Palazzo is a sensual and luxuriant fable. Combining a short story by Amanda Harlech and a series of black-and-white photographs illustrating the story by Karl Lagerfeld, the book explores a glamorous yet equivocal romance. The narrative depicts Principessa Allegra and her American fiancé, who at first seem to be a beautiful and enviable couple. Yet as events unfold, we see that this relationship which initially seemed flawless and sparkling, is in fact complex and shaded with reluctance. Palazzo is a contemporary drama infused with a sense of a theatrical past. Indeed the Palazzo Taverna in Rome is not only the setting for the story, but a vessel containing the complex history of the building itself, on which Lagerfeld elaborates in an epilogue in the book. While depicting a degree of decadence which many can only dream of, Palazzo also explores the disquieting emotional states present in many human relationships – expectation, compromise and
regret. The allure of Palazzo is thus underpinned by familiar emotions. This is seductive fiction into which we can read our own experiences.