Tale of revolutionary English princess wins 'Independent' fiction prize

The remarkable true story of an English princess who helped provoke a revolution and almost overthrew a monarchy inspired the novel that won this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Last night, the Swedish writer Per Olov Enquist took the award for his book The Visit of the Royal Physician, which is published by Harvill Press. Enquist shares the £10,000 prize – announced at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London – with his translator, Tiina Nunnally. The Independent's award, Britain's premier honour for fiction in translation, is supported by Arts Council England and the Champagne house Taittinger. Set in 18th-century Denmark, The Visit of the Royal Physician recounts the ill-fated marriage of the teenage Danish king Christian VII with the youngest sister of George III, Caroline Matilda.

Shipped abroad as "breeding stock" to prop up the decadent Danish royal house, the young princess soon shows unexpected signs of talent, energy and political nous. She forges an alliance, which becomes a love affair, with the idealistic court doctor, Struensee. Together the couple seize control of the state from the disturbed king and his reactionary courtiers, and drive Denmark towards progress and reform at a breakneck pace.

This forgotten revolution – almost 20 years before the upheavals in France – ends when Count Guldberg, a religious fanatic, orchestrates a backlash that destroys the radical doctor and sends his lover into exile.

Born in 1934, Enquist has written acclaimed fiction, drama and journalism since the 1960s. He has also worked on screenplays for films such as Pelle the Conqueror and Hamsun. His novels depend on a fusion of meticulous historical research and a spare, gripping narrative style.

A success in 20 countries, The Visit of the Royal Physician has garnered worldwide praise. The Los Angeles Times applauded an "extraordinarily elegant and gorgeous novel", andThe New York Times praised the book for its "admirable virtuosity". In France, the newspaper Libération called it "Shakespearean".

The Independent prize is Enquist's first major honour in Britain. The judges were Professor Susan Bassnett of Warwick University, the poet Jack Mapanje, the novelist Ahdaf Soueif, Amanda Hopkinson of Arts Council England and Boyd Tonkin, of The Independent.