The Heir Apparent

An avalanche in Switzerland shatters Lexi's Australian life

Stewart, the Queen's private secretary, lands a chartered helicopter on Maria Island in Tasmania just as Lexi and her housemate Jack are about to kiss on New Year's Day.

An avalanche in Switzerland shatters Lexi's Australian life

Stewart, the Queen's private secretary, lands a chartered helicopter on Maria Island in Tasmania just as Lexi and her housemate Jack are about to kiss on New Year's Day. Her father, Prince Frederick, is dead — killed in a Swiss avalanche alongside her twin brother Louis and their close friend Kris Shankar. Louis clings to life with catastrophic brain damage; Kris is already brain-dead. Within hours, Lexi is stripped of her dark nail polish, dressed in Alexander McQueen black, and strapped into a billionaire's jet hurtling toward London. She is a second-year medical resident who fled the House of Villiers at eighteen. Now the monarchy has come to reclaim her. She leaves Jack and her best friend Finn — a fellow doctor — watching from a shrinking island below.

Louis dies while Lexi is mid-flight and no one radios the pilot

Despite promises to keep Lexi informed, no one tells her that Amira — Louis's wife — has turned off his life support until they land for fuel in Singapore. Louis is gone. Kris is gone. Lexi's knees buckle on the tarmac. In London, Prime Minister Jenny Walsh meets her plane and rides with her to the palace. Lexi finds her grandmother, Queen Eleanor, diminished by grief, barely able to speak over the teacups. Later she knocks on Louis's childhood door and discovers Amira inside, skeletal and sleepless. Amira throws her a pair of boxers and Louis's rugby shirt, asking her to stay the night. In the dark, Amira whispers a question that has haunted royal widows across centuries: what will become of her now?

An uncle's warmth conceals his first grab for the throne

Lexi's uncle Richard, the Duke of Clarence, installs himself beside the Queen and persuades her that Amira and Lexi's presence is overwhelming a grieving sovereign. The women are moved to Cumberland Palace — Amira and Louis's London apartment. On the way out, Lexi meets Mary Williams, a sharp young aide from her father's office who volunteers to help with funeral preparations. Mary is mousy but shrewd, and Lexi likes her. The funeral comes — a vast procession through London, two coffins on gun carriages, the nation watching. Amira sleeps in Lexi's lap on the drive to the burial. That night in the castle quadrangle, Amira erupts: Lexi trapped Louis by leaving, failed him as a sister, and still cannot commit to staying. The accusation lands like a blade.