Welcome to my review of The People’s Princess By Flora Harding. I chose this book just because it looked exciting, and despite knowing a little about Princess Diana, I don’t know a huge amount. I enjoyed watching the Crown on Netflix and was interested in seeing how this compared. I loved this book though, the perfect mix between fact and fiction.
The stunning new historical novel from the author of the bestselling Before the Crown. Perfect for fans of Gill Paul, Wendy Holden, Pam Jenoff and Jennifer Robson!
Buckingham Palace, 1981
Her engagement to Prince Charles is a dream come true for Lady Diana Spencer but marrying the heir to the throne is not all that it seems. Alone and bored in the palace, she resents the stuffy courtiers who are intent on instructing her about her new role as Princess of Wales…
But when she discovers a diary written in the 1800s by Princess Charlotte of Wales, a young woman born into a gilded cage so like herself, Diana is drawn into the story of Charlotte’s reckless love affairs and fraught relationship with her father, the Prince Regent.
As she reads the diary, Diana can see many parallels with her own life and future as Princess of Wales.
The story allows a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life in the palace, the tensions in Diana’s relationship with the royal family during the engagement, and the wedding itself.
Flora Harding began writing over 30 years ago to fund a PhD on the disposal of waste in Elizabethan York, and has juggled fact and fiction ever since. Under various pseudonyms she has written more than 75 novels, histories and other forms of non-fiction and continues to be fascinated by the relationship between the past and the present, whatever she happens to be writing.
It wasn’t what I expected. I thought it would just be about Princess Diana. Still, I obviously didn’t pay enough attention to the blurb as it’s pretty much half and half about her and a previous Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, from the 1800s. The two timelines work so well together and draw comparisons between Diana and Charlotte, the queen that never was.
The People’s Princess focuses on the love lives of both Princesses. They are both tragically in love with people and searching for the love of their lives. Unfortunately, Princess Charlotte died young during the childbirth of her first child, so she never became Queen of England. The title passed to her cousin, Victoria, ending the Hanover family reign. The book ends with Diana walking down the aisle, the beginning of the marriage we all know how it ends.
This has a lot of information shown in The Crown, Camilla, the bulimia, the loneliness, Charles’ lack of love and compassion for Diana. I loved Princess Charlotte and the comparisons to her life. There are many twists and turns, and I loved how Charlotte grew through the book and finally got her fairy-tale, though it was very short-lived.
This is historical fiction which I think is worth pointing out, Princess Charlotte did exist. There are plenty of factual elements to both storylines. However, this is not a real account, though it is done very well to come across as such a book. I did look up Princess Charlotte after reading this book. I found lots of information about her, her life and her untimely demise on the internet. This, for me, is the best and most exciting way to learn about history through an exciting story and a compelling read.
My only, very mild criticism was that there was a lot of focus on Diana’s bulimia. I understand this demonstrated her distress and how she dealt with it. Still, I think that came through well enough without the constant mentions, and this could be triggering for anyone with eating issues.
This is a well written and poignant comparison between the two princesses and shows how all that glitters is not gold. Two unfortunate endings and two unhappy princesses. This was a joy to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or the royals. I will be looking forward to reading more of Flora Harding’s books in future.
| Title | The People’s Princess |
| Author | Flora Harding |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 322 Pages |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | One More Chapte |
| Release Date | 31st March 2022 |
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3 comments
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I loved this book! I thought it was engagingly written and page-turny, and Princess Charlotte in particular was a very likeable and real-seeming character. Well, she was real, but you know what I mean! Like you, I googled her after finishing the book – she obviously made a big impact on people despite the shortness of her life. I agree that fiction can really draw you into the lives of historical people in a way that nonfiction can’t (unless the person left lots of letters etc.), although I did find myself (as I always do with historical fiction) wondering which bits were based on fact and which weren’t.
I had to suspend my disbelief that Princess Charlotte would have written a journal like that – of course she wouldn’t, but it was the best way, I think, of telling her story.
Thanks for recommending this – it’s not a book I would have chosen off the shelf (or the virtual shelf), but I really enjoyed it and would like to read more by this author.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for your comment, I’m so glad that you liked it. I always worry when recommending books that people won’t like my recommendations so always great to hear when they do like them.
Like you, I don’t think Princess Charlotte would have written such a diary but it was a good way to portray her life. I do recall somewhere reading something about royalty keeping journals though but not sure so far back, especially as writing was such a rare skill!
I’ll let you know when I read another of her books, may be a while though as i have a massive pile to work through and can’t stop buying more books!