Louison: “Elizabeth II’s character is a slightly coquettish old lady who shouldn’t be bothered”

(Lots of) white wine, shellfish and oysters… These are the dishes Elizabeth II treats herself to on her getaway. In his second novel London Bridge* (named after the device accompanying the Queen’s death), published on 6 September by Éditions Flammarion, Louison, who holds “one, two or twelve” cups bearing the image of the sovereign, and confesses to having observed ” all. The crown “Imagine what would happen if Her Majesty decided to disappear into thin air after Prince Philip’s death. Louise Angelerges (her real name) thus narrates the fictional epic of a monarch who flees England to reach France.

There, Elizabeth II meets Sophie, a wealthy heiress in her 40s, whose parents were killed in a car accident, and who develops an insatiable passion for Her Majesty. The two of them then embark on a crazy adventure in Paris and Normandy. Through this story, Louison, author of many comics and press cartoonist L’Obs, LCI And Marianna, evokes grief and the difficulty of living with your ghosts. A work full of tenderness and poetry.

Death of Prince Philip

Madame Figaro. – Why did you choose to feature the Queen of England in your second novel? London Bridge ?
Louison. – In my first novel, I told my own story, about the death of my partner, through a heroine who was both close to and different from me. It took me a year to find the theme for my second novel. And then the death of Prince Philip in the spring of 2021 gave birth to this desire to write about the Queen of England. I wanted to imagine what he would do at that moment. At first the book was almost a farce, recounting the sovereign’s flight across France. Then it became a quieter, deeper story focused on sorrows and absences.

The tenderness expressed in the book echoes that I feel for my own grandmother

Louison

In your work, you evoke Elizabeth II with great tenderness…
Unless you’re a rabid anti-royalist, she’s a sympathetic character, a bit of a coquettish old woman not to be trifled with. Sophie looks at him like a little girl looking at her grandmother. The tenderness expressed in the book comes from what I feel for my 102-year-old grandmother. He’s a fun character. She’s still single, hangs out on Facebook and even made an Instagram story the other day.

How would you describe your unique universe? How was he born?
In this universe and my career choice, childhood is never far away. Not necessarily what is the most tender, but also what is alone, causes misunderstanding, in the desire to step aside. One story in particular fascinates meAlice in Wonderland. It’s about dreaming, escaping. The question that inspires me when I write or paint is: What if we imagined something else?

Habemus Papam And Roman holidays

How did the idea of ​​”disappearing” the queen come about?
I had the movies in mind Habemus Papam (2011), with Michel Piccoli, in which the new grandfather spends several hours, and Roman holidays (1953), in which a young Audrey Hepburn plays a princess tired of her role, who runs away to lead a normal life. As for the queen, I imagined that Philip’s death would force her to reveal her real life. As individuals, don’t we have this need to go back to anonymity, to be completely free, without fifteen people holding the door for you? I liked this idea of ​​going to the other side of hyper-popularity, of suddenly becoming hyper-anonymous.

As individuals, don’t we want to go back to anonymity without fifteen people holding the door for you?

Louison

What would you say to the Queen if you, like your heroine Sophie, could have dinner with her?
I’d rather hear him speak. I think all the questions have already been asked fifteen times. Finally, Sophie asks him a few things besides: “What do you want: What should we do now?” These are open questions that do not bring forward what he experienced before, but what he wants to experience now.

What do you think of the Queen’s recent tumultuous years between the death of Prince Philip and? “Megxit:»including allegations against Prince Andrew.
To me, Prince Harry identified with his great-uncle Edward VIII, a boy who fell in love with a woman visibly enamored of the monarchy while simultaneously rejecting her en masse. I find it sad because the Queen was very fond of Harry, who is similar to Prince Philip in some ways. When you have sacrificed your whole life for others and they do not make the least effort for you, it must be disappointing. Even if he saw others. for the rest of his life he will have to eat his hat. But, fortunately, he could count on the support of William and Kate.

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The Big Eight

How did you feel about the disappearance of Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022?
I still completely deny his absence. Even after a year, two out of three times I say “Prince Charles” or “God bless King!(pronounced like a mix of queen and king, editor’s note), because I arrive at the last moment. The death of Elizabeth II left a great void. At the same time, on the very day of his death, I met the man I married in April. It’s been a bit of a busy day in my life, kind of a roller coaster. But that’s what the book says. anyway, you have to live. There will always be people who leave and others who arrive.

Two times out of three I say “Prince Charles” or “God save King” because I catch myself at the last minute.

Louison

Your work also evokes the universal difficulty of grief, of living with your ghosts. How to gently approach this topic?
Everyone has their own ghosts. Mine used to haunt me a lot, including especially my then lover who died five years ago. I tried to be as gentle as possible in this story because I experienced it myself. Unlike Sophie, you don’t have to stick with dusted and buttered croissants. You have to go out, meet new people and tell yourself that there is still a long way to go.

In the book, Sophie identifies many things with the Queen of England. Do you think that identifying with individuals who have faced tragic events allows us to better cope with our own personal trials?
It’s a kind of social reflex that expresses both great compassion for people we’ve never met and a distorting mirror. When something terrible happens to a famous person, we say to ourselves. “He seems to be getting better. He’s a brave man.” And in general, when we say, we are also talking about ourselves. before and during writing London Bridge, I worked on comics dedicated to Marilyn Monroe. She was an idol, but she was not just a light-bearer. He experienced many painful things, which he dealt with as long as possible. There is always a source of inspiration in what comes from these extraordinary personalities whose lives mirror our own from time to time.

The last trip

London Bridge also evokes the “last journey,” the way one faces the prospect of imminent death. Why did you come up with this topic?
When the queen died, it became clear that her death should be addressed in the novel. I chose to do it peacefully. When I wrote the letter that the Queen sent to Sophie shortly before she died, that was the only time in the book that I cried. He felt that he should let her go. I wanted to write a fantasy book about a 95-year-old lady who eats shellfish and drinks too much white wine while writing down what she wants to say and pass on to those who remain after she dies. It was also a way to imagine what the end of my grandmother’s life might be like, to experience a thousand things and approach the end of her existence without fear.

I am fascinated by people who are a bit lonely in high places.

Louison

In your first novel, The way of lovers , the heroine faced the death of a man in her life. In London Bridge , mourning simply prevented Sophie from starting her love life. Why connect the issues of love and death in these two works?
Perhaps there is something quite unconscious in me that thinks one leads to the other. In the first novel, the idea was that you should play on the gap when the world rejoices and the worst happens to you. Sophie doesn’t even try to have a love life. His state of mind is a bit like mine a year ago. I remember saying in August 2022 that I wasn’t cut out for a couple and it didn’t matter. I’ve only ever known one love story in my life that mattered and didn’t make me feel like another. And then suddenly, in the middle of December 2022, I was preparing my wedding list.

You already dedicated a comic to the last year of Francois Hollande’s tenure. What fascinates you so much about the lives of leaders?
When you asked me what I would say to Elizabeth II at dinner, it made me think of this experience I had with Francois Hollande. At that time I saw him at least once a week. I asked him a question that wasn’t necessarily about current affairs. In fact, I just asked him once. “Are you OK”. He had a sense of formula that was divine for writing. In 5 years, two figures at the top of a state have become the subject of my creative impulse. They are fascinating people to watch because they are one in a million. I have also started a comic for 2024/2025 dedicated to the first ladies. Again, there’s only one at a time. I am fascinated by these somewhat lonely people in high places.

*London Bridge, By Louison, published on September 6, 2023, Ed. Flammarion, 181 pages, €20