Blood Royal

Blood Royal is a 1929 novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), the third in his Chandos thriller series. The story features the recurrent characters Richard Chandos (narrator) and George Hanbury, with their servants Bell and Rowley. Jonathan Mansel does not appear in this book.

Blood Royal
1942 H&S dustjacket
AuthorDornford Yates
SeriesChandos books
GenreNovel
PublisherHodder and Stoughton[1]
Publication date
1929[1]
Media typePrint
Pages320[1]
Preceded byPerishable Goods 
Followed byFire Below 

Plot

Chandos and Hanbury help Duke Paul to succeed as Prince of the fictional Principality of Reichtenburg in place of the incumbent, in the face of resistance from Duke Johann and Major Grieg.

Background

Commenting in 1958 through his character Boy Pleydell, the author acknowledged resemblances between his work and Anthony Hope's, The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau, specifically citing this novel and Fire Below.[2]

Critical reception

Blood Royal was as well-received when it appeared in July 1929 as his earlier Chandos books had been, and was re-printed four times within the first six months.[3] Mercer hoped to run the story as a serial in the US publication The Saturday Evening Post, but flatly refused the Post's demand that Chandos should be an American citizen.[4]

This was mentioned by Yates in As Berry and I were Saying, along with a discussion with an editor preparing a serialisation of Blood Royal, presumably in a UK publication, where the editor objected to the car being identified as a Rolls-Royce as "We don't give advertisements". Yates' response was that "..there are two kinds of automobiles - one is a Rolls and the other a motor-car. In Blood Royal I'm referring to a Rolls." The editor was reported to have laughed and conceded the point, [5] but no serialisation of Blood Royal is known to have taken place.

The original dustjacket included the following quotes -

  • Star: "Thrill, mystery,romance and humour - all are here"
  • Daily Telegraph: "The story goes with dash and brilliance."
  • John o' London's Weekly: "For sheer 'go' and excitement Mr. Yates has done nothing better than this story."
  • Daily Mail - "The most striking thing about 'Blood Royal' is the prodigious pace which Mr. Dornford Yates manages to keep up throughout the book."

According to Mercer's biographer, AJ Smithers, the author's talent for this type of story was immense. The reader is kept on the edge of the chair, and the pace never flags.[6]

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References
  1. "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. Yates, Dornford (1958). B-Berry and I Look Back. London: Ward Lock. p. 148.
  3. Smithers 1982, pp. 148, 150, 151.
  4. Smithers 1982, p. 150.
  5. Yates, Dornford (1952). As Berry and I Were Saying. London: Ward Lock & Co. page 119.
  6. Smithers 1982, p. 149.

Bibliography
  • Smithers, AJ (1982). Dornford Yates. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 27547 2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Usborne, Richard (1974). Clubland Heroes. London: Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0 214 20012 4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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