Royal Highness is the English translation of Thomas Mann’s Königliche Hoheit (1909), a romantic and gently ironic novel about Klaus Heinrich, a prince of a small German principality, whose ceremonial existence is transformed when he meets and woos an American heiress. Mann uses the fairy-tale framework to explore the themes of isolation, representation, and the relationship between form and genuine human feeling.
Lighter in tone than Mann’s other major works, Royal Highness reveals his wit and his ability to embed philosophical ideas in entertaining narrative. Download this free public-domain English-language EPUB for a charming and accessible entry point into one of literature’s great stylists.