20 Mar 2013 - James Herbert (69) bestselling horror author

[TonyGosling]

His latest novel entitled Ash will not please the Royal Family but to be fair he did warn them. “Prince Charles gave me an OBE a couple of years ago. I was firmly told beforehand to call him Your Royal Highness to start with then Sir. But that went straight out the window. I only call head waiters Sir. So finally it’s my turn. He asks me, ‘Are you working on anything at the moment?’ I told him, ‘I am and you’re in it, Charles.’ He went bright red, then chalky white. I was dismissed.”

The castle is a retreat for the heads of society and those rich enough to afford any scandal. David soon realises the kind of patronage includes those members of society that have needed to escape the prying ever present media. Bringing back to life many cold conspiracy theories he had long since forgotten.


James Herbert: My new thriller about Princess Diana's secret son
http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/344077/James-Herbert-My-new-t hriller-about-Princess-Diana-s-secret-son

ONLY James Herbert would dare to write a novel that queasily imagines Princess Diana and her secret son as well as Lord Lucan, Colonel Gaddafi and Robert Maxwell living together in a Scottish castle. But Herbert – one of Britain’s bestselling authors for 41 years – doesn’t care. He thrives on controversy and he loves to shock.

By ADAM LEE POTTER PUBLISHED: 00:00, Wed, Sep 5, 2012

“That’s why I became a novelist in the first place,” he says. “I can’t bear to work by committee. As a writer I can say whatever I want. All my stories begin with the premise ‘what if?’ I get to play God.”

His latest novel entitled Ash will not please the Royal Family but to be fair he did warn them. “Prince Charles gave me an OBE a couple of years ago. I was firmly told beforehand to call him Your Royal Highness to start with then Sir. But that went straight out the window. I only call head waiters Sir. So finally it’s my turn. He asks me, ‘Are you working on anything at the moment?’ I told him, ‘I am and you’re in it, Charles.’ He went bright red, then chalky white. I was dismissed.”

Herbert’s heady mix of horror and conspiracy theory has proved hugely successful. His 23 novels have sold more than 54 million copies and he earns a £1million advance per book. Now 69, he lives in a mansion in West

The bestselling author reveals the twist behind his latest plot – and the childhood poverty behind his incredible success
Sussex set in 30 acres and drives a vintage Jag with a RATS number plate (a reference to his first novel). Not bad for a market trader’s son who grew up in a slum in London’s East End and left school at 15.

“I came from nothing but I always knew I’d make money. I went to Monte Carlo with friends when I was 19. I saw all those rich people and I swore to myself that one day I’d be one of them. But if it was just about the money I’d have stopped years ago. My XJS is 25 years old and I don’t have houses all round the world. Most of my money’s sitting in the bank. It’s a working-class thing. I want to know it’s there.”

His father was a drunk and his mother a seamstress. Herbert maximised his talents to reinvent himself as the British Stephen King. Despite his achievements it still rankles with him that – unlike his American rival – only four of his books have been made into films.

“Steve was rejected many times before he got his first book Carrie published three months after The Rats. I’d been picked up straight away. I sent out six manuscripts and got three replies – two rejections and one ‘yes please’. But the first three films of his books were brilliant. Mine weren’t. They take horror seriously in America. Here it’s a dirty word. But the other reason he’s been so successful is that he’s a genius. He’s naturally brilliant. I’ve had to work much harder. I’m Buddy Holly to his Elvis Presley. I envy Steve’s talent.”

Herbert’s latest novel is based on the notion that Diana went into early labour after throwing herself down the stairs and gave birth to a deformed son who was (unknown to his parents) hidden away with Lucan et al.

“One thing I’ve always been able to do is mix chiller with thriller. I wanted to have another knock at the Establishment despite the OBE, which they might want back after this. I certainly won’t be getting a knighthood. It’s very possible Diana had a third child. Everything in my book is within the bounds of possibility. If you remember the clothes she used to wear in the early days they were very dowdy, heavy garments. She could quite easily have been pregnant without anyone knowing,” he explains.

“I met her at the premiere of a film based on one of my books. Anthony Andrews introduced me and Diana said, ‘Oh so you’re responsible for all this are you?’ I replied, ‘Sorry, I hope you don’t mind a bit of horror.’ She said, ‘No I’m used to it.’ I laughed but a couple of years later her words became very poignant. She was clearly referring to her own life.”

He adds: “Why shouldn’t Diana still be around? I absolutely believe in life after death. And if her son had been born deformed of course he’d be locked away. The Queen has two autistic cousins who were kept hidden from public view. It’s just what the royals do. As for the likes of Gaddafi , why are we so sure he’s dead? Before his alleged death he sent two lookalikes out for the people to kill. Why would he only have two lookalikes, not four or five?”

Before becoming a novelist Herbert was art director of a London ad agency. “But by the age of 28 I thought I’d done it all in advertising so I started writing The Rats at weekends. It took me eight or nine months to finish. Still, I carried on doing both jobs, working seven-day weeks for five years. But I was killing myself. I never saw my children. Something had to give.”

Today his three daughters are grown up and he has been married to Eileen for 45 years. His life could hardly be more different to that of his youth. “I got used to ducking chairs. My dad was a terrible gambler, drinker and womaniser. I had to jump in the middle of my parents to stop them fighting more than once.”

When his father died 16 years ago aged 86, Herbert scattered his ashes in his garden at the foot of a plum tree. “He loved a drink so I took a bottle of really good single malt – a present from Uri Geller – and two tumblers.

I poured his in the hole and drank mine. He was a dreadful father but as I get older I’m growing fonder of him. My mum was the one for me though. She was a smasher. I got my love of books from her. And she was so full of love.”

Kitty Herbert died 10 years ago aged 93, 18 years after divorcing her husband at last. Her ashes sit on a shelf next to those of his favourite dog. “I’ll scatter my mother’s ashes in the garden one day. Not near the old man, though. As for me, I don’t worry so much about death as the manner of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”