Author: Lucinda Riley
Until I just finished this book, I totally forgot how much I love thrillers. I think I’ve got distracted with two book clubs and all the lovely books and genres I discovered there, albeit Lucinda Riley as an author was mentioned in my British book club because some members have recently read her eight-book, historical novel series The Seven Sisters. I purchased that series, and then also stumbled upon this book and purchased it because the title intrigued me. Interestingly too, The Royal Secret is a title for the American audience, in the UK the book was published under the title The Love Letter, which signals romance, a genre I would not buy wilfully, only mistakenly. So, the American title worked for me, too.
The Royal Secret was a gem to read because it has everything I normally like: thriller, secret agents, government conspiracies, and family histories. At its core, the novel is about duty, friendships, and trust. At first glance, the novel looks like a story about royal life — crowns, palaces, protocol — but what stays with you is the hidden world beneath the pomp. This novel isn’t about scandal or sensational revelations. The novel asks: What happens when your public life demands you conceal your private truth? The Royal Secret is about family secrets and privacy, asking the ultimate question: can royals have privacy? There is an argument that celebrities do not have that right because they have chosen to be celebrities, e.g., actors and singers, but what happens when someone is born into celebrity life that they did not choose? Should they be allowed to hide their private affairs? I never really had an answer to this question. I am leaning toward yes because ultimately, every royal who has historically abdicated their royal duties, remained in the spotlight whether they wanted it or not, so what’s the point of abdicating the privilege when you will not achieve privacy anyway?
The heart of the Royal Secret is the weight of the secret itself. It’s about how roles shape us, and how far some people are willing to go to hide it. What’s more, the novel is also about duty, and how far government officials, such as secret agents, go to protect the Monarchy, in this case the British monarchy, and the agents are from MI5. I thought the character of Simon, an MI5 agent, was interesting, and the novel makes a nice narrative about his childhood friendship with Joanna, now a journalist. The pair gets on well, and Joanna has no idea what Simon does apart from that he works in the British Civil Service. When she starts working on a royal story that could harm the reputation of the Monarchy, their paths collide, and Joanna learns that he oldest friend is not who she thought he was.
In addition, what I also found compelling is that Joanna was a junior journalist attending what was meant to be a boring service following the death of a famous actor, Sir James Harrison, only to stumble upon a carefully guarded royal secret: a secret guarded for almost 70 years that is now threatening to surface. The secret got revealed through the act of kindness because Joanna helps a frail, coughing old woman, not knowing the woman carries a royal secret that could potentially ruin the Monarchy. When Joanna receives a letter from Rose asking her to come and visit her, along with an accompanying letter from the royals, she goes to see her, only to find out she died, just like she said she might in her letter. Joanna then starts an investigation that threatens her and many other people’s lives, and tests her relationships with Simon, her oldest friend, but also a romantic relationship with Markus, the grandson of Harrison, whom she falls in love with. So, the meaningful and defining moment of Joanna’s life came from an everyday situation and a random act of kindness, which I thought was interesting. Indeed, I have stumbled upon interesting stories as a journalist randomly, more so than when I actively looked for a story. Mind you, I have never done anything of this magnitude as Joanna in the book, lol. But, I did have one life story I never published, even though I could have had an interesting article, so I also identified with Joanna’s loyalty to her newfound friends from the Harrisons’ family.
I also truly enjoyed descriptions of dilemmas of secret agents and how they navigate their private lives, lying to their families and friends, and the conflict they find themselves in when their worlds collide.
The Royal Secret is an excellent book worth reading, with a great author’s imagination and creativity. It is totally going on my list of favourite reads of 2025.
Thank you for reading!