Summary of THE ROYAL NANNY by Karen Harper

In April of 1897, a nervous, young nanny arrives at the royal estate of Sandringham in England.  Thus begins the true story of the lower class Cockney girl who reared two kings.  The eras are Edwardian and Victorian, the English time period of Downton Abbey.  The bold woman is Charlotte Bill, whom the children dub “Lala.”

The six children include the unhappy boy who will grow up to be King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor;  “Bertie” of The King’s Speech, who became King George VI and father of the present queen.  Also three other children, the youngest who was autistic and epileptic, whom the family hid and Lala protected and reared almost as her own.

Lala faces trials and triumphs as she rears these children and copes with difficult royal personalities and the temptations of her own heart when she falls in love with the vast estate’s gamekeeper, whom she misses dearly when she travels with the family to Scotland, the Isle of Wight and stays in Buckingham Palace.

Through Lala’s eyes, the reader glimpses the rich and the royals from Britain’s old wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottage to royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom.  Charlotte Bill witnesses history and takes the reader with her.  THE ROYAL NANNY is a seamless blend of fact and fiction–an intensely intimate, yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and the divides that only love can cross.

Praise for THE ROYAL NANNY:

“The Royal Nanny is a gem…”—Erika Robuck, author of Hemingway’s Girl.
“Fans of Downton Abbey will devour this vivid tale…”—Renee Rosen, author of White Collar Girl

In case you missed her interview, click her to meet Karen Harper!