place and Charles Stewart never recognized a child by this woman.
To make his claim to royal descent even more ridiculous, Michael has added the completely fake genealogy of the Holy Blood, Holy Grail book to his book, thus claiming descent through the Guises and the Merovingians from Jesus Christ himself! This claim is completely absurd. However, if you do not mind about historic accuracy, the book is quite pleasantly written and it is clear that the author loves Scotland. Besides the silly genealogy stuff, it contains a series of biografies of Scottish Kings.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously bad pseudo-history
Review: This book would be even funnier if people did not take it so seriously. As a history, it doesn't even deserve notice; most of the assertions "Prince Michael" makes are backed up by citations that are so deliberately vague (The Vatican Archives, for example) that no serious scholar could ever attempt to verify his claims to being the legitimate Stuart claimant. As a genealogy, this book is positively grotesque. "Prince Michael's" purported ancestry includes supposed ancestors that did not even exist, as has been conclusively demonstrated by a number of very good websites that specialize in European royal & noble lines. The fact that "Prince Michael" is in league with the very very dubious Laurence Gardner, who has no credence whatsoever in genealogical circles, should speak for itself. A visit to "Prince Michael's" and Gardner's websites show clearly that the whole purpose of this enterprise is to make a buck, and evidently they have been successful in this venture, even if historical truth had to be sacrificed to achieve this. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. When the author doesn't have to bother with historical accuracy, he can instead concentrate on writing a brisk narrative. As a result, I was able to finish this book in rather short order. Also, there some pretty funny stuff in this book, such as the claim that Napol?on is the direct descendant of Charles I of Great Britain (supported again, we are told, by evidence buried deep within the Vatican Archives). Also, the absolutely god-awful painting of "Prince Michael" with his illustrious Stuart forebears (by the "court painter," we are told) was so bad that I could not help but laugh at great length. Such merriment can only be good for the soul, so I guess this book does indeed have something to offer. In short, if you want a good laugh, by all means read this book. If you are looking for something with even a whiff of historical truth, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously bad pseudo-history
Review: This book would be even funnier if people did not take it so seriously. As a history, it doesn't even deserve notice; most of the assertions "Prince Michael" makes are backed up by citations that are so deliberately vague (The Vatican Archives, for example) that no serious scholar could ever attempt to verify his claims to being the legitimate Stuart claimant. As a genealogy, this book is positively grotesque. "Prince Michael's" purported ancestry includes supposed ancestors that did not even exist, as has been conclusively demonstrated by a number of very good websites that specialize in European royal & noble lines. The fact that "Prince Michael" is in league with the very very dubious Laurence Gardner, who has no credence whatsoever in genealogical circles, should speak for itself. A visit to "Prince Michael's" and Gardner's websites show clearly that the whole purpose of this enterprise is to make a buck, and evidently they have been successful in this venture, even if historical truth had to be sacrificed to achieve this. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. When the author doesn't have to bother with historical accuracy, he can instead concentrate on writing a brisk narrative. As a result, I was able to finish this book in rather short order. Also, there some pretty funny stuff in this book, such as the claim that Napol?on is the direct descendant of Charles I of Great Britain (supported again, we are told, by evidence buried deep within the Vatican Archives). Also, the absolutely god-awful painting of "Prince Michael" with his illustrious Stuart forebears (by the "court painter," we are told) was so bad that I could not help but laugh at great length. Such merriment can only be good for the soul, so I guess this book does indeed have something to offer. In short, if you want a good laugh, by all means read this book. If you are looking for something with even a whiff of historical truth, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: The Forgotten Monarchy of Scotland
Review: What a provocative read! Self-titled "Prince Michael Stewart of Albany" expands upon the brief coverage of the conspiracy against the Stuarts given in Bloodline of the Holy Grail. Many of the author's comments about the political and social history of Scotland are valid and there is a wealth of accurate historical information in this book however it is a dangerous merging of fact and fiction which invalidates any value it might have had. Prince Michael struggles to document proof of his legitimate descent from Bonnie Prince Charlie and too often falls back on the excuse that much of the proof lies in his personal family archives or those of the Vatican (both sources which no body could possibly verify). The author quotes old books to be found only in the French national library, unfortunately upon investigation I found that the authors existed but the titles ascribed did not and finally, a 'phone call to the Lyon Court in Edinburgh confirmed that Prince Michael has never had "a satisfactory position of status quo"(p307 hardback)and is rather considered a bit of a 'loon'and incidentally anyone can apply for a passport (visitors defunct or standard)and get one calling himself 'King Raspberry of Doodah' if he wishes. The appalling artwork by the "Court Painter" does nothing to add credence to his presentation and author Laurence Gardner's association with this says more about his own works' veracity than he should like. An astoundingly bad book with some excellent presentation. The historical facts are finally outnumbered by the author's fiction, meanwhile the true Stuart claimant is made further obscure by this work.
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