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Prince & Princess of Wales

William and Kate's dog Lupo to star in another book

<![CDATA[It's not just the people of the Royal Family who take centre stage as it has emerged that The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's dog, Lupo, is set to star in another book.
Lupo's first book, The Adventures of Lupo the Royal Dog: The Secret of Windsor Castle is set to be published this week and the inspiration behind author Aby King's work is quite a tragic one. She wrote her first 'Lupo' book after the devastating loss of her fiancé Mark Sebire and Aby now wants to continue the tales with a series of books on the Royal dog. She has even been signed by Hodder Childrens Books who have contracted her to a four book deal with talks already underway for the film rights and American rights.
14161439527_f6e8c312da_bAby commented, “A terrific picture implanted itself in my mind of the Royal Couple walking down a beach and Lupo running in the wash and he just looked like this incredibly happy, fun dog and all those things just came together in that moment of my dog Lilly running around in the palace gardens.”
Although Aby does give credit to her dog Lilly for the idea, she says that her own personal tragedy also inspired her to write the book. Her fiancé Mark, committed suicide just weeks before their wedding amidst the depression of his business empire collapsing. Aby spoke of this, “You naturally look for someone to blame. Mentally I accused everyone, then I blamed myself. I was tortured about why I hadn’t seen that he was in such a state of emotional crisis.”
Lupo the dog was given to the Duchess of Cambridge as an early Christmas present in 2011 from her parents after he was bred from their family dog, Ella.
It was Aby King’s dog Lilly who helped her through the tragic loss of her fiancé and she says that the Cocker Spaniel’s birth the day before Mark’s funeral was a ‘beacon of hope’. She also commented that Lilly pretty much saved her life and pulled her through some very dark days and that without her she would have just crumbled.
In the first story of the series, Lupo is out for a walk with Nanny and Prince George in Kensington Gardens when he is accused of a serious crime he did not commit. The crime in question was an attack on a swan that is protected under The Queens charter. The story sees Lupo cross paths with a villainous corgi called Vulcan but we can only assume that Lupo is successful in his quest for justice.
The focus of the book is on animals though many members of the Royal Family do make guest appearances and as Aby says, “Its not about the Royal Family as such, they are only fleetingly mentioned. At the heart of these stories is the bond between Lupo and Prince George. I hope when he is older his parents will read the books to him.”
The Adventures of Lupo the Royal Dog: The Secret of Windsor Castle is out on September 4th and although one is over a certain age, I can assure you this book is on my reading list for the next couple of months!
Photo Credit: Government House NZ/Woolfe/Crown
 
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