Mulcahy Conway Associates

Voyages Of The Princess Matilda

Shane met Timothy Spall thirty years ago. It was love at first sight, and they married within months. Shane has been by her husband's side as his acting career has gone from strength to strength, and he has become the national treasure we love him as. They have always loved visiting family and friends around Britain - whether South London or the beaches of Margate and Ramsgate - when not on location around the world. They love Britain, and the stories and landscapes of Jerome K Jerome, Dickens and Hardy.

In 1996, on the eve of the Spalls going to Cannes for the Palme d'Or nomination of Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies, Timothy Spall was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. The trip was off, and chemotherapy was on. When and if he recovered, Timothy told Shane they would get a Rolls Royce and a boat. The Rolls kept breaking down, but the boat became their home from home, and led them on an extended journey all around Britain's coastline.

Voyages of the Princess Matilda is the feelgood, emotional and funny account of that journey, bound together by the ongoing romance of Shane and Timothy Spall's relationship and experiences. Shane also interweaves the story of her husband's illness and amazing recovery, in a personal voice addressed directly to him and adding a poignant meaning to their nautical adventure.

In May 2010, BBC4 broadcast a 3 part series filming called Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea, filming Timothy and Shane Spall on the Princess Matilda, navigating from Devon to Wales. It was the Daily Mail's Pick of the Day and The Times called it 'highly recommended and thoroughly inspiring'. In characteristically self-deprecating fashion, Timothy Spall explained his first appearance on screen as himself as 'a record for our grandchildren to see what a pair of old nutters we were!'

Voyages of the Princess Matilda takes the TV series as only the starting-point for a funny, touching, and personal account of the 5 years it took the Spalls to travel by sea - amongst all the other events of their lives - from London to Wales. Ebury will publish in 2012, with a second book to follow.