WHILE GROWING UP ON THE ISLAND OF MARTHA’S VINEYARD THE YOUNG JAMES DePRIEST WAS A BOOKWORM BEFORE HE COULD WALK STEADILY. HIS MOTHER INTRODUCED HIM TO BOOKS, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND EXPOSED HIM TO MUSIC OF ALL KINDS. JAMES’ MOTHER HAD STUDIED EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST BEFORE SHE GOT MARRIED AND STARTED A FAMILY. SHE USED HER TEACHING KNOWLEDGE TO GIVE HER 5 BOYS A GOOD EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION. THUS THE YOUNG READER BEGAN TO DEVOUR BOOKS ON ALL SUBJECTS WHICH WAS RATHER UNUSUAL FOR A SMALL BOY.

 

JAMES AND HIS YOUNGER BROTHER LUKE WERE TREATED TO STORY TIME WITH THEIR MOTHER JUST AS BEDTIME APPROACHED EVERY NIGHT FOR A GOOD MANY YEARS DURING THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS. JAMES’ MOTHER MADE STORYTELLING FUN ALWAYS INCLUDING HUMOR WHICH INCITED OUTBURSTS OF LAUGHTER. SO, READING BOOKS WAS ALWAYS A FAVORITE FAMILY PASTIME THAT ALL OF THE DePRIEST BROTHERS ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN. THE BOYS LEARNED EARLY IN LIFE THAT KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

 

JAMES DePRIEST GREW UP ON THE VINEYARD, A SMALL ISLAND SITUATED 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAPE COD WHICH IS ISOLATED FROM THE WIDER WORLD AT THE BEST OF TIMES. THE ISLAND IS  EVEN MORE ISOLATED IN THE WINTER MONTHS. SO, CHILDREN EITHER ENGAGE IN INSIDE ACTIVITIES OR OUTSIDE SPORTING ACTIVITIES OR BOTH. SO THE YOUNG JAMES DePRIEST TOOK TO THE OAK BLUFFS SCHOOL LIBRARY WITH GUSTO. HIS FAVORITE BOOKS OF HIS CHILDHOOD WERE THE KING OF THE CATS BY P.T. COOPER, ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE BY POLY SCHOYER BROOKS; THE HOBBIT BY JRR TOLKIEN; THE ROAD TO DAMIETTA BY SCOTT O’DELL, THE SERIES OF EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL BOOKS CALLED LET’S TAKE A TRIP BY KEITH LYE, AND MORE.

 

BOOKS ENABLED THE YOUNG JAMES TO BECOME AN AVID AIRCHAIR TRAVELER WHO WOULD DREAM OF ADVENTURES IN FARAWAY DESERTS OR MOUNTAINS HEAVY WITH SNOW. JAMES COULDN'T WAIT TO GET HIS FEET WET IN THE SEA OF ADVENTURE. HE WOULD START HIS MANY, MANY, MANY TRAVEL ADVENTURES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WHEN HE WAS WAS JUST 12 WHEN HE TRAVELED TO HIS ANCESTRAL HOMELAND OF DENMARK. IN THE CITY OF HELSINGOR HE WAS HOSTED BY A FAMILY WHOSE LIVING ROOM WINDOWS PROVIDED A PANORAMIC VIEW OF KRONBORG CASTLE AND THE SWEDISH COAST JUST THERE ON THE EASTERN HORIZON. BUT HIS FAVORITE ACTIVITY THAT HE WAS ABLE TO DO WHILE IN DENMARK WAS TO WANDER AMONG THE TOMBS OF HIS FOREBEARS AT ROSKILDE CATHEDRAL. HE PAUSED AT THE TOMB OF HIS 17TH GREAT GRANDFATHER KING CHRISTIAN I OF DENMARK AND SAID A RESPECTFUL PRAYER SILENTLY IN AWE OF THE EXPERIENCE.

 

THE OAK BLUFFS SCHOOL LIBRARIAN, JAN BERMAN, WAS NEVER SURPRISED TO SEE JAMES HELP HIMSELF TO BOOKS FROM THE STACKS DURING RECESS TIME. MS. BERMAN TOLD HIM THAT “WITH A BOOK YOU ARE ALWAYS FREE” WHICH WERE MAGICAL WORDS FOR THE YOUNG READING ENTHUSIAST. THE YOUNG JAMES WHO MORPHED INTO THE PRINCE OF BOURBON DAMPIERRE STILL LIVES BY THOSE WIZENED WORDS TO DATE.

 

THE PRINCE HAS LIVED A STORIED LIFE. HE IS INDEED THE ORIGINAL AMERICAN GYPSY WHO HAS LIVED ENOUGH LIFE FOR ANY 20 REGULAR PEOPLE. SO, WHEN THE PRINCE MARRIED HRH PRINCE LOUIS OF BOURBON DAMPIERRE IN 2022 HE RETIRED FROM HIS VARIOUS COMMERCIAL ENDEAVORS TO BECOME A FULL TIME WRITER COUPLED WITH BEING A FULL TIME EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE DUCHY. THUS HE BROUGHT HIS LIFE'S DREAM OF BECOMING AN AUTHOR TO REALITY.

 

TO DATE, THE PRINCE HAS WRITTEN A 13 BOOKS OF NONFICTION, AND 1 NOVEL. ALL HRH'S PUBLISHED WORKS ARE ABOUT NON-FICTION TOPICS THOUGH HRH IS OPEN TO CREATING A FICTIONAL SERIES OR BOOK IN THE FUTURE.