Author apologises after being accused of portraying Mehgan Markle as a white woman in self-published fiction book about a Prince called Archie who falls in love with a US commoner

Royal fans have slammed a new fiction book apparently inspired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, accusing the author of portraying the Duchess as a white woman. 

Her Royal Highness, by American author A.J. Arnault, follows the story of British royal named Prince Archie who falls in love with a violinist named Lucy, who he meets in New York. 

A.J. first shared the story on fanfiction site Wattpad, before deciding to release it on Amazon in December this year, and the cover image features a red-headed man with a white heroine wearing a red dress reminiscent of Meghan Markle‘s scarlet gown at the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala in New York City

One poster on X – formerly known as Twitter – wrote: ‘The audacity of a writer to use Prince’s Harry likeness on the cover of her book & then to have the female lead be a white woman WEARING a copy of Meghan Markle’s dress.

‘That’s the COVER! And to add insult you name the main character Archie? How did you think this was OK?’

According to SoapSpoiler, A.J. has issued an apology for any hurt caused, saying: ‘As someone who has never indie published before, I made the decision to release Her Royal Highness on Netgalley to garner such feedback.

Royal fans have slammed a new book about a fictional Prince ‘Archie’ – a British royal who becomes embroiled in a romance with an American woman 

‘It became clear to me, however, that there were some themes and elements to the story that were problematic to say the least, and I immediately began work to correct those issues, including scheduling another round of edits.

‘As I received more negative criticism and realized that I had caused harm to those in all communities, but especially the black community, I was deeply saddened, embarrassed and ashamed.’ 

Elsewhere one reviewer on Goodreads even dubbed the book ‘blatant fanfiction about a real married man and the woman who thinks she should be the Princess’.

A synopsis on the site, where the book has 2.41 stars out of five (with 29 ratings and 22 reviews) summarises the plot: ‘When a heartbroken violist is photographed with the Prince of Wales the night before his brother abdicates the throne, their wild one night stand becomes a royal engagement.’

The story starts when Prince Arthur – later dubbed ‘Archie’ – travels to New York City to make an appearance at a charity gala alongside a Lucy Almont, ‘who owns a failing charity and was recently dumped by her fiancé’.

But after spending ‘a steamy night’ with her, the royal learns that his brother, the current King of England, has abdicated the throne. 

Now – with photos showing the prince out and about with a woman sporting an engagement ring – Archie is pressured into marrying his one night stand.

‘Will Archie and Lucy be able to convince the public that their love is real, or will their farce come to light and ruin them both?’ the plot summary ends. 

Her Royal Highness, by A.J. Arnault, also features an illustration with a woman wearing a red dress reminiscent of Meghan Markle’s scarlet gown at the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala

Social media users have expressed their horror at the writer’s ‘audacity’ while one reviewer even dubbed the book ‘blatant fanfiction about a real married man and the woman who thinks she should be the Princess’.

However, not everyone found the book so bad, with Goodreads harbouring a few positive reviews.

Others on social media felt that the author was trying to get ‘free publicity’.

‘You are giving her far too much airtime… which was her intention,’ one poster said. 

‘Without the controversial look to Harry’s likeness, Meghan’s CH dress on a white woman and the prince’s name being Archie, she wouldn’t have received any notice, now EVERYONE’S talking about her…’

‘Absolutely LOVED this! The writer’s style is my favorite to read…funny and fun, with a lot of wit and heart,’ one said.

‘Loved Lucy and Archie, their meet cute, everything about their romance. Can’t wait to read the next book!’

‘To be perfectly honest- I was a little shocked at how good this book was,’ another admitted.

‘I’m a sucker for a royal romance and the second I saw the cover with the cartoon prince who is the spitting image of Prince Harry I said sign me up.

‘However, because it was so obviously inspired by a real life prince I was prepared for the possibility that this could be a really poorly written fan fiction.

Social media users were outraged, with some going as far as to call A.J. ‘racist’ as she paired the seemingly Prince Harry-inspired character with a white woman, while the Duchess of Sussex is mixed race. The couple pictured last month 

‘Within only a few pages I knew I had greatly misjudged this book and was in for a good time.’

According to Goodreads, Her Royal Highness is expected to be available on December 1 of this year. 

It is understood that A.J. – a known author on fanfiction site Wattpad – first had the story up on her profile before deciding to publish it.

A post from her on the popular writing site, from earlier this year, says: ‘Hi everyone! Just a little reminder that today is the last day to read Her Royal Highness before it comes down!

‘Thank you to everyone who has read Archie and Lucy’s story! This will be my very first published book, and I can’t wait to hold a copy in my hands!

‘Thank you for all of your support.’

MailOnline has reached out to A.J. for comment.