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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Reanna Smith

Is My Policeman based on a true story? Real-life novelist who inspired tragic tale

Harry Styles has been making attempts to establish himself in the world of acting with the singer taking on a number of roles this year.

The recent release of Olivia Wilde 's Don't Worry Darling saw Styles making headlines as he starred alongside Florence Pugh in the psychological thriller.

His most recent acting endeavour sees him playing yet another leading role as he stars alongside The Crown's Emma Corrin and David Dawson.

My Policeman is out in cinemas today (October 21) with Styles taking on the role of 1950s police officer Tom, who engages in a decades long same-sex love affair.

The poignant tale tells a tragic story of forbidden love but is actually inspired by real-life events, here's the story that My Policeman is based on.

What is My Policeman about?

My Policeman is about a same-sex affair and love triangle (Parisa Taghizadeh/Prime Video)

My Policeman centres around the story of a policeman named Tom in 1950s Britain.

Tom falls in love with a schoolteacher named Marion on the Brighton coast but also soon begins a passionate same-sex affair with a museum creator named Patrick, despite homosexuality being illegal at the time.

The story begins in 1999 as Patrick suffers a stroke and Marion welcomes him into her and Tom's home.

But the reunion triggers the exploration of seismic events from the past 40 years, told in the form of flashbacks to their youth in 1957.

Is My Policeman based on a real story?

My Policeman was inspired by the life of English novelist E.M. Forster (Corbis via Getty Images)

The film is based on a 2012 novel of the same name by author Bethan Roberts.

However the book was inspired by the real life of famous novelist E.M. Forster, who published books including A Room With a View and Howard's End.

The My Policeman author previously wrote about Forster's life in a piece for The Guardian, revealing that for several decades he was involved in a love triangle between a policeman and his wife.

In 1930 Forster, who was 51 at the time, met 28-year-old policeman Bob Buckingham at a party, the pair quickly formed a close bond and began engaging in a secret sexual relationship.

Roberts added that it wasn't the first time Forster had a relationship with a policeman, as he'd "enjoyed a brief dalliance" with policeman Harry Daley as well as having a "fling" with a bus driver named Arthur.

Shortly after meeting Forster, Buckingham met a nurse called May Hockey who he began dating and the policeman married May in 1932, with Forster even attending the wedding.

After getting married, Buckingham continued to have a relationship with Forster, while jealous at first, he later became friends with Buckingham's wife.

Roberts wrote: "By December, Forster was visiting the Buckinghams at their flat in Shepherd's Bush, and becoming more involved in their life as a couple; this was the beginning of the triangular arrangement, which, like Forster's work, was at once quietly domestic and rather revolutionary."

In 1932 May and Bob had a son and Forster became the godfather. But it was when May took ill with TB that their relationship began to change.

The policeman's wife was sent to a sanatorium for a year and Forster convinced her to send her son to her sister while he watched over Buckingham, taking him to Amsterdam.

During this time Forster would write regularly to May, assuring her that her son and Buckingham were well and after she recovered Roberts writes: "A functioning triangular arrangement was firmly established, with the two of them sharing their beloved Buckingham; the long weekends were for May, the short ones for Forster."

In his later years, Forster suffered several strokes and May became his nursemaid. It was also during this time that Forster began to speak "frankly about his physical passion" for Buckingham.

Writing about her inspiration for My Policeman, Roberts said: "May remembered Forster as a bad patient, getting under her feet and insisting on engaging her in conversation when all she wanted was to get on with the housework.

"It was this anecdote, more than anything else, which inspired me to investigate the story of this fascinating triangle and use it as the inspiration for my new novel."

Forster died in the Buckingham's Coventry home in 1970 after a final stroke.

After his death, May wrote: "I now know that he was in love with Robert and therefore critical and jealous of me and our early years were very stormy, mostly because he had not the faintest idea of the pattern of our lives and was determined that Robert should not be engulfed in domesticity.

"Over the years he changed us both and he and I came to love one another, able to share the joys and sorrows that came."

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