Fern’s got a write royal story to tell
Governess’s fall from grace inspires presenter’s new novel
FERN Britton spent lockdown with the royal family. Not by gatecrashing Buckingham Palace, but by researching her new historical novel.
The former This Morning presenter has lived in Cornwall since splitting from chef Phil Vickery in 2020 after 20 years of marriage. She’s been so busy reading up on the Queen’s governess that she has not finished unpacking.
Fern said: “The move filled up the house with so much stuff I can’t find my bikes. The garage is still full of boxes, but I’m so busy doing things. There’s more to life than emptying the garage.”
The 64-year-old has had her hands full with her latest novel, The Good Servant, royal fiction with a factual backdrop.
The 538-page epic is based on the true story of Marion Crawford, the governess to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret from 1936 to 1947.
Crawfie, as she was nicknamed, met and fell in love with a shady ex-army divorcé, an alcoholic womaniser 16 years her senior. He signed her up with a US publishing house for a tell-all book. Crawfie was paid £85,000 to write The Little Princesses.
Fern has read The Little Princesses numerous times. “Crawfie was a very young girl – 22 – when she took over looking after the princesses. Elizabeth was six, Margaret was two. She was with them during their most formative years and was utterly loyal, beguiled by the Royal Family and was certain she could help the girls straddle both worlds of royalty and real life.”
She served them through key moments in history – the abdication, Elizabeth’s dad, George VI becoming King, and her realisation at the age of 12 that she would become Queen. Fern said: “Crawford shaped our current Queen’s character a lot. I don’t think she was driven by money or spite, or wanting to be a superstar. She did it out of love for the royal family to help them get over a sticky moment in history. But it all backfired.” When Crawford fell out of favour, her life was effectively over. Fern said: “Her life became intolerable. After the book came out, all the people she worked with turned their back on her. She left her grace and favour home – the house where Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle.”
Fern, a royal supporter, thinks that today’s royals and courtiers work in similar ways. She said: “I’m quite sure the men in suits are out and about doing what they can. It’s not only recently we’ve had royal scandals. Of course it’s different now. Nobody has a private life any more.”
During the pandemic Fern lived with her daughters Grace (from her first marriage) and Winnie (from her marriage to Vickery), while her older twin sons Harry and Jack have flown the nest. She is enjoying single life with her pet chihuahua. Fern said: “I’ve got lovely friends and I’ve a lovely social life, which is quite enough for me. I like to be in bed at nine o’clock – it’s great.”
Another three books are on the cards and in September she’ll be doing another series of My Cornwall for Channel 5.
With age, her outlook has changed. “I don’t carry the burden of youth any more – am I pretty enough? Do I look all right in this? Do they like me? That all just melts away,” said Fern
● The Good Servant by Fern Britton is published by HarperCollins, priced £14.99.