A Very Civil Wedding

"One day the Princess will be Queen and, when that happens, she will be the Supreme Governor of our organisation. At which point, we will be in the position of having as our leader someone who is, in the eyes of the church, unmarried and living in sin. Unless we ask the Lord to bless her marriage now, how can we continue the same relationship with the crown? And what then for the spiritual life of the nation? We are the Church of England, we advise, and guide, and influence our lawmakers, and we've done so since Henry the Eighth's day."

When Princess Alexandra, the eldest daughter of the Prince of Wales, wishes to marry her long-time partner, Lieutenant-Commander Grace Stephens, their wedding has the potential to cause a constitutional crisis. When the couple go further and request a blessing by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the British establishment must find a way to accommodate the wishes of the woman who will one day be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In this thoughtful and thought-provoking novel, V. T. Davy examines the relationship between the monarchy and the church; the arguments for and against same-sex marriage; how some of Britain's oldest and most revered organisations have acted to give equality to homosexual men and women, and become stronger for it; and, what happens to institutions when they refuse to embrace the demands of an enlightened society. The novel's surprising conclusion is that those most damaged by institutionalised prejudice are often the people you would least expect.

It is a book that will test the opinion of every reader wherever they stand on these issues.