Royalist Rebel

A beautiful young royalist struggles to survive the English Civil War in a novel of love and loyalty based on the life of a seventeenth-century Scottish countess. Royalist Rebel is the epic story of Elizabeth Murray, the daughter of a Scottish royalist family who would go on to become the influential Countess of Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale. Though her life is upended by the Great Rebellion, Elizabeth remains fiercely dedicated to the royalist cause. With her father William in Oxford at the exiled court of King Charles I, the five Murray women must protect Ham House, the family estate, on their own. Crippled by fines for their royalist sympathies, and besieged by the Surrey Sequestration Committee, Elizabeth must find a rich, apolitical husband to save herself, her sisters, and their inheritance. Intelligent, witty, and beautiful, Elizabeth first finds safety in the arms of the wealthy baronet Lionel Tollemache, her husband of twenty years. But she then finally finds love with John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, a favorite of Charles II. This rich historical tale of a young woman’s choice between duty and love is based on true events and ranges across the first and second English Civil Wars.

Based on the story of the real historical figure of notorious Elizabeth Murray, Countess Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale, who lived at Ham House, a Jacobean mansion built on the River Thames at Petersham, throughout the reigns of Charles I, Cromwell's Protectorate, Charles II, James II, and William and Mary, and who was deeply embroiled in the politics of the Civil War.

Rebel, Princess, Suffragette: this is the incredible true story of the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a forgotten heroine of the early twentieth century. Rebel, Princess, Suffragette: this is the incredible true story of the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a forgotten heroine of the early twentieth century. Born in 1876, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the last Sikh ruler of the Punjab, and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. After her father lost control of his empire and was exiled to England, Sophia had a privileged but troubled upbringing that left her unsure about where she belonged - in India or England. Sensitive to injustice, she became an suffragette and fought hard to win the vote for women. This is the extraordinary story of her life.

The absorbing tale of how this legendary rogue became the champion of parliamentary monarchy and changed the course of English history. At first light on July 6, 1685, the last battle ever fought on English soil was almost over. On one side of the watery pasture at Sedgemoor was the dashing thirty-six-year-old Duke of Monmouth, the charismatic son of Charles II, adored by the people. A reformer, a romantic, and a Protestant, he was fighting the army he had once commanded, in opposition to his uncle, King James II. Yet even before he launched his attack, Monmouth knew he would die. Born in the backstreets of Rotterdam in the year his grandfather Charles I was executed, Monmouth was the child of a turbulent age. His mother, the first of Charles II's famous liaisons, played courtesan to the band of raw and restless young royalists forced abroad by the changing political current. Conceived during a revolution and born into a republic, Monmouth, by the time he was twelve, was the sensation of the most licentious and libertine court in Europe. Adored by the king and drenched in honors, he became the greatest rake and reprobate of the age. On his path to becoming "the last royal rebel," Monmouth consorted with a spectacular list of contemporaries: Louis XIV was his mentor, William of Orange his confidant, Nell Gwyn his friend, the future Duke of Marlborough his pupil, D'Artagnan his lieutenant, John Dryden his censor, and John Locke his comrade. Anna Keay expertly chronicles Monmouth's life and offers splendid insight into this crucial and dramatic period in English history.

Aura Nilssen’s life hasn’t gone at all according to plan. She’s the unwitting heir to a tainted throne, the recipient of not one but two unwanted legacies, and she’s on the hit list of every dark realm in the cosmos. But with weeks to go before her graduation from Alfheim Academy and official coronation as Queen, the reluctant royal thinks she can finally take a breath. She should have known better. When her allies’ borders are breached, Aura knows it’s only a matter of time before Alfheim is attacked. And when dark powers move against her home, Aura and her friends set out to determine exactly who might be strong enough to overpower the light realms. With more than just Alfheim’s future on the line, Aura must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the home she’s grown to love . . . and the warrior who’s claimed her heart.

Hi! I’m Lily and I’m going to be a TOTALLY AWESOME FASHION VLOGGER! There’s just one thing that might stand in my way. I’M A PRINCESS. But a princess can do whatever she wants, right? WRONG. Because one day I’ll be Queen of Waldenburg. And if there is one thing a future queen DOES NOT DO, it’s vlog about fashion... So I just have to make sure I DON’T GET CAUGHT – but keeping a secret this big isn’t easy... Royally yours, Lily xoxo THIS PRINCESS IS FASHIONING HER OWN FUTURE – WHATEVER IT TAKES!

In June 2010, Soma moved to Cambodia to take care of her sick father, who had decided to move from California to his homeland, and stay for the remainder of his life. She established the first English-speaking radio talk show in the country and later became a Columnist for the Phnom Penh Post. As a direct descendant of King Norodom I, the Founder and Patriarch of the Cambodian Royal Family, Soma embraced her new title as a Princess of Cambodia. She learned to speak the language and became knowledgeable about the history and culture. She made it a project to educate herself about the political issues and started questioning the authorities. Her Phnom Penh Post columns annoyed the Government, and on October 29, 2012, she was accused of Incitement. Alienated by her Royal Family, friends, and colleagues, Soma was alone in the fight for Freedom of Expression. Only one man could save her.

'A superb biography, which paints a vivid picture of the times and of her subject' Daily Telegraph 'Fascinating, compelling, outrageous and ultimately tragic' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'It is the best royal biography I have read in years' A.N. Wilson From the Duff Cooper Prize-winning author of The Restless Republic, a remarkable biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the Restoration era. James, Duke of Monmouth, the favoured illegitimate son of Charles II, was born in exile the year his grandfather Charles I was executed and the English monarchy abolished. Abducted from his mother on his father's orders, he emerged from a childhood in the backstreets of Rotterdam to command the ballrooms of Paris, the brothels of Covent Garden and the battlefields of Flanders. Such was his appeal that when the monarchy itself came under threat, the cry was for Monmouth to succeed Charles II as king. He inspired both delight and disgust, adulation and abhorrence and, in time, love and loyalty. Louis XIV was his mentor, Nell Gwyn his protector, D'Artagnan his lieutenant, William of Orange his confidant, John Dryden his censor and John Locke his comrade. In The Last Royal Rebel, Anna Keay matches rigorous scholarship with a storyteller's gift to enrapturing effect. She paints a vivid portrait of the warm, courageous and handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission 'lived a very dissolute and irregular life', but who was ultimately prepared to risk everything for honour and justice. His story, culminating in his fateful invasion, provides a sweeping chronicle of the turbulent decades in which England as we know it was forged.