The Wheel of Fortune (novel) the auspices of the National Trust. Shortly after the inauguration ceremony, the Godwin family enjoys one last dance in Oxmoon's now restored ballroom before closing for the night. Howatch acknowledges that this novel is in fact a re-creation in a modern form of the story of the Plantagenet family of Edward III of England, the modern characters being created from those of his eldest son Edward of Woodstock ("The Black Prince") and his wife Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford, Richard II (son of Edward of Woodstock), Henry IV (son of John of
Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woodstock is a market town and civil parish northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 3,100. Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is next to Woodstock, in the parish of Blenheim. Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874 and is buried in the nearby village of Bladon. Edward, elder son of King Edward III and heir apparent, prince of Aquitaine and Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester was born in Woodstock Manor on 15 June 1330. During his lifetime, he was commonly called Edward of Woodstock.