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
Royal Wolferton Station for Sale
An era in the history of the royal station at Wolferton on the Sandringham estate has come to an end following the sad passing earlier this year of Richard Brown. He bought the Downside twenty-five years ago and lovingly restored it to its former glory, opening the...
My Lord Taverners Author Lunch
I'm honoured to be the guest speaker at the Lord's Taverners Cambridge summer lunch on Monday, 3 August - and you are welcome to join me. I shall be speaking about my Royal Station Master's Daughters series, and, for the first, time, my latest Royal Maids books at the...
Royal Maid Rosa joins Queen Elizabeth’s special birthday celebrations
While the King and Queen welcomed centenarians to Buckingham Palace to mark Queen Elizabeth's 100th birthday on 21 April, I couldn't help thinking back to the Queen's 90th birthday garden party when guests included my rosy cheeked royal maid, Rosa Edwards. Both Queen...