Synopsis

Set in the near future, Prince of Hearts concerns Stephen, Prince of Wales, middle-aged and resolutely unmarried. He turns his back on a world he neither understands nor respects. The populace growls outside the palace gates and a wife is to be chosen by them, the People. 

In the television studio game show host Chesney whips the audience into a frenzy as the three finalists battle it out. Will it be horsey Lucy, sexy Grace or thoughtful Venetia? After a public 'date' with each woman, Stephen knows what he wants and pleads with Chesney to get it for him. 

The two men's mutual distrust and contempt begin to dissolve - they have a lot in common... Chesney is a lot more educated than he lets on; both lead lonely lives. 

A wedding takes place and Stephen is full of joy, alive to the world he'd rejected. He works alongside Venetia in their shared office - but the reveal at the end of Act One is that Venetia is indeed his education tsar - but not his wife. The nation chose Grace - and she is expecting a honeymoon baby. Chesney is summoned; Stephen wants to thank him for ensuring the survival of the monarchy. (In more ways than one, if only he knew: Grace lets Chesney know that the baby is his.)

5 years later, Stephen and Grace are King and Queen and Grace has suffered yet another miscarriage. Or has she? Why is 5-year-old Arthur still without siblings? 

Stephen relies on lover Venetia for consolation and constantly confides in Chesney, now his best friend. Stephen follows a hunch and discovers he has been firing blanks all his life. Grace invents a story (one last fling with an old lover) to placate Stephen's rage and shame - and for the moment, the boat stops rocking..... It is only when a spurned lover of Chesney reveals a secret that Stephen finally discovers the extent of Chesney's betrayal. 

Horsey Lucy pops up again as a PR guru and Grace is banished to the desert to live with The Uglies (poor people who've been left behind by technology). But Grace, powered only by charisma, returns a hero and, later, an ambassador for peace which is rather frustrating for Stephen who works so hard. 

As the story ends, Stephen has learnt that it doesn't matter who his beloved boy's biological parents are. What does matter is that if you don't take responsibility for your life, you have to live with the consequences. 

Grace is away travelling, Chesney is temporarily banished. True parents to little Arthur, Stephen and Venetia resolve to carry on with their work: "It doesn't matter who does the good, so long as the good is done."

Characters

(4m, 4f)

•   Stephen - 48, sensitive, private, greying, plumpish, serious
•   Chesney Sarota - 50ish, sharp-witted, suave, superficially smooth (m)
  
•   David Lovell - early 50s, conservative, Squadron Leader
•   The Queen - nearly 80 but looks 40, pretty, fresh-faced, glossy hair tumbling about her shoulders
•   Grace - early 20s, curvy, dimpled, very pretty
•   Lucy - mid 20s, intense young woman with a whiff of hockey pitch about her
•   Venetia - mid/late 20s, understated, educated, pretty
•   Iggy - 40s, overweight, practical, big-hearted (m)