Shaunna Royalsden

***Shaunna Royalsden*** is one of the four agents who work for the spec-ops group, The Blacklist (Group). She is in a relationship with Toby Rieper up until the end of The Blacklist. She is Amelia Jersey's best friend and also close friends with Ralph Lindsay.

Shaunna is the least experienced as an agent in the group, having only carried out a few years of more limited physical training since joining The Blacklist (Group) in 2012. However, her speciality lies in IT and computing, skills that she learned in college and ultimately mastered during her short time at the MI5. Throughout her youth, Shaunna was always torn between the life that her rich parents wanted her to live, and the life that she herself wanted to explore, so her connection with the members of The Blacklist is very important to her. She finally learned to open up when she became friends with Amelia, and they quickly became a goofy pair, often messing around and simply wanting to have fun whenever they could. She cares a lot about her friends and her boyfriend, as she doesn't have anyone else in her life that she cares about.

## Biography

***Shaunna Royalsden*** was born on the 19th September 1987, in a posh area of London - Knightsbridge - into a very rich family of two business owners. Her parents owned businesses in the clothing industry and were linked to many designer brands and outlets. Due to this, Shaunna's upbringing consisted more of spending time away at private schools and with a nanny than with her actual family. She was never close to her parents, and had no siblings either, so her childhood was somewhat lonely.

In school, Shaunna stuck around with a more intelligent group of girls, as she herself was quite smart. However, her timid personality meant that she followed whatever was going on and didn't really have any control of her life. She tried to keep up with trends and always look the best when out in public; just as her parents wanted. Over the years, this began to frustrate her and she ran away from home after finishing secondary education. She resided in Manchester in the summer of 2004, where she applied to a college in Ashton and met Toby Rieper for the first time when they shared Maths and English courses. They became close friends during the two years there, but Toby went away to do pilot training, and Shaunna decided to move back to the South.

She got into the University of Cambridge in 2006 to study business and economics, as per request and funding of her parents. However, she could not stand living with them and was enraged at how she was treated. She left her University course, moved out again to live in the city, and applied for a job in The Security Service (MI5). She managed to get a two year apprenticeship there and worked on various different roles, such as counter-terrorism and cyber-related tasks. During her time there, Shaunna gained a lot of IT experience and the mind of an agent. Although she quite enjoyed this kind of work and loved the break from the restraints that were always put on her, she couldn't prevent her parents constantly trying to reach out and scolding her for her life choices.

In 2008, she packed up and moved back to Manchester where she went to college. She hoped for a brand new start and a fresh slate. She resided in Ashton again, and coincidentally signed up to the same gym in Hyde that Toby went to. They reunited after 4 years, and become closer friends than before, often doing things together and meeting up even outside of shared gym time. Shaunna got a job as a college computing teacher in Ashton, and although she wasn't fully satisfied with the job, she was much happier with her life altogether. In 2011, Toby set up The Blacklist (Group) and asked her to join, which she didn't do straight away. But a year later, she signed off from being a teacher and ended up working with Toby after all. They mostly did small security events and ran errands for the main company. Toby also trained Shaunna in combat and firearms, which she was never introduced to whilst working for the MI5.

A few years into working together, Toby and Shaunna developed romantic feelings for each other. They tried dating in 2014, but it didn't go very well for them as they struggled to balance work life with their romantic endeavors. They broke up after only four months which had an impact on their careers. To ease tensions and maintain a healthy environment, they decided to hire two more agents in 2015, Ralph Lindsay and Amelia Jersey, to also help them out and expand the team. The four of them quickly became close friends and found a perfect balance between work and friendship. Shaunna became very close friends with Amelia especially, as she fell in love with her bubbly personality, one that was very different from the girls that she grew up around.

Toby confessed to Shaunna that he still had feelings for her, but she was hesitant at first. But after a few months, she realised that he made her happy and put a lot of effort into their relationship, and they decided to date again in early 2016. This time, they got along much better and were very happy together. This led on until the events of The Blacklist in 2018, at which point Shaunna was 31 years old.

Shaunna is aged 31 in The Blacklist, aged 36 in The Blacklist: Reunited, and aged 44 in The Blacklist: Lost.

## Appearance

### In The Blacklist

**Shaunna Royalsden Appearance**
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## Role in The Blacklist

In The Blacklist, Shaunna plays a very supportive role, as she is the least experienced out of all of the agents. This leads to her getting injured early on, which drags the group behind a little. However, Shaunna is constantly the driving force of the group, and the person who keeps them all together not just as work partners, but as friends. She is the most loving and friendly out of them all, and always the most honest and supportive. This is because she never received this kind of love from anyone in her life and always felt like her image was being shaped by others around her. It was only until she met these three that she learned to be herself and have fun, something that Amelia Jersey really inspires her by.

