The tragedy was fuelled by the king's refusal to let the crown prince marry his lover, Devyani Rana, who he met in 1989.

Ten years on from his first meeting with Devyani Rana, Crown Prince Dipendra was given an ultimatum by his parents - his royal position or marriage to his lover. Christmas at Sandringham was all about family. The Queen went there as a little girl and loved it as much as her parents did. When her grandfather died, the house and the estate naturally passed to her Uncle David, who briefly became King Edward VIII. When he abdicated, the Crown and all its lands passed to the Queens’s father, Bertie, who became King George VI … But not Sandringham. That was a personal residence, not part of the Crown, so Bertie had to use his inheritance to buy it from his brother. He then surrounded himself with uncles, aunts and cousins at Christmas time, as the Queen continued to do. The Top 25 Christmas Cookbooks for 2023: A Smorgasbord of Inspiration for a Happy Foodie This Christmas I wondered how Bennett would handle this series in light of the Queen’s death last September. She has set the book in 2016, is the answer. And there will be at least one more book in the series, already announced. With the Christmas break coming to an end, the Queen and her trusted assistant Rozie must race to discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Or the next victim may be found even closer to home.December 2016 - A severed hand is found washed up on a beach next to the Queen's estate at Sandringham. Just like in the other books I loved the banter between the Queen and other family members. There’s a particularly amusing conversation between Princess Anne and Prince Charles, that made me smile! Close by, on a Norfolk beach, a severed hand in a plastic bag washes up on the beach. The police are seeking to identify the victim, but it is the Queen who identifies the 70 year old victim from the signet ring as a well known member of the aristocracy, Edward St Cyr, who as a boy was a frequent visitor to Sandringham. As the police investigate, hunting for the rest of his body, and looking into his life, movements and family, they struggle to make any headway. When another man is discovered dead and a local woman is almost killed in a hit and run, the Queen feels obliged to become involved in what turns out to be her most twisted and challenging inquiry yet and which brings danger far too close to home. Family history, secrets, deceptions and lies are slowly uncovered with a Queen determined to get to the truth, irrespective of the obstacles in her path. With a police investigation underway, the search for the rest of Ed's body begins, and the police now probe into Ed's life, movements, and family. However, they struggle to make any solid leads. Then, another man is discovered dead, and a local woman is almost killed in a hit and run. The Queen feels compelled to become involved in what turns out to be her most challenging investigation yet and puts her life in real danger. In 1990, the people of Nepal took to the streets to demand an end to absolute monarchy and the introduction of multi-party democracy. Fearing a revolution, King Birendra caved into their demands.

And now the series is about to become a trilogy. MURDER MOST ROYAL will be published by Bonnier in the UK on 10 November. The Queen’s investigations continue. Murder Most Royal is the third book in SJ Bennett's "Her Majesty The Queen Investigates" series. Before reviewing the book 2 things. Yes it features the late Queen Elizabeth the Second in a fictional role and no it's no way disrespectful and I'm sure with her known wry sense of humour our late Monarch would enjoy these books and find the whole thing quite amusing. It is a further adventure concerning our late Queen investigating a murder- this time set on her estate of Sandringham, Norfolk around Christmas 2016. When a severed hand is found on a local Norfolk beach Her Majesty recognises it immediately and resolves to work out what has happened to the rest of the body. I like this series’ plotting and the feeling it gives of an inside look at the royal family. Bennett seems to know her stuff, but she doesn’t engage in anything that feels gossipy. None of today’s unpleasantness creeps into the story, unless you count some pointed criticisms of the British press expressed by Prince Philip and the Queen. It’s always the family, one way or another. I pitied those wives of his. Not surprised they didn’t last the distance. The man shagged half the county.’

En cuanto al misterio, me ha parecido bastante complejo y bien construido, bastante difícil de averiguar, pero muy entretenido, aunque quizás le sobren algunos callejones sin salido/misterios secundarios y paralelos. O a mí por lo menos me habría bastado con menos. No obstante, ni se me ha hecho largo ni nada por el estilo. Y a pesar de hablar sobre cadáveres y miembros apuntados, el hecho es que es una historia que me hace sentir en paz mientras la leo. Crown Prince Dipendra's brother-in-law, Gorahk Rana, who was married to Dipendra's sister, Princess Shruti, remembers the crown prince's surprise: On 1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra went on the shooting spree in the royal palace, killing his parents, sister, younger brother and five other royals. Crown Prince Dipendra was found with a single bullet wound through the head. I was not quite as engrossed as I had been when reading the first book in the series but I did enjoy reading more about Rozie, the Queens assistant who helps her investigate. I also liked the setting of Sandringham which was well described and I found it interesting to read the anecdotes about the royal family celebrating Christmas there..