Photocopy of typescript of an autobiography by Barbara Cartland, 61 pages.
*Pages 1-24: introductory section describes a series of distinguished ancestors; 49 proposals of marriage before accepting that of Alexander McCorquodale (1927); birth of their daughter Raine and the balls given for her as a debutante; Raine's marriages to the Earl of Dartmouth, Earl Spencer and the Comte de Chambrun; left penniless after divorce from Alexander when Raine was 4; helps brother Ronald get elected Conservative MP for Birmingham King's Norton (1935); Ronald's career, death in 1940, Barbara writes his biography; lists 4 'Barbara Cartland Rooms' in England and in Australia, including 'a whole estate and garden dedicated to me, which is entirely pink'; 1936 marries Hugh McCorquodale; lineage of her new mother-in-law (Granville family), which means that Barbara and her sons are connected to the Diana, Princess of Wales.
*Pages 25-61: The main achievements of her 96 years, under the chapter title 'How I Want to Be Remembered'. These include her fight for mothers who look after small children to be paid a national wage; designing the dresses for a charity pageant in 1930 that raised £12,000; her 1931 experiments with the idea of an aeroplane-towed glider with two Air Force friends; her successful redecoration and relaunch of the Embassy Club in 1932; service with the Women's Voluntary Service in Bedfordshire; accumulating a pool of over 1,000 white wedding gowns for Service brides to use; becoming a Conservative Councillor for Hatfield; persuading the then Home Secretary Sir Keith Joseph to change law to permit traveller children to go to school; foundation of the National Association for Health in 1964; becomes Dame of Grace of The Order of St John of Jerusalem (1972); work with St John Ambulance Brigade; her 'Album of Love', recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, of romantic songs (1978); award of the Médaille de la Ville de Paris (1988), recognising the sale of over 30 million of her books in France; her husband's death reinforces her belief in an after-life; becomes DBE (1991); lists her literary achievements - 697 books at the time of writing. Says that she has also written 4 autobiographies.