HQ snags Catherine Mayer’s book about 'misunderstood' royal women

HarperCollins has acquired Send Them Victorious: Royal women, their battles and why we should care by Catherine Mayer.

Danielle Pender, deputy publishing director at HQ, acquired world rights from Eleanor Birne at Pew Literary Agency. The book will be published in hardback, audio and e-book in March 2026.

Send Them Victorious profiles today’s royal women, showing how famous predecessors from Anne Boleyn to Victoria, and Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, both shadow and foreshadow their lives. 

The book examines "the narratives around royal women from Anne Boleyn to Meghan Markle", exploring the patterns. Mayer says women are often characterised as "the monarchy’s saviour or destroyer, a saint, or a sinner, sometimes moving between these extremes".

Mayer said: "Women are at the sharp end of history, but their experiences are typically erased by it. Royal women suffer a different fate, pinioned in the public gaze and misinterpreted in everything from formal histories and journalism to the arts and entertainment. My aim in writing this book is to reappraise these women—and convince everyone, including those who dismiss the royals as a sideshow, that royal women and their stories matter."

Pender said: "We are thrilled to be publishing Send Them Victorious. This is a fascinating and enlightening look at the women we think we know so much about. Catherine brings a unique clarity and perspective in her writing that makes you think about the royal women and their treatment in a totally new way."

Mayer is an American-born, UK-based journalist and author who is also the co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party. Her memoir, Good Grief, co-written with her mother after they were both widowed, was acquired by HQ in 2020.