Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy-tales. Her twin sister Lacey was always the romantic, the one who daydreamed of being a princess. But it’s adventure-seeking Bex who goes to Oxford and meets dreamy Nick across the hall – and thus Bex who accidentally finds herself in love with the eventual heir to the British throne. Nick is everything she could have imagined, but Prince Nicholas has unimaginable baggage: grasping friends, a thorny family, hysterical tabloids tracking his every move, and a public that expected its future king to marry a native. On the eve of the most talked-about wedding of the century, Bex reflects on what she’s sacrificed for love — and exactly whose heart she may yet have to break.

Review:

Real talk: This book is basically thinly disguised Wills and Kate fanfiction – and I AM OKAY WITH THAT. 

But seriously, though, The Royal We is written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, better known as the “Fug Girls” of the celebrity fashion website Go Fug Yourself. If you’ve read their site at all, you know their penchant for snark, wit and hilarity, and they’ve infused their book and their protagonist, Rebecca “Bex” Porter with those characteristics. 

The novel starts with a framing device – Bex about to get married to Nick, and questioning her choices. Then we rewind back to when they first met and fell in love at Oxford, followed by the years afterwards where Bex and Nick are, like many young adults, figuring out their lives. The novel loosely follows the William and Kate trajectory (no spoilers for those of you who don’t know), and what we miss as the public and in real life, we get first hand in this book. And that is a gift. 

I fell in love with Bex and Nick and their wonderful circle of family and friends – from her outrageous college roommates Cilla, Joss, Gaz, Clive, and Bea, to her complex, fame-adoring twin sister Lacey, to Nick’s charming rake of a brother Freddie, to Bex’s inventive father and excitable mother, to Nick’s crazy royal family. The secondary characters took this book from good to great, because they had so much personality, and Cocks and Morgan had so much invested in them, too. I totally cheered when characters got together, when you found out that others had succeeded in jobs, and frowned when others had failed. It’s a testament to Cocks and Morgan’s skill at writing that I savoured every romantic part with Nick, but even when he wasn’t around, I was totally focused on seeing Bex’s journey through.

Because that’s what this book is about, ultimately. It’s about a girl trying to find herself in the midst of a very complicated, and mostly secretive relationship that makes her question her worth and efforts at every turn. It’s about the sacrifices we make to be with the ones we love, and how much Bex has to commit, and commit again to be with someone who has duties and obligations that may be more important than her. And it’s about making those mature decisions and living with them.

But while love can overcome a lot, it can’t always overcome something as big as the intense media scrutiny that Nick and Bex are under. The discussion in The Royal We of the paparazzi – who are brutal to Bex even after she and Nick had broken up – is probably the part that rings truest to me – because I remember when it happened to Will and Kate. Every time Bex goes out with friends, she is scrutinized, for drinking too much, too little, wearing too much, too little…and she wasn’t even with the guy anymore! Nick asks the press to leave her alone and they don’t. They don’t even leave her sister alone. And while this book isn’t the “real” story of Will and Kate, it does show, in alarming detail, just how much that kind of media pressure can hurt and destroy people. 

Source: BBC.co.uk

I also remember around the time that William and Kate were broken up, people were calling her Waity Katie. And how hurtful and mean that was, but how I secretly (and shamefully) thought that might have been true – that she was just waiting around with a silly job working as a fashion buyer, until William was ready. And how I had the total inverse feminist feeling that she should just move on with her life. But the thing I didn’t think about was that it was her decision to live that life. And in The Royal We, Bex says again and again that no matter what happens, Nick is worth it to her. That is her decision to make, and it’s every bit as strong a decision as walking away from a guy who comes with as much baggage as Nick does. 

The really interesting thing to me, however, is how the Fug Girls almost insert themselves into the book, letting royal fashion blogs and celebrity watch blogs become the biggest, most destructive part of Bex’s life. I know they are fans of Kate’s wardrobe, but I do think it’s interesting that they, as part of the media hype, are essentially the villains in the novel. It made me think about how much the media toes the line with celebrities, and how much being a blogger – even a lowly book blogger like me – changes that landscape for anyone in the public eye.

The Royal We isn’t a short book – clocking in at 460 pages – but I lived and loved every moment of it. I struggled with Bex as she tried to find better jobs, tried to live with Nick, tried to live without him. I worried about her when she fell into a depression, and I had major heart eyes whenever she had perfect moments with Nick. In fact, if I have one criticism of this book, it’s that I wanted more at the end. Even though the ending was excellent (that’s all I’m going to say about it), I believed in the characters so much that I seriously needed an epilogue where I found out where everyone was going.

SEQUEL, PLEASE?

Bonuses (I basically gushed about everything already, so I’m just going to list them out here): 

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Book Theme Song: 

The Final Word: 

If you’re an Anglophile or royalty obsessed, or into new adult, or just like the idea of the commoner with the celebrity, you will love THE ROYAL WE. Cocks and Morgan deliver what they imagine to be the inside scoop – and while it’s not anywhere near as glamorous as what you see on the outside, it’s a very funny, very truthful, and very heartfelt novel that just takes hold of you and doesn’t let go. It’s one of those books where, after you finish, you just want to start all over again to relive the magic.

THE ROYAL WE is out in bookstores now. Are you interested in reading it? Are you royals obsessed like me, or in need of a fairytale read sometimes? Who is your favourite royal couple? What do you think of the paparazzi and of the fame and attention that royals get? Would you be able to deal with it? Let me know in the comments!