Writers have often turned to the royal family for inspiration, but in recent years it has been fiction, rather than factual biographies, that have grown in popularity. And the royals are not only inspiring writers in book form. From the BBC series, Victoria, based on the book by Daisy Goodwin about the life of young Queen Victoria, to the more recent phenomenon of The Crown, we seemingly cannot get enough of life inside the royal palaces!
We first touched on royalty in fictional form when we wrote Meet Me in Monaco back in 2017. Then, it was the life of Hollywood actress, Grace Kelly (who became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier), who inspired us. Several years later, we’ve returned to royalty once again in Christmas With The Queen. This time, we wanted to explore the early years of Queen Elizabeth II’s historic reign, particularly how she continued and adapted the traditions set by her father and grandfather. And what better traditions to focus on than Christmas!
But rather than focus solely on the life of the queen, we wondered what it would be like to work within the tightly controlled royal circles. And so we developed our characters of Olivia Carter, a BBC royal correspondent, and Jack Devereux, a chef in the royal household. We imagined how two ordinary lives might connect to and revolve around the careful precision of the royal family and their traditions.
Readers clamoring for more wonderful royal reads, be sure to add these books to your list:
Cooking and The Crown by Tom Parker Bowles
A beautifully presented and fascinating cookbook, collected by Queen Camilla’s son, who is a food critic in the UK. The book is inspired by the traditions and food that has been enjoyed by the royals for centuries. Roll out the red carpet and invite your family round for a meal fit for a king or queen!
The Windsor Conspiracy by Georgie Blalock
An enchantingly reimagined fictional portrait of Wallis Simpson through the lens of her cousin who is engaged to spy on the Duchess of Windsor for her alleged Nazi sympathies and finds much more than she bargained for.
The Queen’s Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight
A highly original and touching premise inspired this royal read which is narrated from the point of view of one of Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgis.
The Gown by Jennifer Robsen
Although not companion books, the following two wonderful works of fiction by Jennifer Robson make a lovely double-read. In The Gown, Robson imagines the lives of the women who made Princess Elizabeth’s historic wedding gown.
Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson
In Coronation Year, another royal-adjacent historical novel, Robson focuses on three residents of London’s historic Blue Lion hotel and how their lives converge on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.
Another Woman’s Husband by Gill Paul
In a fascinating timeslip which moves between 1911 and the royal scandal surrounding Wallis Simpson, whose relationship with the king led to his abdication, and then in 1997, we follow the events surrounding the death of Princess Diana.
Wallis Simpson is brought enticingly to life in this gripping, moving novel about two women thrust into the spotlight, followed by scandal, touched by loss.
The Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle
He’s the royal bodyguard. She’s the royal nanny. The annoyingly hot attraction that simmers between them—that’s a royal pain. As undeniable sparks turn James and Laila’s battle royal into a more serious game of hearts, nanny and bodyguard will have to decide just how much they’re willing to risk for a second chance at love.
The Secret Guests by B.W. Black
It is 1940 and the bombs are falling thick and fast on London. Meanwhile Celia Nashe is transferred to MI5. But whatever she was expecting of her mission for the war effort, it wasn’t this. A crumbling castle in remote, rural Ireland, playing nursemaid to two pampered young girls. But her posting soon turns out to be very far from tame. When a dead body turns up at the castle gates, it will take every effort to uncover the truth, and to stop it from coming to light.
A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown
Virginia Woolf compared her to a caterpillar; Anne Frank kept pictures of her on the wall of her annex; Jimi Hendrix played her tune; Haile Selassie gave her a gold tiara; Dirk Bogarde watched Death in Venice with her; Andy Warhol envied her fame; Donald Trump offended her; E.M. Forster confessed he would have married her, if only she had been a boy. Combining biography, essays, cultural history, dream diaries, travelogue and satire, this book is a kaleidoscopic portrait of this most public yet private of sovereigns.
The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood
Windsor, 1940: Secretly tasked with foiling a suspected plot, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor castle, where the princesses reside. But when she learns that Windsor is compromised, Sophie must sacrifice everything she knows to save the future queen of England … Philadelphia, Present day: Looking through her grandmother’s papers, Lacey Jones comes across a mysterious letter stamped with the Windsor Castle crest. But how did it come to be in her family’s possession?
English (US) · 