Secrets of the Royal Maid
Hello and a warm welcome to my website where you can learn all about my new books, Secrets of the Royal Maid and The Royal Maid Finds Love.
They are inspired by a real royal maid, Rosa Edwards, from Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, who during WWII saw a position advertised in a shop window for a maid in a big house in London – and it turned out to be Buckingham Palace.
I was thrilled when Penguin commissioned me to write the two books which are under my new pen name, Annie Seymour. Secrets of the Royal Maid will be published on Thursday, 9 April 2026.
– Rosie Goodwin
-Daisy Styles
Find Out More
How I came to write Rosa’s story
Rosa’s daughter, Jan, contacted me out of the blue while I was writing the Royal Station Master’s Daughters’ series. mentioned her family had a special royal story too. As she told me her mother’s story I was instantly hooked – and knew I had to write it.
Merthyr Tydfil and Rosa
Why does a seventeen year old girl leave her home and family behind in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1940s to start a new life in London, and at a time when the city was under constant threat of air attacks, with people constantly being killed?
This part of my story in Secrets of the Royal Maid is true, it really happened.
Cyfarthfa Castle
While Merthyr’s once dominant iron and coal industry have declined, Cyfarthfa Castle retains its prominent prevailing position and is the town’s beating heart. I highly recommend that anyone who visits Merthyr should explore this historic landmark, set in luscious parkland, and features in Secrets of the Royal Maid.
Madeleine Woodfield, Senior Fiction Editor for Penguin
Jan Snaith, Rosa’s daughter
Latest News and Articles
My Blog
Queen Elizabeth and Rosa Edward’s 100th birthday tributes
Two special babies from vastly different backgrounds were born in 1926. While one, a princess, was destined to be our beloved Queen Elizabeth II, in contrast Rosa Edwards was born to a life of poverty, a poor pit miner's daughter in Merthyr Tydfil, never imagining...
Secrets of the Royal Maid is published today!
After months of research and writing, I can happily say that Secrets of the Road Maid is out today with my new pen name, Annie Seymour. It's been a joy and honour to write Rosa's real rags to riches story about leaving behind life of poverty in Merthyr Tydfil to...
Wolferton’s new Royal Resident
Harry Saward is most probably turning in his grave after Wolferton’s newest royal resident moved in under a cloak of darkness. Shamed Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is presently lying low at Wood Farm. It is a stone’s throw from Sandringham House where the royals gather...