Both Queen Camilla and King Charles are featured in the new royal whodunnit, written by Peter James, whom Her Majesty has openly named as her favourite crime author

Queen Camilla, pictured greeting crowds in Rome this year, has a leading role in their own royal whodunnit(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Queen Camilla is to star in her favourite author’s latest murder mystery – and has even helped with the plot.

Her Majesty, 77, has a central role in The Hawk Is Dead: A Killer In The Palace, which sees a detective investigate a murder at Buckingham Palace. Camilla has openly named the author, Peter James, as her top crime writer and forged a friendship with him in the past 10 years.

It is said Camilla is “thrilled” to have a leading role in the book, due for release in October, written some time after the Queen Consort had suggested her friend set his legendary Brighton-based detective’s latest case in London. His books have been made into an ITV drama series Grace, staring John Simm as the eponymous detective superintendent.

“Fortunately, no one is likely to be more thrilled to find themselves taking a leading role in their own royal whodunnit than Her Majesty,” writes Daily Mail’s royal editor, Rebecca English, in today’s publication.

Camilla is pictured on the set of Grace with Peter James(Image: PA)

King Charles also features in the book, which tells the tale of a detective exploring what they believe to be a assassination attempt at Buckingham Palace. Publishers Pan Macmillan said: “Opening with a cinematic derailment of the Royal Train, The Hawk Is Dead takes Roy Grace deep into the heart of Buckingham Palace, where he is called upon to solve a murder and what looks to be a royal assassination attempt.”

“Queen Camilla, a well-known book lover and reading champion through her charity The Queen’s Reading Room, has always been one of the first people to receive each Grace novel and is excited to have a starring role, alongside King Charles, in Peter’s latest thriller.”

Her Majesty has already had a sneak peakat the novel, it is understood. Peter, 76 and who has several Sunday Times No 1 bestsellers to his name, was “moved to tears” by Camilla’s recent nomination of Grace as her favourite detective.

Speaking in a recent interview, Peter, who was raised in East Sussex, said: “I came up with an idea, which I ran by Her Majesty and she loved it. Throughout writing, during which I’ve done extensive behind-the-scenes research at the Palace, I have received invaluable insights from the Royal Household, including Her Majesty.”

The pair have developed a firm but unlikely friendship and, in 2021, Her Majesty visited the set of Grace, the fifth series of which has just aired on ITV. A sixth series of the drama is already in production.

Insiders told the Daily Mail “any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental” when asked about Peter’s new book. Buckingham Palace declined to comment to the publication.