Shaunna was originally not as interested in a relationship with Toby Rieper as he was, as she was quite happy just staying friends. In fact, they have the least sexual relationship out of all the couples in the group, as they focus more on friendship and a good connection. Shaunna trusts Toby Rieper insanely, as they have known each other for 10 years closely, and met a whole 14 years before the first book. She trusts his judgement and instead of trying to chase him down when him and Ralph Lindsay go rogue, she tries to work out their actions and still support them. She fights for The Blacklist (Group) when they are facing financial issues, and even goes as far as getting in a conflict with Amelia Jersey, who wasn't as keen to save the group from downfall. Shaunna throughout the series enables herself to notice Toby Rieper's constant dedication to their relationship and they develop more romantic feelings for each other, which is something new for her.

Amelia Jersey's confidence and ability to just be herself inspires Shaunna a lot and it's her actions that allow her to open up and be the goofy person that she is. Around her friends, she doesn't feel embarrassed by her mistakes and allows herself to show her quirks. But when things are serious, Shaunna is an amazing listener and gives very thoughtful and supportive advice when it comes to human conflict. She helps Amelia Jersey a lot throughout her relationship with Vanessa Newton, and they are eventually very happy together. She also helps Toby Rieper with his friendship with Ralph Lindsay. Shaunna is always the person to go to when you need someone to talk to.

Besides, although Shaunna doesn't have as much combat and firearms experience as the others, she is a very smart and educated lady coming from a wealthy background. Shaunna specialised in business when she was younger, which has been very helpful for Toby Rieper when he needed financial advice as the group was falling apart. She also has very good experience in IT and computing, as she spent time at the MI5. She often takes the more stand back and support role in missions, whether that be research, something technical, or hacking a system. She becomes friends with Jess Derby because of this as they have very similar skills.

## Role in The Blacklist: Reunited

Shaunna was left in a state of depression after the events in The Blacklist, as she drowns herself in guilt, partially blaming her injury for Toby Rieper's death. When she sees Toby Rieper outside of her door, she tries to call Amelia Jersey but she's drunk and doesn't treat the situation very well. She is then kidnapped by Toby Rieper who attempts to kill her but fails as the other agents get there and save her. She falls into a mad panic and breakdown, and Ralph Lindsay just leaves her, but Amelia Jersey comforts her and helps her out through this time. They catch up and go over what happened in the five years since they last saw each other. They promise that they will stay together now and never leave each other again. They stay very close for the rest of the book.

Shaunna is challenged when Ralph Lindsay gets injured and can't carry out his usual tasks and takes on her role instead. She is forced out of her comfort zone and into a more active job as an agent. The others help her out and are patient with her though, and she gains a level of confidence that she never had before.

She falls out with Ralph Lindsay on a few occasions, firstly because he leaves her and the others after discovering Toby Rieper, refuses to cooperate, and instead goes back to his regular life which she thinks is ungrateful towards her old friends. Ralph Lindsay later informs Shaunna about his wedding with Charlotte Lindsay when she sees his wedding ring, and when she finds out that Amelia Jersey had been at the wedding, she gets very annoyed at him (as does Vanessa Newton since she also wasn't invited, but she also gets annoyed at Amelia Jersey for keeping secrets). The last time is when Ralph Lindsay is finally revealed (by Frederick Kerber) to have been the one who killed Toby Rieper at the end of The Blacklist and only Amelia Jersey knew. Shaunna gets really annoyed at him as she had lived for 5 years blaming herself for his death. But they have a serious conversation about it and Ralph Lindsay explains everything to her and how guilty he felt and didn't know how to tell her about it; also why he didn't invite her to his wedding. They then make up when everyone is reunited properly upon Toby Rieper's proper return, which is the point at which Shaunna finally feels properly happy again.

Shaunna's relationship with Toby Rieper changes a lot during the book. Firstly she is in a deep state of shock after seeing him come back from the dead and even moreso after the attempted assassination. She is even more depressed and in a worse spot mentally than before his return. It is only really because of Amelia Jersey that Shaunna doesn't fully crack under the pressure. She just about manages to persuade herself that the real Toby Rieper is gone and he is not the same person as who he once was, he suddenly comes back as his normal self and Shaunna is thrown off course again. But they have a moment together and she is finally happy again with the person she once loved. Their relationship has changed though, and is much more romantic and sexual than years ago, when it was just more like a friendship. At the end, when Ralph Lindsay refuses to kill Toby Rieper for the second time, Shaunna is the one who does it instead, saying a final goodbye to Toby Rieper and moving on as a stronger and more independent woman than who she previously was.