Charles and Diana

Although timed to appear as the Prince and Princess of Wales visit the U.S., this gossipy, silly confection will need no such tie-in to take off: witness the endless reams of newsprint routinely devoted to the heir-apparent and his missus to feed the appetite of an apparently insatiable public. Martin merely adds another dollop of Devon cream to the story of the courtship (albeit he needs 148 pages to progress from the first so-called significant meeting to the courtship proper) and marriage. The book proves to be, as Martin observes here about this pair in another context, ""the kind of mush'' that sells. With frequent intelligence from palace insiders like Barbara Cartland, we're shown the wifewhose ``mousy light brown hair is streaked blonde every three months''the husbandhe collects antique loosthe babiesnot much to be said about themthe familyRoyals tend to communicate primarily through their secretariesand supporting players in the cast of an extravaganza that the hoi polloi, at least, will eagerly gulp down. Photos. 150,000 first printing; 100,000 ad/promo; author tour. November 8