Writing about the Royals Pt 1

Princess Diana  accepts my flowers and shakes my hand

I have always been an admirer of the British Royal family. I was a huge fan of Princess Diana and I was lucky enough to have met her three times and she even remembered me! So it's no surprise that I decided to write stories featuring the royals. I mean didn't the Brothers Grimm write about royals in Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty?

Princess Diana: "I remember you..."

In 2012, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Singapore as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour. Mum, my niece Sam and I went to Garden by the Bay in the hopes of meeting them.

Once the royal couple alighted from their tram, the Duchess walked towards us and the Duke walked in the other direction. We were lucky enough to exchange a few words with the Duchess and my mum gave her one of my children's books.  Valentine Low approached mum to interview her about what she had discussed with the Duchess and that story appeared in the London Evening Standard and Hello! magazine.

The Duchess of Cambridge chats with Mum

The Duchess with her copy of my book Blow a Kiss.

The Duchess, Rebecca Deacon, and Valentine Low.

Mum's comments in Hello!

So I decided to write a children's picture book to commemorate the royal visit. Two months later, the palace announced the Duchess was expecting her first child. 

It took some time to think of an engaging plot and the book was finally published in 2014.

A Day with the Duchess

And to my surprise, the book was featured in several international  online Spanish-language publications.

And I was thrilled when I received a phone call from Camilla Tominey, asking to interview me about the book, just as I was coming out with the sequel to A Day with the Duchess. The interview appeared in The Sunday Express.

To Be Continued.

At the Gardens with the Duke and Duchess of Cambride pt 3

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess of Cambridge

And so they disembarked, the Duke went one way; the Duchess went the other. The screams grew louder...as the Duchess approached Alice, the small girl my mum had given the flowers to and she bent down and asked Alice for her name. Alice told the Duchess that she had a pretty dress and the Duchess replied so did Alice.

HRH, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

The Duchess looking at my sketch

The Duchess of Cambridge accepts my bouquet

The Duchess of Cambridge accepts the flowers and portrait

After spending a few precious moments with the little one Catherine started slowly moving over to our side of the barriers. My Mum and niece beckoned her towards us. Looking at the pencil sketch that I drew, she asked my niece if she drew it. She shook her head and pointed at me and said: "My uncle did." That's when I put my hand up like I was a student in a classroom who couldn't wait to answer the teacher's question to get the reward...

The sketch

 Mum then showed her the photo I had taken of her mother-in-law 20 years ago and asked if she would give it to William.

The photo I took of Princess Diana 20 years ago

"Of course I will," she said...and then that's when my mum also gave her something else..