The author of the hit novel turned Oscar-nominated picture Conclave said the King revealed to him that he has watched the film. Robert Harris, 68, was formally made a CBE by Charles for services to literature in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
Harris said it was “eerie” and “like an out of body experience” to see his 2016 book turned into a film, and then to see the papal selection process which he had researched in so much detail play out in May after the death of Pope Francis.
“(It was) very odd, I suppose because I researched it very thoroughly, and really it’s the sort of thing that can practically only be done in fiction because you have to have a lot of conjecture,” Harris told the PA news agency. “And so it acted as a kind of primer for journalists and for people, so that was very strange.
“And then, of course, the extraordinary fact that the new pope watched it on the eve of the conclave.” Pope Leo’s brother John Prevost told NBC News his younger sibling had watched the film before the secret vote.
Harris said the King also asked about his new book. “We talked a bit about Conclave, which he has seen,” Harris said. “He’s been reading my books for years, so it was nice to see him again.”
The journalist-turned-novelist also joked about how seeing the inside of Buckingham Palace could provide him inspiration for his future books. “There’d have to be some mystery in the throne room, yes, murder in the throne room! It’s got possibilities.”
Harris said it was a “very generous gesture” to receive the honour and he had “never thought about it” before being asked. Author Dame Jacqueline Wilson was made a Dame Grand Cross for her services to the same industry at the ceremony.
The 79-year-old former children’s laureate is widely known as the creator of Tracy Beaker and has written more than 100 novels. “It feels like a dream,” Dame Jacqueline said on receiving the honour. “I’m so pleased, so proud. I was just totally taken by surprise. To be utterly truthful, I didn’t even know this particular honour existed. I’m so proud and so overwhelmed.
“If little girl Jacqueline could be told that I’d be standing outside Buckingham Palace with medals and a sash, she would have been astonished.” Dame Jacqueline said the King was “jovial” and they laughed about getting her sash on over her “silly hat”.
“And I did thank him, and particularly also thanked Her Majesty the Queen, because she takes such an interest in children’s literature, and that makes all of us writers feel very pleased,” she said.
Last year, Dame Jacqueline released her first adult novel since the 1970s as she returned to her beloved Girls series. The novel, Think Again, was nominated at this year’s British Book Awards.
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