There are a wealth of interesting characters in your novel. As editor, I certainly developed a soft spot for John Stanley! Can you tell us a little about your personal favourites?

I  am really pleased you like John, after all  he is the one I am writing about, but my personal favourite is Joan of Kent. When I write any scene involving her, I hear her words and see her image.

My vision of her is based on my secretary of 30 years ago.

Most people judged her to be an amoral nyphomaniac ( she made no secret of her activities) but on closer acquaintance she was a warm, generous woman, full of concern for her fellow human beings and with a ready but sympathetic wit.

Because we worked closely together everyone assumed that she must have been my mistress but in fact even though we were more or less the same age, she treated me as if I was her son. She protected me from my detractors and encouraged me to succeed in anything I attempted.

A second favorite is William Montacute.  I worry that I have not made the most of his potential. Perhaps it will come when after Joan marries the Prince he enters a relationship with Pipa.

William is based on my one time boss who was ex SAS intelligence. This was the person who introduced me to the phrase “If I haven’t told you then you do not need to know”