The true story of royal intrigue and a fatal shipwreck on the shores of Restoration Britain.

In 1682, Charles II invited his scandalous younger brother, the Duke of York, to return from exile and take his rightful place as heir to the throne. To celebrate, the future king promptly set sail in a fleet of eight ships to bring back his young wife from Edinburgh. The royal frigate in which he sailed, the Gloucester, sank.

The diarist Samuel Pepys had been invited to sail with James and his entourage but refused the invitation, preferring to travel in one of the other ships. Why? What did he know that others did not? Nigel Pickford's compelling account of the disaster draws on new historical material including ships' logs, letters and diaries, revealing for the first time the full drama and tragic consequences of a shipwreck in which nearly 200 sailors and courtiers died.