The Royal Windsor Secret
1914: Marguerite Meller is a successful woman, one of the most famous and sought-after courtesans in Paris. War is raging, but Marguerite continues to ply her trade. Her clientele consists of officers on weekend leave from the front. One officer is a special client. He is Edward, Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne.
Twenty years later, Cleo Davenport, a young woman living in Cairo, is sent to London to prepare for her introduction to society. Via innuendo and gossip, she comes to believe she is Edward and Marguerite’s love child. She goes to Paris to try and establish a relationship with Marguerite. Cleo finds her unwilling to meet and returns to London. She realizes that contacting Edward is impossible. Her failed attempts to establish a relationship with either of her supposed parents destroy Cleo’s romanticized notions of family.
She dreams of becoming a jewelry designer but once again, war ravages Europe. She is frustrated having to shelve her immediate career plans and once again begins to hope for at least a friendship with the ever-elusive Marguerite.
Based on a true story, the book is a careful blend of fact and fiction. Wells has done a superb research job, and her descriptions of settings – from Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo to the Ritz and Cartier in Paris, provide the reader with some great armchair travel. She provides an inside look at the hedonistic lifestyle between the two world wars.
Christine Wells proves herself a deft hand at crafting a story that is a true page-turner. The Royal Windsor Secret is at times a bittersweet analysis of love, family and, finally, a young woman’s ambition. But above all, it is a beautifully written novel.
