A Kiss for the King is #33 in the Bantam series and was published February 1976. It is a story about Anastasia, who is a princess and is ordered by Queen Victoria to marry Maximilian of Maurona in order to protect his country from a French invasion. I like that Barbara Cartland created European countries to send her British heroines to rule over!! An interesting fact is that she was the "step-grandmother" to Princess Diana, as her daughter, Raine, married Diana's father, the Earl Spencer, after his divorce.Francis Marshall paints 2 different poses for this cover. The Bantam one has our heroine in riding habit while the king is dressed in a uniform. The Pan cover has her in a ballgown that is bright yellow trimmed with blue. Note the Eastern architecture of the castle!
Queen Victoria really did marry off her royal relatives to secure the countries of Europe and to have some say over them! Many countries were concerned about a Russian or French invasion. Even the German states were restless during this time of the 1850's.
I remember seeing in one of Princess Diana's autobiographies a photo of her reading a Barbara Cartland novel! I can't remember which one, but it would be a fun fact to know! Thanks again for posting these beautiful covers!
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