Friendship between Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe imagined in Michael Joseph acquisition

Michael Joseph has acquired Elizabeth and Marilyn, a new novel by Julie Owen Moylan set in 1956, when Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe briefly lived as neighbours in Windsor.

Publisher Clio Cornish acquired world all-language rights. Michael Joseph will publish the book in hardback, e-book and audio in April 2026, the year marking both women’s centenary. 

The novel opens in the summer of 1956. Marilyn Monroe has just arrived in Windsor, with her new husband Arthur Miller, to shoot the film she hopes will mark a new chapter in her career "The Prince and the Showgirl" co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier. When she finds out that she will be neighbours with Queen Elizabeth, she is immediately intrigued.

The synopsis continues: "On the surface, the two women couldn’t be more different. Marilyn is the curvaceous bombshell who transcended a difficult upbringing to become the most famous movie star in the world. Meanwhile Elizabeth is the dutiful monarch, who has flourished in her new role despite never expecting to take the throne. 

"But behind the scenes, they are Lilibet and Norma Jeane, two women born just a couple of months apart, who are both battling very similar demons—impostor syndrome, troubled marriages, salacious headlines and casual misogyny. Over the summer, they develop a mutual fascination with each other—until their paths cross, causing them to rethink what they thought they knew about the other person, and about themselves."

The publisher said: "Julie is an expert chronicler of the complex inner lives of women, and in Elizabeth and Marilyn she takes on her most riveting subjects yet, breathing new life into two icons whose appeal endures to this day. Nuanced, empathetic and filled with delicious detail, the novel is an imaginative tour-de-force. In what would have been the hundredth year since their birth, we are excited for readers to meet Elizabeth and Marilyn as they have never seen them before."

Owen Moylan, author of That Green Eyed Girl, 73 Dove Street and Circus of Mirrors, said: "Writing a novel about Elizabeth and Marilyn has been my biggest challenge so far. I wanted to bring out the women they were and not just the icons we’ve come to know. I’m delighted to once again have the support of Clio Cornish and my wonderful team at Michael Joseph for my fourth novel which will be released in 2026. It will be 100 years since these two women were born but their legend still burns bright, and we’re all so excited to bring you this book."