House Branwell

House Branwell is the Royal Family of Penderyn, the North Kingdom of the land of Medrawt. The Patriarch of the Family is King Andrew and the Matriarch is Queen Diana.

The symbol of House Branwell is a griffin, but they are also affiliated with both the Eagle and Lion which are on their coat of arms.

A more recent tradition of the family is that when a royal child born into the family turns sixteen, they get a tattoo of a griffin somewhere on their body. It must be easily concealed and must have approval from the king before you are able to get it.

Prince Ben has his tattoo on his torso, both Prince Arthur and Max have theirs on their shoulders. Since Princess Margaret is sixteen by the time the novel starts, she is getting ready to get hers, meanwhile Princess Poppy wants hers but is not yet sixteen. She is only one born into the family to not have one because of her age by the time of the novel.

King Andrew and Queen Consort Diana
King Andrew has royal blood and Queen Consort Diana has noble blood but they are very empathetic to their commonwealth populations and are beloved by the people in their land. The King is very strict and stern to his children especially Ben who is under a lot of pressure as first in line to the throne. The Queen is strict as well, but is not as stern to her sons as she is to her daughters. Besides these facts, they are still pretty loving to their children.

Prince Benjamin, Prince of Honeywell
Benjamin (Ben) is the oldest and first in line for the throne. He has been betrothed to Effie for as long as he can remember. He puts on a front of being cocky and arrogant but he is actually insecure and kind to everyone. He dotes on his little sisters who he thinks got the short end of the stick. He is closest to his little sister Margaret who he calls Margot. He’s always at odds with Maximilian because Max has always believed Ben to be the Golden Boy. It didn’t help that Ben fell for his brother’s girl either. He falls for Effie because she is so different – having been around royal and noble blood his whole life.

Prince Arthur, Duke of Abernathy and Prince Maximilian Alexander, Duke of Sutton
Arthur and Maximilian are fraternal twins and are known as the ‘twin princes’. They are closest to each other out of everyone. Arthur was born before Max (by a mere 5 minutes). Arthur is very quiet and responsible. Max is a little more reckless than Arthur but Arthur will get roped into his schemes sometimes. Arthur is usually able to calm down people and is very diplomatic which counteracts his twin. Arthur has had a long-time crush on Princess Eleanor of House Cromwell, but she’s into his older brother Ben. He becomes close friends with Effie and is the first to notice what is going on with the Ben-Effie-Max situation.

Princess Margaret, Duchess of Blackpool
Margaret is the next child after the twins and is very much into the lives of commoners in the kingdom. She takes secret walks at night to see the city since her mother doesn’t really like the girls to be out without some type of escort with them. Margaret as a whole has a small temper which will get her in trouble but it’s because she hates that she was born a royal. She’s grown tired of the boys of the royal courts and is looking for someone who is ordinary who can give her an ordinary life. Sir Edward (Teddy) Spencer is kind to the princesses when they arrive in the Kingdom of Myrddin, and Margaret develops an attachment to him. The only one who figures it out is Ben, her eldest brother. Ben tells Margaret that she shouldn’t feel ashamed of how she feels for Teddy, and lets her know that he’s there for her, bringing them closer as siblings.

Princess Poppy, Duchess of Tottenham
Poppy is the next child after Margaret. Like Henry Cromwell she is more reckless than the likes of her siblings but easier at hiding things from her family than anyone else. She’s extremely cunning, and stubborn. She develops an attachment to Henry after they meet at a local party. At fifteen they keep this from the rest of their family, until Effie figures out what’s going on. Effie – surprisingly – becomes Poppy’s closest confidant next to her brother Ben.

Lord Christopher Jackson Hathaway, Viscount Caerdydd
Christopher (Kit) Hathaway is right hand to Prince Ben and is very loyal to the Prince, and serves as a man servant as well as a friend.

Lady Camila and Lady Claire Hathaway
The most notable nobles of House Branwell are Ladies Claire and Camila Hathaway, twin girls of the court of House Branwell. They cause a lot of trouble with the oldest princes, Ben and Arthur, whom the twins are trying to seduce in order to become Princesses of the kingdom. Arthur and Ben, extremely nice guys try their best to let them down gently but fail at it. This causes harm to their relationships with the Cromwell Princesses Effie and Eleanor respectfully. Camila was once the mistress of Prince Ben, a way for him to not feel anything and made a point to make sure no one finds out about it though Camila thinks she has him wrapped around her finger.