SOLVED. Princess, with cancer, has affair with King's soldier, kept hidden with magic talisman so noone sees her. Clubbed-foot boy with monkey helps. [s]

[Rachel]

Princess marries Prince/King but has affair with his soldier friend in an orchard. Princess turns out to have cancer & her life is preserved by a magic talisman/amulet that only works if noone sees her.
A clubbed-foot boy lives with his monkey in a library. He helps the princess to escape from confinement so that she can secretly meet with her lover. Having been seen, the amulet stops preserving her life & the cancer thrives. Soldier/lover is "exiled" & ordered to find the other amulet/talisman that may yet save the life of the princess. Any ideas what this book is?

[Cheryl]

Wow, you remember lots of details - wish I knew it!
Um, is it YA (or juvenile, or adult)?
When do you think it was probably written?
Do you remember anything about the cover?

[Rachel]

I think it's an adult book, as some scenes were pretty graphic...
From what I remember about the cover, it was a grey(ish) window-frame sort of design, looking out over something... I don't actually remember much about the cover, to be honest...
As for the date, I'd say maybe 80s/90s? I don't know for sure, sorry.

[Rachel]

Found it! Turns out to be "The Eyes of God" by John Marco. Thanks for all your help :D

[Cheryl]

Glad you found it, thanks for letting us know - it does look interesting. :)