The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage
As a teenager coming of age in the aughts, I was a fan girl of The Princess Diaries. Mia Thermopolis learns that she is a princess of the fictitious country of Genovia, and undergoes a giant makeover. She is transformed from a bespectacled nobody into a bombshell babe, and must make a difficult decision; will she step into her role as princess, or will she return to her life in New York City? Spoiler alert: she steps into her role as royalty.
An Adult Twist on a Beloved Tale
Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage feels and reads like an adult version of The Princess Diaries. Princess Alexandrina is third in line for the crown; currently, her grandmother is the Queen of England, while her father will be the future king, followed by her twin brother. Growing up in London, she was watched her entire life and never felt quite “enough.” Knowing that she would never be the Queen, she defected when she became of age, chasing other dreams — medical school in Australia.
While living her dreams in Tasmania, Lexi befriends fellow physician, Finn, and vintner, Jack. Their relationships grow stronger, and the lines begin to blur in the relationship between her and Jack. Just as they may finally get that kiss, a helicopter lands with tragic news: Lexi’s twin brother, Louis, and her father, Frederick, have been killed in a skiing accident in Zermatt, Switzerland. This means that Lexi is now the Heir Apparent.
Confronting Duty, Loss and Identity
Lexi’s return to London means that she not only has to face the death of her father and her brother, but also everything that she left behind — the death of her mother, other traumas, family drama and the question that is on everyone’s mind: will she step into the role of the future Queen or will she allow the role to go to her uncle Richard?
Author Rebecca Armitage is a journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with a special interest in writing about the royals, having previously written about the exile of Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan. With her expertise, she has crafted a novel about an exiled royal that is so believable that it could have actually happened.
As a lover of women’s fiction, Heir Apparent sucked me in from the very first chapter; though it sounds cliché, I couldn’t put it down — I read it in about two days. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in fiction about royal families, particularly women.
Though this book does have an element of a love story, romance is not at the forefront of the plot; at its core, the plot is centered on Lexi discovering what she wants from her one big life — is it trying to make England a better place through being Queen? Is it being a physician in Australia, living a quiet life and potentially marrying Jack?
This is Armitage’s debut, and readers who pick this up can expect to enjoy a sharply written novel rich with insight into the lives of royal families, as well as a beautifully crafted story that will have you waiting for her next release.
About Rebecca Hermitage:
Rebecca Armitage is an author and journalist, who likes to write about royals.
As a journalist, she has written stories about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the coronation of King Charles III, the exile of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan and the abdication of Denmark’s Queen Margrethe.
As digital editor for the ABC’s International news team, she has covered several US elections and travelled to Israel to cover the war in Gaza.
She lives in Hobart, Tasmania, with her husband and a poorly behaved German Shorthaired Pointer named Chino. The Heir Apparent is her first novel.
